Question 1
Question
The president's constitutional roles, such as chief executive and commander in chief,
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are based on very precise constitutional grants of power.
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are rooted in tradition only; they have no basis in the language of the Constitution.
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are not subject to check by Congress.
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have expanded in practice to be more powerful than the writers of the Constitution intended.
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are absolute powers under the Constitution.
Question 2
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Congress has formally declared war ________ times in U.S. history.
Question 3
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The Whig theory holds that the presidency
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is a shared office where the president and the cabinet are equally powerful.
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is a limited office whose occupant is confined to the exercise of expressly granted constitutional powers.
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is the office most representative of the people.
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should provide strong leadership in the area of foreign policy but not in domestic policy.
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is subordinate to the Supreme Court.
Question 4
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The president's role in foreign policy increased largely because
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Congress proved so inept in foreign affairs that the American people demanded a change.
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America became more of a world power.
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of the need to coordinate national economic policy and foreign policy, a task to which the presidency was well suited.
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of the desire of U.S. business to expand into Latin America and Asia, which required executive action at the highest level.
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of attitudes held by the American public.
Question 5
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Which of the following is true of the vice presidency?
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Presidents in the nineteenth century paid more attention to their vice presidents and granted them more authority.
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The Constitution assigns no executive authority to the vice president.
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Jimmy Carter reduced the power of the vice presidency by removing the vice president's office from the White House.
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The constitutional powers of the vice presidency have been increased by Congress twice during U.S. history.
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Daniel Webster and Henry Clay accepted nominations to the vice presidency as stepping stones to the presidency.
Question 6
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The primary election as a means of choosing presidential nominees
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was introduced during the Jacksonian era.
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is used in Europe as well as in the United States.
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has been used more extensively in recent decades, such that the candidate who dominates the primaries can usually expect to receive the nomination.
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is designed to strengthen the political parties.
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was introduced during the Cleveland era.
Question 7
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Candidate strategy in the early presidential nominating contests (such as New Hampshire's primary) is designed chiefly to gain
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momentum.
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the support of the party's organizational leaders.
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the support of the party's congressional leaders.
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the endorsement of the mass media.
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the support of partisan rivals.
Question 8
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The selection of the vice presidential nominee at the national convention is based on the
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results of the primaries and caucuses; the candidate who places second in these contests is nominated as the running mate of the candidate who finishes first.
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convention delegates' judgment as to the candidate who would make the best vice president.
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results of public opinion polls taken just before the convention begins.
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presidential nominee's choice of a running mate.
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None of these answers is correct.
Question 9
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President Obama's failure in his early months in office to enact policies to combat global warming, despite his determination to do so, is reflective primarily of
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the two-presidency problem.
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fear of impeachment.
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blocking by Congress.
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lack of sufficient executive authority.
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poor circumstance related to the economy.
Question 10
Question
The Executive Office of the President (EOP) was created in ________.
Question 11
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The presidential advisory unit that, as a whole, has declined significantly as an advisory resource for the president in the twentieth century is the
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Council of Economic Advisers.
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Office of Management and Budget.
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White House Office.
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National Security Council.
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the Cabinet (as a whole).
Question 12
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Which of the following did the framers want from a president?
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national leadership
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administration of the laws
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statesmanship in foreign affairs
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command of the military
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All these answers are correct.
Question 13
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The presidency was created by Article ________ of the U.S. Constitution.
Question 14
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According to the U.S. Constitution, if no one candidate receives a majority vote of the Electoral College, who chooses the president?
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the U.S. Senate
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the U.S. House of Representatives
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both the Senate and House in joint session
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the Supreme Court
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the people, in a runoff election
Question 15
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Under which president did the Electoral College selection process change to a popular vote?
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George Washington
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Thomas Jefferson
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James Madison
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Andrew Jackson
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Martin Van Buren
Question 16
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Which of the following presidents failed to win an electoral majority, but still won the presidency by decision of the House of Representatives?
Question 17
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After which party convention did the Democrats force major changes in the presidential nominating process?
Question 18
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Which of the following states gives one Electoral College vote to the winner of each congressional district and two Electoral College votes to the statewide winner?
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Texas
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Maine
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New York
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New Hampshire
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Iowa
Question 19
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Which one of the following did NOT serve as a state governor prior to being president?
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Ronald Reagan
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Bill Clinton
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John Kennedy
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George W. Bush
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Jimmy Carter
Question 20
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Which of the following is part of the Executive Office of the President?
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Office of Management and Budget
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National Economic Council
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National Security Council
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Office of Legislative Affairs
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All these answers are correct.
Question 21
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Which of the following is a formal constitutional requirement for becoming president?
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must be at least 40 years of age
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must be a resident in the United States for at least 10 years
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must be a natural-born citizen
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must be a white male
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must be a Protestant
Question 22
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Which of the following is NOT true of the 2004 presidential election?
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Howard Dean did not accept federal matching funds in the primaries.
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John Kerry accepted federal matching funds in the primaries.
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George W. Bush did not accept federal matching funds in the primaries.
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None of the three candidates (Dean, Kerry, and Bush) accepted federal matching funds in the primaries.
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None of these answers is correct.
Question 23
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Whereas today candidates rely on the media, previously they based their campaigns on the
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work of grass-roots organizers.
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party organizations.
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mass mailing of campaign literature.
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staging of personal appearances.
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efforts of friendly civilian and corporate group efforts.
Question 24
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Which of the following is true of the president's veto power?
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Presidents are limited in their use of the veto on legislation directly affecting national security or economic policy.
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The threat of a veto has never proven to be enough to make Congress bend to the president's demands.
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Congress can usually muster the two-thirds majority in each chamber required to override a presidential veto.
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The veto is as much a sign of presidential weakness as of strength, because it arises when Congress refuses to accept the president's ideas.
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President Bush used the veto less and less during the course of his presidency so as not to cause his popularity to fall.
Question 25
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Which of the following is a reason that the nation did not routinely need a strong president during most of the nineteenth century?
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the small policymaking role of the federal government
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the sectional nature of the nation's major issues
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the U.S. government's small role in world affairs
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all of these factors: the small policymaking role of the federal government; the sectional nature of the nation's major issues; and the U.S. government's small role in world affairs
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None of these answers is correct.
Question 26
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Which of the following happened in the presidential election of 2000?
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George W. Bush won the popular vote.
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Ralph Nader won Florida by 537 votes.
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Al Gore won a slim majority of votes in the Electoral College.
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Al Gore received 550,000 more votes nationally than Ralph Nader.
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Ralph Nader received 3 percent of the popular vote.
Question 27
Question
Which of the following was a provision of the War Powers Act?
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It prohibits the president from sending troops into combat.
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It requires hostilities to end within sixty days unless Congress extends the period.
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It requires Congress to consult with the president whenever feasible before passing measures that will restrict president-ordered military action.
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It requires the president to inform Congress within one month of the reason for the military action.
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It removes from Congress the power to restrict the timing or size of president-initiated military actions.
Question 28
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The presidency is an
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extraordinarily strong office with sufficient powers to enable the president to control national policy under virtually all circumstances.
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inherently weak office, in that presidents have almost no capacity to influence the major directions of national policy.
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office in which power is conditional, depending on whether the political support that gives force to presidential leadership exists or can be developed.
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office where power depends almost entirely on its occupant; strong leaders are always successful presidents, and weak ones never succeed.
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office where power is fairly constant, regardless of the occupant or the circumstances.
Question 29
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A president's accomplishments have largely depended on
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the margin of victory in the presidential campaign.
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whether circumstances favor strong presidential leadership.
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the president's ability to come up with good ideas.
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the president's skill at balancing the demands of competing groups.
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mid-term elections.
Question 30
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The honeymoon period occurs during
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a president's second term only.
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the first part of a president's term.
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the period of a president's term immediately following a successful foreign policy initiative.
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the period of a president's term immediately following a successful domestic policy initiative.
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the State of the Union address.