US Government Final Review

  1. What does one give up to gain security?
  2. What ideology favors security over individual liberties?
  3. Which political party leans more toward a conservative perspective?
  4. Americans traditionally understood that to enjoy our freedoms we had to accept less ____.
  5. What is the primary goal of political parties?
  6. At what level of government are political parties mostly organized – the state or national level?
  7. How do political parties increase voter interest, participation and support?
  8. What do Democrats tend to favor relative to the size of government and the amount of freedom or security we enjoy?
  9. What do Republicans tend to favor in regard to the relative size of government and the amount of freedom or security we enjoy?
  10. What is the Democratic position on abortion?
  11. What is the Republican position on abortion?
  12. Why are Democrats likely to favor higher taxes on the rich?
  13. What do Republicans almost always want to decrease?
  14. What should determine wages, according to Republicans?
  15. Would Republicans be more or less likely than Dems to support the death penalty, same-sex marriage and gun control? (Consider each idea separately)
  16. What is the Democratic general perspective on gun control?
  17. What do Democrats and the courts believe gives same-sex couples the right to marry?
  18. What is the general perspective of Republicans on environmentalism as it relates to global warming or climate change?
  19. Why did the Framers want to limit the power of the President? What did they fear?
  20. Which American president was an early American war hero, who used the veto actively, and used the presidential appointment power actively to increase the power of the presidency?
  21. Which American president acted in ways not constitutional during the Civil War, increasing the power of the presidency?
  22. Which progressive president acted vigorously in Latin America, using Dollar Diplomacy to increase the power of the presidency?
  23. Which president’s actions during and after WWI helped to increase the power of the presidency diplomatically?
  24. Which American president’s actions during the Great Depression and WWII helped to increase the power of the presidency?
  25. What kind of elections are used to nominate candidates to be the presidential candidate for their party?
  26. What is an open primary?
  27. What is a closed primary?
  28. What is a largely ceremonial role of the president that usually wins him some PR points?
  29. What is the role of the president that makes him the primary enforcer of the law and administrator of the federal bureaucracy?
  30. What role of the president has him leading the legislative agenda through political campaigns, the State of the Union address, and press conferences?
  31. What role of the president gives him broad powers in the area of foreign relations?
  32. What role of the president depends largely upon his popularity if he is to be effective in this role?
  33. What role of the president was given to him to keep a general from establishing a military dictatorship?
  34. What is a check on the diplomatic power of the President?
  35. What 3 things check the power of the president?
  36. What president of the US was the commanding general of the Continental Army and is featured on the 1 dollar bill?
  37. What Civil War president is one of the most admired and beloved and is featured on the 5 dollar bill?
  38. What Framer was never president, but is featured on the 10 dollar bill?
  39. Who was one of the most popular statesmen of his time here at home and abroad, never served as president, but is featured on the 100 dollar bill?
  40. What Commanding General during the Civil War later became president and is featured on the 50 dollar bill?
  41. Who won the only battle the US won in the War of 1812, was hugely popular when later elected president, and today is seen as both very good and very bad in his presidency? (feature on the 20 dollar bill)
  42. What two houses make up Congress, and how are the people represented in them?
  43. How often are members of the House elected, and from what geographic area are they elected?
  44. How do members of the House differ from members of the Senate?
  45. How often are members of the Senate elected, and from what geographic area are they elected?
  46. How do members of the Senate differ from members of the House?
  47. Who is the most powerful person in Congress?
  48. What determines which party has the power in Congress?
  49. What type of committees are bills initially sent to?
  50. Once in those committees, what kind of committee might they be sent to for “mark-up”?
  51. What generally qualifies a person to be a committee chair?
  52. Why does it matter what committee a person is assigned to in Congress, or does it matter at all?
  53. What happens to most bills that are introduced in Congress?
  54. What did the Framers not anticipate would come to control our government the way they have?
  55. What is the greatest power of the courts?
  56. What have the courts most helped the government to do?
  57. What Amendment guarantees the right to free speech?
  58. What do judges/courts look to in order to help them determine how to decide a case?
  59. What important case helped to define 1st Amendment protections in schools?
  60. Which Supreme Court case established the power of Judicial Review?
  61. Which Supreme Court case helped dot define interstate commerce and the federal government’s supremacy in the regulation thereof?
  62. What Supreme Court case originally found the doctrine of Separate but Equal to be constitutional?
  63. What Supreme Court case helped to establish the right to the accused to an attorney even at the state level?
  64. What Supreme Court case helped to establish the need to inform the accused of their rights?
  65. What rights does the 5th Amendment protect?
  66. What rights does the 8th Amendment protect?
  67. Does paddling students represent a violation of their 8th Amendment protections?
  68. Does sentencing minors and the intellectually disabled to death violate their 8th Amendment protections?
  69. Does someone injured in the attempt to put them to death represent a violation of their 8th Amendment rights?
  70. Does taking a sample of someone’s blood against their will violate their 5th Amendment rights?
  71. The controversy over gun control laws that has sprung up around the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino revolve around which Amendment?
  72. The desire of the president to not allow people on a no-fly list to purchase guns would be a violation of which Amendment’s guarantees?
  73. Donald Trumps desire to ban Muslims from entering the country for a period of time might be a violation of which Amendment’s protections?