U.S. Government & Politics Ques - Princeton Review

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v3.1

The Princeton Review would like to givespecial thanks to the following individualsfor their hard work on and contributions tothis book: Mike Hernandez, Peter Hanink,Eliz Markowitz, Bryan Cunningham,Jennifer Amerkhanov, Kevin Kelly, DavidStradley, Chris Stobart, and David Stoll

Part I: Using This Book to

Improve Your AP Score

Preview: Your Knowledge, YourExpectations

Your Guide to Using This Book

How to Begin

Diagnostic Test

Diagnostic Test: Answers andExplanations

Part II: About the AP U.S.

Government and Politics Exam

The Structure of the AP U.S.Government and Politics Exam

How the AP U.S Government andPolitics Exam is Scored

How AP Exams Are Used

Other Resources

Designing Your Study Plan

Part III: Test-Taking

Strategies for the AP U.S Government and Politics Exam

1 How to Approach Multiple-Choice

5 Political Beliefs and Behaviors

6 Political Beliefs and Behaviors: Answersand Explanations

7 Political Parties, Interest Groups, andMass Media

8 Political Parties, Interest Groups, andMass Media: Answers and Explanations

9 Institutions of Government

10 Institutions of Government: Answersand Explanations

11 Public Policy

12 Public Policy: Answers and Explanations

13 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

14 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Answersand Explanations

Part V: Practice Exam

15 Practice Test

16 Practice Test: Answers and Explanations

Explanations

1 Rate your level of confidence aboutyour knowledge of the content tested bythe AP U.S Government and PoliticsExam.

A Very confident—I know it all

B I’m pretty confident, but thereare topics for which I could usehelp

C Not confident—I need quite a

bit of support.

D I’m not sure

2 If you have a goal score in mind,identify your goal score for the AP U.S.Government and Politics Exam

3 What do you expect to learn from thisbook? Circle all that apply to you

A A general overview of the testand what to expect

B Strategies for how to approachthe test

C To identify the content topicsfor which I need the mostpractice

D I’m not sure yet

YOUR GUIDE TO USING THIS BOOK

This book is organized to provide as much—

or as little—support as you need, so you canuse this book in whatever way will be mosthelpful for improving your score on the APU.S Government and Politics Exam

The remainder of Part I will provide

guidance on how to use thisbook

a diagnostic practice test, withanswers and explanations, tohelp you determine your

strengths and weaknesses

Part II of this book will

provide information about thestructure, scoring, and content ofthe AP U.S Government and

Politics Exam.

help you to make a study plan.point you toward additionalresources

Part III of this book will explore

the entire book This will depend on yourneeds and how much time you have Let’snow look how to make this determination.

HOW TO BEGIN

1 Take a Test

Before you can decide how to use thisbook, you need to take a practice test.Doing so will give you insight into yourstrengths and weaknesses, and the testwill also help you make an effectivestudy plan If you’re feeling test-phobic,remind yourself that a practice test is atool for diagnosing yourself—it’s nothow well you do that matters but howyou use information gleaned from yourperformance to guide your preparation

So before you read further, take the

full-length Diagnostic Test starting at thispage of this book Be sure to do so inone sitting, following the instructionsthat appear before the test.

2 Check Your Answers

Using the answer key on this page,count how many multiple-choice

questions you got right and how manyyou missed Don’t worry about theexplanations for now, and don’t worryabout why you missed questions We’llget to that soon

3 Reflect on the Test

After you take your first test, respond tothe following questions:

How much time did you spend onthe multiple-choice questions?

How much time did you spend oneach free-response question?How many multiple-choice

questions did you miss?

Do you feel you had the

knowledge to address the subjectmatter of the essays?

Do you feel you wrote

well-organized, thoughtful essays?Circle the content areas that weremost challenging for you anddraw a line through the ones inwhich you felt confident/did well.Constitutional

Underpinnings: Principles

of democratic government,framers, federalism, checksand balances, separation of

powers, etc.

Political Beliefs andBehaviors: Ideologicalbeliefs about government,political socialization,voting, mass movements,etc

Political Parties, InterestGroups, and Mass Media:Organization and

communication of citizens’interests and concerns,elections, PACs, etc

Institutions of NationalGovernment: Organizationand powers of major

political institutions, tiesbetween branches of

government, etc

Public Policy: Formation,

enactment,implementation, andinterpretation of policy;impact of federalism,interest groups, parties,elections, etc.

Civil Rights and CivilLiberties: U.S SupremeCourt decisions, judicialinterpretations, impact ofthe Fourteenth

Amendment, etc

4 Read Part II and Complete the Evaluation

Self-As discussed in the Guide section above,

Part II will provide information on howthe test is structured and scored It willalso explain the areas of content thatare tested

As you read Part II, re-evaluate youranswers to the questions above At theend of Part II, you will revisit andrefine the questions you answer above.You will then be able to make a studyplan, based on your needs and timeavailable, that will allow you to use thisbook most effectively.

5 Engage with Parts III and IV as

Needed

Notice the word engage You’ll get moreout of this book if you use it

intentionally than if you read it

passively, hoping for an improved scorethrough osmosis

Strategy chapters will help you thinkabout your approach to the questiontypes on this exam Part III will open

with a reminder to think about how youapproach questions now and then closewith a reflection section asking you tothink about how/whether you willchange your approach in the future.Drill chapters are organized according

to the content topics tested on theexam This allows you to focus on andgain mastery of the areas in which youneed the most practice

6 Take the Second Practice Test andAssess Your Performance

Once you feel you have developed thestrategies you need and gained theconfidence you may have lacked, youshould take the Practice Test in Part V.You should do so in one sitting,

following the instructions at the

beginning of the test

When you are done, check your answers

to the multiple-choice section with thecorrect responses beginning on thispage of this book Then, see if a teacherwill read your essays and provide

feedback for your improvement

Once you have taken the test, reflect onwhat areas you still need to work on,and revisit the chapters in this bookthat address those topics Through thistype of reflection and engagement, youwill continue to improve

7 Keep Working

As we will discuss in Part II, there areother resources available to you,

including a wealth of information on

AP Central You can continue to exploreareas that can stand to improve and

engage in those areas right up to theday of the test.

Diagnostic Test

Click here to download a PDF of the DiagnosticTest

AP® U.S Government and

multiple-choice questions Fill in only theovals for numbers 1 through 60 on youranswer sheet.

Indicate all of your answers to the choice questions on the answer sheet Nocredit will be given for anything written inthis exam booklet, but you may use thebooklet for notes or scratch work After youhave decided which of the suggestedanswers is best, completely fill in thecorresponding oval on the answer sheet.Give only one answer to each question Ifyou change an answer, be sure that theprevious mark is erased completely Here is

multiple-a smultiple-ample question multiple-and multiple-answer

Sample Question

Chicago is a

(A) state

(B) city

About Guessing

Many candidates wonder whether or not toguess the answers to questions about whichthey are not certain Multiple choice scoresare based on the number of questions

answered correctly Points are not deductedfor incorrect answers, and no points areawarded for unanswered questions Becausepoints are not deducted for incorrectanswer, you are encouraged to answer allmultiple-choice questions On any questionsyou do not know the answer to, you shouldeliminate as many choices as you can, andthen select the best answer among theremaining choices.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND

POLITICSSection ITime—45 minutes

60 Questions

Directions: Each of the questions of incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions Select the one that is best in each case and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.

1 Which of the following statements is

LEAST true of voters in federal, state,

and local elections?

(A) Voter turnout is lower in midterm

elections than it is in presidential

elections.

(B) Voters lacking party affiliation tend to vote less regularly than those with strong party affiliation.

(C) Young adults are less likely to vote than senior citizens.

(D) College educated individuals tend to vote more often than those with less than a high school education.

(E) Individuals are more likely to vote when they believe they know which

candidate will win an election.

2 A presidential veto would most likely

be overturned in which of the

following situations?

(A) Approximately 30% of the senators and representatives are members of the President’s political party.

(B) The majority of American citizens

support the proposed legislation.

(C) The chief justice of the Supreme Court was appointed by the president (D) The president’s successful reelection

campaign advocated bipartisanship (E) Before being sent to the president, the

bill was adopted by narrow margins in both houses of Congress.

Questions 3-4 are based on the tablebelow.

3 Which of the following conclusions is most supported by the table above? (A) Hispanic voters were more likely to vote

Republican than they were

Democratic.

(B) The majority of voters in the West voted Republican in all three elections (C) Half as many females voted

independently in 2000 than they did

in 2004.

(D) In all years, voters age 18-24 were more likely to vote Democratic than Republican.

(E) The majority of voters who attended trade school were more likely to vote Republican in 2008.

4 Which of the following can be inferred from the table above?

(A) White voters were most supportive of independent candidates in 2004 (B) In all elections, the majority of voters age

45-64 voted Republican.

(C) The Democratic base in the West grew consistently from 2000 to 2008 (D) Voters age 65 and older were less likely

to vote for an independent candidate

in 2008 than they were in 2004 (E) Male voters typically voted Democratic in

the period 2000-2008.

5 Which of the following is generally understood to be the purpose of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution? (A) It allows for trial by jury in common-law

6 Which of the following conclusions can

be drawn from the table above?

I The share of FDAP grants allocated to the Department of Health & Human Services increased between 1982 and 2002.

II FDAP grants comprised a larger share of state & municipal budgets in 1992 than in 1972.

III The amount of money allocated for FDAP grants increased from 1972 to 1992 (A) I only

(B) II only

(C) I and II only

(D) II and III only

(E) I, II, and III

7 When an appeal is made to the Supreme Court, the Court usually

(A) refuses to hear the appeal

(B) declares a mistrial

(C) orders the lower court to retry the case (D) rules in favor of the defendant

(E) overturns the decision of lower court

8 Which of the following may file an amicus curiae brief?

(A) A defendant who wants to know what witnesses the plaintiff plans to call (B) Former presidents who wish to send

instructions to the justices who they appointed.

(C) A senator who wants to impeach a Supreme Court justice.

(D) A plaintiff who demands that the defendant turn over evidence (E) Companies that are not involved in a

court case but wish to affect the outcome.

9 Which of the following principles is realized when the federal government provides most of the funding to a project in which multiple levels of government work together?

(A) Confederation

(B) Fiscal federalism

(C) Grant-based funding

(D) Dual federalism

(E) Executive agreement

10 Given the structure of the electoral college system, presidential candidates tend to

(A) avoid battleground states and focus their campaigns on “safe” states

(B) campaign more heavily in states with large populations

(C) spend more television advertising money

in the Plains States

(D) campaign extensively in states that heavily favor one party over the other (E) focus on winning the popular vote

11 In the House of Representatives, the Rules Committee

(A) determines both the rules of the House and conditions for legislative process (B) plays a pivotal role in the management of

the Library of Congress

(C) has jurisdiction over fisheries and wildlife

(D) determines what behavior is deemed ethical in the House

(E) is responsible for overseeing the federal budget process

12 The Commerce Clause of the

Constitution has been used to

(A) release detainees from prison following

unlawful arrest

(B) maintain the navy

(C) increase the power of the national government

(D) veto legislative bills of attainder

(E) declare war

13 Each of the two main political parties

of the United States is organized (A) as a single party with a presence at the

national level only

(B) into a federal structure in which state and local parties have no power (C) as a relatively independent organization

that exists at all levels of government (D) in a top-down fashion, so that

instructions are dispersed from the national level to the state and local levels

(E) as a coalition of entirely local parties