American Government General Knowledge -- Post Test
Name: ____________________________ (please print)
Instructions: Fill in the blank, write a short answer or circle the correct response. When you are done, please email the test to carolb@usca.edu
Due Wednesday, July 4, 2007 at midnight.
Note: Completing this posttest is a course requirement. You should complete it without looking up any answers or asking anyone for help. If you complete it on time, you will receive three extra credit points. There are 72 questions.
1. In as few words as possible, describe the form of
government that exists in the
2. Briefly explain how conservatives are different than liberals.
3. What is the name of the procedure that permits citizens to have an issue placed on the ballot for popular vote?
4. In what year was the Constitution written?
5. What are the first ten amendments to the Constitution called?
6. Who was the author of the Declaration of Independence?
7. What was the name of the document that served as the nation’s constitution following the Revolutionary War?
8. Who is considered the father of the U.S. Constitution?
9. What is the Constitutional concept that distributes powers among the branches of government?
10. How can a proposed Constitutional amendment be ratified?
11. What is the name of the system that gives each branch of government power over the other branches?
12. Name the branches of the national government.
13. What is the name given to the famous papers written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay that argued for ratification of the U.S. Constitution?
14. Before a search warrant can be issued, what must officers show to justify that warrant?
15. What rule does not allow the use of illegally obtained evidence in courts?
16. What Supreme Court decision extended the right of privacy to cover abortions?
17. True or False? Scientifically performed public opinion polls are wrong about as often as they are right in predicting election outcomes.
18. Are most Americans liberals, conservatives, middle of the road, or
are all of these groups about equal in number?
19. About what percentage of the eligible electorate voted in the last presidential election?
20. How many women are on the U.S. Supreme Court?
21. What political party dominated the nation in its earliest years after the Constitution was written?
22. What does "PAC" stand for?
23. What document does each party produce to describe its issue positions in an election campaign?
24. What group of people elect the U.S. President?
25. In an election, what is the person who already holds an office called?
26. What Constitutional right would be violated if the government tried to outlaw interest groups?
27. Who is currently Speaker of the U.S. House?
28. What title is held in the U.S. Senate by the leader of the party with the most seats?
29. Which party controls the U.S. House?
30. Which party controls the U.S. Senate?
31. The practice of drawing district lines to gain political advantage is called ________.
32. How many Senators sit in the U.S. Senate?
33. How many voting Representatives sit in the U.S. House of Representatives?
34. How can Congress override a presidential veto of a law they passed?
35. What is the name for a prolonged debate in the U.S. Senate that is designed to kill a bill? ______________________
36. How many African-Americans have ever served on the U.S. Supreme Court?
37. How long is the term for a federal judge?
38. What does the U.S. Constitution say about political parties?
39. What are the rights listed in the first amendment to the Constitution? List as many as you can (one point each).
40. Which of the following pieces of legislation were passed by Congress in the last twenty years ? national health insurance that covers everyone, a balanced budget amendment, welfare reform
41. How many terms can a U.S. President serve?
42. What is fiscal policy?
43. What is the job of the Federal Reserve Board?
44. Describe how the Democrats differ from the Republicans on any important issue of your choice.
45. What is the difference between civil and criminal law?
46. Who has the power to declare war?
47. What procedure or system do most people employed in government follow in order to get their jobs?
48. Define the term "bureaucracy."
49. Name two cabinet departments.
50. Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
51. What is the difference between the national debt and the deficit?
52. What do we call programs, such as Social Security, that commit the government to providing goods or services for anyone who is eligible?
53. What term describes the state of hostilities with little actual fighting that existed during the period after World War II until the late 1980s?
54. What was the major foreign aid program for
55. What is the name of the military organization that the
56. What federal department manages the day-to-day conduct
of
57. On which program do we spend more money, Social Security or foreign aid?
58. Does the
59. Did the Constitution establish an official religion? If yes, which one?
60. What is your gender? male female
61. How much of the time do you think you can trust the government to do what is right?
none of the time, only some of the time, most of the time, or just about always?
62. Would you say you follow what’s going on in government and public affairs --
most of the time, some of the time, only now and then, or hardly at all?
63. How many days in the past week did you read a daily newspaper, either in paper form or on the Internet? (number, from 0 to 7) _______
64. Sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me can’t really understand what’s going on. Do you:
strongly agree, agree, have mixed feelings, disagree, or strongly disagree?
65. What is your age? ___ ___ years old
66. What do you consider your ethnicity to be? White, African-American or Black,
Hispanic-American, or other?
67. How would you compare the difficulty and workload of this course with others you have taken? Easier? About the same? or harder?
68. What is the highest level of education that either of your parents had?
less than high school high school 1-3 years of college college degree or more
69. How many days in the last week did you read political news in a printed newspaper? (number from 0 to 7)
70. How many days in the last week did you read political news on the Internet? (number from 0 to 7)
71. How many days in the last week did you see political news on television?
(number from 0 to 7)