POLS 1101 COMPREHENSIVE ANSWERS AND
QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔Which of the following would submit an amicus curiae brief? - ✔✔interest group
✔✔The Rule of Four refers to the number of - ✔✔Supreme Court justices who must
agree to grant a case certiorari in order for the case to be heard
✔✔Although judges are bound to follow previous legal interpretations, their political
views still matter because: - ✔✔there are often multiple legal justifications for any
decision in a case
✔✔The current national debt is - ✔✔21 trillion dollars
✔✔What are the top three things that the government spends money on? - ✔✔Defense,
Social Security, Healthcare
✔✔What is the average cost for one year of healthcare for someone over 85 years old?
- ✔✔35 thousand dollars
✔✔What is a deficit? - ✔✔the amount by which the government's spending exceeds its
revenue in a given year (spending>revenue)
✔✔What is an entitlement? - ✔✔any federal government program that provides benefits
to Americans who meet requirements specified by law (ex- Social Security, veterans
compensation, etc.)
✔✔Medicare is... - ✔✔the federal health care plan that provides coverage for retired
Americans for hospital care, medical care, and prescription drugs
✔✔Medicaid is... - ✔✔entitlement program that provides healthcare for low-income
Americans who otherwise could not afford healthcare
, ✔✔Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - ✔✔value of a country's economic output taken as
a whole and used to measure growth of the economy
✔✔mandatory spending - ✔✔expenditures that are required by law
✔✔discretionary spending - ✔✔expenditures that can be cut from the budget without
changing the underlying law
✔✔ A system of checks and balances - ✔✔gives each branch of the national
government some power over the others
✔✔For James Madison, the notion that government is necessary depended strongly on:
- ✔✔his belief that people are self-interested and could not be trusted to rule
themselves
✔✔America predominantly uses which form of democracy? - ✔✔representative
✔✔When group interests conflict with an individual's interests, a(n) ________ occurs? -
✔✔collective action problem
✔✔One of the most important public goods is: - ✔✔national defense
✔✔Free riding tends to compromise: - ✔✔collective action
✔✔A cohesive set of ideas and beliefs used for organizing the political world is a(n): -
✔✔ideology
✔✔In November of 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the United States' first
written constitution known as: - ✔✔Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
✔✔Which part of the national government was formed under the Articles of
Confederation? - ✔✔special panels of judges to resolve disputes between states
✔✔A faction is a group of ______that seek to control government power to ______ -
✔✔minority or majority interests; pursue their own interests
✔✔The federalists generally: - ✔✔supported increasing the authority of the national
government
✔✔For James Madison, the problem associated with a tyranny of the majority was that:
- ✔✔large factions might capture control of the government and ignore the rights of
those in the minority
QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔Which of the following would submit an amicus curiae brief? - ✔✔interest group
✔✔The Rule of Four refers to the number of - ✔✔Supreme Court justices who must
agree to grant a case certiorari in order for the case to be heard
✔✔Although judges are bound to follow previous legal interpretations, their political
views still matter because: - ✔✔there are often multiple legal justifications for any
decision in a case
✔✔The current national debt is - ✔✔21 trillion dollars
✔✔What are the top three things that the government spends money on? - ✔✔Defense,
Social Security, Healthcare
✔✔What is the average cost for one year of healthcare for someone over 85 years old?
- ✔✔35 thousand dollars
✔✔What is a deficit? - ✔✔the amount by which the government's spending exceeds its
revenue in a given year (spending>revenue)
✔✔What is an entitlement? - ✔✔any federal government program that provides benefits
to Americans who meet requirements specified by law (ex- Social Security, veterans
compensation, etc.)
✔✔Medicare is... - ✔✔the federal health care plan that provides coverage for retired
Americans for hospital care, medical care, and prescription drugs
✔✔Medicaid is... - ✔✔entitlement program that provides healthcare for low-income
Americans who otherwise could not afford healthcare
, ✔✔Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - ✔✔value of a country's economic output taken as
a whole and used to measure growth of the economy
✔✔mandatory spending - ✔✔expenditures that are required by law
✔✔discretionary spending - ✔✔expenditures that can be cut from the budget without
changing the underlying law
✔✔ A system of checks and balances - ✔✔gives each branch of the national
government some power over the others
✔✔For James Madison, the notion that government is necessary depended strongly on:
- ✔✔his belief that people are self-interested and could not be trusted to rule
themselves
✔✔America predominantly uses which form of democracy? - ✔✔representative
✔✔When group interests conflict with an individual's interests, a(n) ________ occurs? -
✔✔collective action problem
✔✔One of the most important public goods is: - ✔✔national defense
✔✔Free riding tends to compromise: - ✔✔collective action
✔✔A cohesive set of ideas and beliefs used for organizing the political world is a(n): -
✔✔ideology
✔✔In November of 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the United States' first
written constitution known as: - ✔✔Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
✔✔Which part of the national government was formed under the Articles of
Confederation? - ✔✔special panels of judges to resolve disputes between states
✔✔A faction is a group of ______that seek to control government power to ______ -
✔✔minority or majority interests; pursue their own interests
✔✔The federalists generally: - ✔✔supported increasing the authority of the national
government
✔✔For James Madison, the problem associated with a tyranny of the majority was that:
- ✔✔large factions might capture control of the government and ignore the rights of
those in the minority
