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American Government
Final
106
History
Undergraduate 2
05/01/2013
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Term
Supreme Court justices and federal judges serve for
 Definition
life with good behavior
Term
Federal circuit courts orginally were created by Congress to
 Definition
function as trial courts
Term
The constitution specifically provided that there would be a Supreme Court,
 Definition
but left it up to the descretion of Congree to establish lower fereral courts of general jurisdiction
Term
The US Supreme Court's jurisdiction includes
 Definition
appellate jurisdiction from both state and federal courts
Term
Why did the Framers include life tenture for federal judges
 Definition
to make judges less likely to be removed by political pressures
Term
Senatorial courtesy
 Definition
describes the historical deference of the president to senators of his own political party to approve the nomination of federal district court judges within their states
Term
To get around a hostile Senate, or to further the careers of controversial nominees, presidents can
 Definition
appoint federal judges while the congress is in recess
Term
Chief Justice John Marshall tried to transform the Court into a co-equal branch of government through key decisions such as McCulloch vs Maryland (1819) that
 Definition
made the Court the final arbiter of constitutionality through its interpretation of the supremacy clause
Term
The idea that judges should use their power broadly to futher justice is called
 Definition
judicial activism
Term
The idea that judges should allow the decisions of other branches to stand is called
 Definition
judicial restraint
Term
advocates of judicial activism
 Definition
emphasize that the courts may alleviate pressing needs left unmet by the political process
Term
A judicial philosophy in which judges make bold policy decisions, even charting new constitutional ground, is called
 Definition
judicial activism
Term
Which of the following are among the checks on the powers of the Supreme Court
 Definition

1) Confress ca alter the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court

2) Its decision can be reversed by constiutional amendment

3) Judges can be impeached and removed from office

Answer: 1,2,3
Term
Judicial review means
 Definition
that the federal courts, especially the Supreme Court, have the authority to review acts of Congress to determine if they are constitutional
Term
In____, the US Supreme Court held that it had the power to review the Constitutionality of acts of Congress
 Definition
Marbury v Madison (1803)
Term
Judicial review, the power of the judiciary to review the acts ofother branches of governemnt, was claimed by the US Supreme Court over state actions in
 Definition
Martin v Hunter's Lessee (1816)
Term
In Marbury v Madison, the opinion of the Court stressed
 Definition
that it is the authority of the Court to say what the law is
Term
The concept of original intent holds that
 Definition
judges and justices should determine the intent of the Farmers of the Constituion regarding a particular matter and decide cases in line with that intent
Term
State courts of original jurisdiction where cases begin are called
 Definition
trial courts
Term
The justices of the Supreme Court are
 Definition
nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate
Term
The Supreme Court will hear a case if ____ justices vote to do so
 Definition
four
Term
Interest groups often participate in Supreme Court cases through the use of
 Definition
amicus curiae briefs
Term
Research by political scientists finds that
 Definition
the more ierest groups that file petitions in support of certiorari, the more likely the Court is to accept the case for reveiw
Term
Political scientists have found that
 Definition
the strategic model tries to access and account for a range of forces that action individual judicial behavior
Term
In the "Bong Hits for Jesus" case, also known as Morse v Frederick (2007), the Suprem Court ruled that
 Definition
the First Amendment does not protect the display of signs promoting drug use at school events
Term
Various studies have concluded that
 Definition

2) the Supreme Court can affect public opinion

4) decisions can shake the public's confidence in the court

answer: 2, 4

 
Term
During the 2008 presidential elections, one study estimated that the percentage of Americans who learned about the presdential campaign from alternative sources such a The Tonight Show,The late Show or The Daily Show was____ than the percentage who watched more traditional cable news.
 Definition
about the same amount as
Term
The most often used lobbying technique at both the state and national level is
 Definition
testifying at legislative hearings
Term
By the 2008 election, the average sound bite was ____ seconds
 Definition
6
Term
Most polls conducted by newspapers are called
 Definition
straw polls
Term
The Progressive movement brought with it the dawn of ____, a form of newspaper publishing concerned with reforming government and business conduct
 Definition
muckraking
Term
Most people get their information about politics from
 Definition
tv
Term
In 2008, young voters relied more heavily than older voters on which sources for news about the campaign?
 Definition
The Daily Show and the internet
Term
The six major newspapers in the United States
 Definition
have a major influence on what the broadcast news reports
Term
Which of the following is a media effect?
 Definition
agenda setting
Term
The press has a much greater impact on certain topics, such as
 Definition
events in foreign countries
Term
The influences of news sources on public opinion are known as
 Definition
media effects
Term
An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing the political reaction to that news is called
 Definition
a trial ballon
Term
Political socialization within the family can be traced to two factors
 Definition
communication and receptivity
Term
____ is considered a critical component of political socialization
 Definition
civic education
Term
Most Americans learn about government and politics through
 Definition
an informal learning process
Term
The process through which an individual acquires his or her particular political orientations, including his or her knowledge, feelings and evaluations regarding the political world is known as
 Definition
political socialization
Term
Our earliest views of political matters come from
 Definition
parents
Term
As one becomes more socialized with ag, one's political orientations
 Definition
grow firmer
Term
though on the decline, more first-year college students identify themselves politically as
 Definition
middle-of-the-road
Term
oday, public opinion polls tell us that ____is thesecond largest predictor of how someone will vote
 Definition
religion
Term
In general,_____ hold similar positions on many issues, especially government sponsored health insurance.
 Definition
Latinos/as and American Indians
Term
A political ideology is
 Definition
a coherent set of values and beliefs about public policy
Term
When people are asked about their ideology, an equal  number answer conservative and
 Definition
moderate
Term
Many political scientists aee Americans as ideological conservatives in principle, but in practice as
 Definition
operational liberals
Term
Polls show that women and men
 Definition
hold different views on a varity of social issues
Term
Reliable polls provide respondents with
 Definition
the opportunity to opt out of the survey
Term

Some political scientists argue that public opinion polling

 

 Definition
weakens democracy and leaders
Term
When we look at colleges and universities as a course of political socialization, we find that most students become, on average,____ as they near graduation.
 Definition
more liberal
Term
Business groups, labor unions, trade associations, and other such groups are examples of
 Definition
economic
Term
Historically, the big three economic interest groups were
 Definition
labor unions, business groups, and those representing farmers
Term
One of the most well-known public interest groups that focuses on good government is called
 Definition
common cause
Term
The_____is the oldest and largest of the African American groups that have fought for equality at the polls, in housing, on the job, in education, and in other facets of American life
 Definition

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Term
How are interest groups different from political parties
 Definition
they do not directly run candidates for public office
Term
A  PAC is the political arm of
 Definition
any group wishing to make contributions to federal elections
Term
one of the downsides of interest groups is that they
 Definition
can increase the cost of public policies
Term
The term interest group can be generally defined as
 Definition
an organization of people with similar policy goals entering the political process to try to achieve those aims
Term
State and local governments typically lobby for
 Definition
school programs
Term
The activities of groups and organizations that seek to influence legislation and persuade political leaders to support a group's position is most accurately called
 Definition
lobbying
Term
Almost all interest group lobbying includes
 Definition
contacting government officials
Term
what is a form of pressure group activiyt that attempts to influence policy by getting individuals to contact their representatives directly?
 Definition
grassroots lobbying
Term
Modern grassroots lobbying often involves
 Definition
use of the internet
Term
interest groups differ from the political parties because
 Definition
groups tend to be policy specialists while parties tend to be policy generalists
Term
the conflict between environmental groups and energy producers illustrates
 Definition
that group politics intensify when two public interests clash
Term
The hallmark of the Progressi era was
 Definition
an explosion in the number of new groups
Term
The First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of association
 Definition
has been the subject of many US Supreme Court cases expanding its limits
Term
At a basic level, a party
 Definition
seeks to win office so as to excercise political power
Term
The offices holders and candidates who run under the banner of a political party are called the
 Definition
governmental party
Term
A primary in which only a party's registered voters are eligible to participate is most accurately called
 Definition
closed
Term
The method of primary election that gives the political parties the greatest power is the
 Definition
closed
Term
In some states, incuments can be removed from office in the middle of their term by a popular vote is called a/an
 Definition
recall
Term

in the event that a single candidate does not get a majority of electoral votes, the constitution states that the_______

decides the winner.

 Definition
House of Representatives
Term
Congressional elections differ from those for the presidency because
 Definition
most candidates are not well known
Term
the three kinds of elections in the US are
 Definition
primary elections, general elections, and elections on specific policy questions
Term
an election whereby votes are given the chance to approve or disapprove some legislative act or constitutional amendment is called
 Definition
a referendum
Term
the Electoral College was orginally established in order to
 Definition
give the Nation's elite the power to chose the president and vice-president rather than the people directly
Term
a major focus of the Democratic Party platform during the 2008 election was
 Definition
the war in Iraq
Term

in 2008, the republican platform

 

 Definition
vowed to make President George W Bush's tax cuts permanent
Term
what does the constitution say about political parties
 Definition
the constitution does not meantion political parties
Term
party politics were nearly suspended at the national level during
 Definition
the era of Good Feelings
Term
parties have been affected, and in general weakened by
 Definition
candidate-centered politics
Term
one of the main functions of a party is electioneering, which most fundamentally includes
 Definition
recruiting candidates
Term
which of the following is an advantagethe democratic and republican parties have over third parties
 Definition
ballot access restrictions in many states
Term
the first party system in the united states consisted of the
 Definition
federalists and democraatic-republicans
Term
the republican party began as the
 Definition
principal antislavery party
Term
voting based on what a candidate says they will do if elected is called
 Definition
prospective judgment
Term
most states today choose their nominee for the president through
 Definition
primary elections
Term
in recent years, states have had a tendency to choose early dates for their presidential primaries in order to gain influence in the process.  This is called
 Definition
front-loading
Term
to win the presidential election, candidates usually focus on
 Definition
winning the election in key "battleground" states
Term
one of the primary dangers of the nomination campaign is that
 Definition
candidates can become too extreme
Term
the internet has changed campaigns by
 Definition
making it easier for campaigns to emply "rapid response" techniques
Term

the way in which candidates attempt to manipulate money, the media, and momentum to achieve the nomination is through

 

 Definition
campaign strategy
Term
the goal of campaign finance laws is to
 Definition
limit the influence of individuals or groups over public officials
Term
most candidates recieve a majority of their campaign contributions from
 Definition
individuals
Term
when asked about the most important challenge of running party organizations, the national party chairman of both parties replied,
 Definition
money
Term
critics of the presidential primary argue that
 Definition
the qualtiy of participation in primaries is low
Term
many interest groups criticize campaign finance reform because
 Definition
it restricts their free speech rights
Term
the US Supreme Court ruled that provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
 Definition
were valid because the government's interest in reducing corruption was more important that free speech rights
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