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Study Guide

Field 010: Political Science
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Subarea 1—POLITICAL SCIENCE CONCEPTS AND SKILLS

Objective 001
Understand political science terms and concepts and recognize different forms of contemporary and historical government.

1. According to Thomas Hobbes, human beings have a relentless and insatiable desire for power and a belief that individual security can only be achieved through the acquisition of ever more power. Hobbes would most likely have argued that the main purpose of government is to:

  1. reduce social inequities.
  2. protect economic rights.
  3. distribute scarce resources.
  4. manage political conflict.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

Use the passage below to answer the two questions that follow.

The 1930s witnessed a dramatic shift in the voting patterns of African Americans. Those living in northern cities had traditionally voted Republican. They did so because it was the party of Lincoln, and because the Democratic Party in the South was the party of secession, segregation, and white supremacy. As late as 1932, Herbert Hoover took about two-thirds of the African American vote in northern urban areas; four years later, more than three-quarters of these voters cast their ballots for Franklin D. Roosevelt. The reasons for this transfer of allegiance did not stem from Roosevelt's stance on civil rights, an area in which he did almost nothing. Rather, it was because New Deal programs provided African Americans with greater benefits than they had ever before received from government, and at a time when such assistance was desperately needed. Also, a number of major figures in the administration—Eleanor Roosevelt in particular—demonstrated a genuine sensitivity to African American needs.

The shift in African American voter allegiance had long-term consequences. As migration from the South increased during the war years and after, African Americans became an important constituency in many northern cities. In turn, their political leverage within the national Democratic Party grew. To be sure, party leaders were slow to respond to their demands. During the 1950s and early 1960s, neither Adlai Stevenson nor John F. Kennedy showed any conspicuous enthusiasm for civil rights. But an African American political base had been established, and it would ultimately play an important part in pushing through the legislative advances of the civil rights movement.

Objective 002
Apply methods for conducting political science research and analyzing and interpreting political science information.

2. Which of the following responses best describes the author's main purpose in the passage?

  1. to expose the indifference of major Democratic political figures to the needs of African Americans
  2. to raise questions about the role of African Americans in the Democratic Party
  3. to describe the emergence of a powerful Democratic voting bloc among northern African Americans
  4. to explain the reasons for traditional African American support of Republican political candidates
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.

3. Which of the following assumptions about political parties most influenced the author's argument in the passage?

  1. Political parties have long been essential instruments of democracy in the United States.
  2. The more diverse their constituencies, the more effective political parties are.
  3. Political parties function as important intermediaries between individuals and government.
  4. Groups with significant electoral weight ultimately make their voices heard within political parties.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

Subarea 2—FOUNDATIONS AND OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

Objective 003
Understand fundamental principles of government in the United States.

4. Which of the following provisions of the U.S. Constitution best illustrates the founders' commitment to the principle of popular sovereignty?

  1. All bills for raising federal revenue must originate in the lower house of the national legislature.
  2. The Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land.
  3. Presidential electors from all of the states shall choose the president of the United States.
  4. The power of the federal judiciary shall extend to all cases arising under the Constitution.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.

5. Most of the amendments added to the U.S. Constitution after the Bill of Rights were intended to:

  1. modify the electoral process or increase popular participation in political life.
  2. correct imbalances in the division of power between the federal government and state governments.
  3. provide increased protection for the due process rights of U.S. citizens.
  4. improve the operation of the system of checks and balances in the federal government.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.
Objective 004
Understand the principles and operation of the U.S. legal system.

6. English common law most influenced the development of which of the following sources of U.S. law?

  1. constitutional law
  2. case law
  3. administrative law
  4. statutory law
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

7. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) reversed a conviction in a Florida case in which the defendant had been denied counsel. The Court's decision in the case was based primarily on an application of which of the following constitutional provisions?

  1. the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishments
  2. the Fourteenth Amendment's extension of due process protections
  3. the First Amendment's protection of the right to petition for a redress of grievances
  4. the Ninth Amendment's protection of the unenumerated rights of the people
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 005
Understand the organization, functions, and operation of the federal government in the United States.

8. The U.S. Supreme Court would most likely exercise original jurisdiction in which of the following types of cases?

  1. a civil suit involving a sum in excess of one million dollars
  2. a legal controversy between two or more states
  3. a criminal case involving an official of the federal government
  4. a legal controversy between two federal agencies
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.
Objective 006
Understand state and local government in the United States and the organization, functions, and operation of state and local government in Michigan.

9. Which of the following responses best describes a major function of the Michigan state legislature?

  1. ensuring that laws are implemented fairly and efficiently
  2. raising revenue to finance state programs
  3. supervising the operations of the Michigan National Guard
  4. defining the personal freedoms of Michigan citizens
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

10. For which of the following reasons would the people of Michigan most likely exercise their power of initiative?

  1. to remove an unpopular elected official
  2. to have an existing law submitted to the voters
  3. to propose a new law
  4. to nominate a candidate for public office
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 007
Understand international relations and the formation and execution of U.S. foreign policy.

11. Balance of power theory is based on the assumption that:

  1. economic strength is the main determinant of a nation's place in the global political system.
  2. nations will form coalitions to prevent the expansion of aggressor states.
  3. alliances are inherently unstable because all states are committed to pursuing their own interests.
  4. national engagement with other states presents greater dangers than opportunities.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

Subarea 3—THE POLITICAL PROCESS AND U.S. CITIZENSHIP

Objective 008
Understand political parties and the electoral process in the United States.

12. The media most influence the conduct of political campaigns in the United States by:

  1. covering political debates.
  2. publishing candidate speeches.
  3. setting the agenda for public discussion.
  4. endorsing specific candidates for election.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 009
Understand the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.

13. In which of the following situations has an individual's right to due process been violated?

  1. The trial of an accused criminal is held in the same community in which the crime took place.
  2. A prosecuting attorney refuses to enter into a plea bargain agreement.
  3. The lawyer for an accused criminal is not allowed to question prosecution witnesses.
  4. The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear a case concerning an individual's right to counsel.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.

14. A high school government teacher is seeking materials for a unit on events and developments in U.S. history that have expanded civil liberties. Which of the following types of instructional materials are most likely to develop students' critical thinking skills?

  1. biographical essays on leading figures involved in campaigns to expand civil liberties
  2. timelines providing an overview of major initiatives and significant turning points in the struggle to expand civil liberties
  3. excerpts from primary sources addressing the aims and strategies of groups involved in efforts to expand civil liberties
  4. printouts of Internet articles summarizing the achievements of groups that helped expand civil liberties
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.

Subarea 4—INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES

Objective 010
Understand the relationship between history and political science.

15. England's Glorious Revolution of 1688 to 1689 provides a particularly useful starting point for a study of which of the following political concepts?

  1. universal suffrage
  2. proportional representation
  3. judicial review
  4. parliamentary sovereignty
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.

16. The Great Depression in the United States contributed to developments that:

  1. increased the power of Congress in relation to the other two branches of government.
  2. reduced the level of cooperation between state governments and the federal government.
  3. increased government responsibility as a guarantor of social and economic stability.
  4. reduced many of the traditional functions of political parties.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C.
Objective 011
Understand the relationship between geography and political science.

17. Agricultural innovation in early civilizations most influenced the development of new forms of government by:

  1. contributing to increased population movement within societies.
  2. creating the need for effective systems of resource management.
  3. intensifying competition for resources between societies.
  4. reducing the proportion of the population engaged in agriculture.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B.

18. According to Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis, the frontier experience can best be used to examine the development of which of the following characteristics of U.S. society?

  1. the commitment to due process of law
  2. the acceptance of multicultural communities
  3. the belief in free market capitalism
  4. the ideology of egalitarian democracy
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D.
Objective 012
Understand the relationship between economics and political science.

19. Which of the following features of early capitalist development contributed most directly to the growth of representative government?

  1. the protection of private property
  2. the organization of joint stock companies
  3. the operation of competitive markets
  4. the process of capital accumulation
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.

20. Widespread economic distress was a critical factor in the establishment of:

  1. fascist government in central Europe during the 1930s.
  2. communist government in Southeast Asia during the 1940s.
  3. theocratic government in Southwest Asia during the 1970s.
  4. democratic government in South America during the 1980s.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A.