COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS QUIZ

United States: Political Regime

INSTRUCTIONS: Read and answer the following items carefully. Shade the letter of the
correct answer in your ZipGrade answer sheet.
The quiz that you are about to take is TEXT-DEPENDENT, meaning the items are
constructed based from the readings that have been provided and assigned to you. Specifically,
the main text is Cases in Comparative Politics by O’Neil, Fields and Share

1. What concept did the founding fathers 5. How many branches of government
establish in the democratic regime to exist at the national level in the U.S.
ensure government accountability? system?
a. Rule of the majority a. One
b. Rule of law b. Two
c. Authoritarian rule c. Three
d. Rule of force d. Four
2. Which institutions were established to 6. Who is responsible for interpreting the
weaken the power of the state in the Constitution in the U.S. political system?
liberal democratic political system?
a. The President
a. Centralized power b. The Senate
b. Federalism c. The House of Representatives
c. Single-party rule d. The Supreme Court
d. Absolute monarchy
7. How many members make up the U.S.
3. When was the U.S. Constitution Senate?
inaugurated?
a. 50
a. 1777 b. 75
b. 1787 c. 100
c. 1789 d. 125
d. 1799
8. What important power does Congress
4. Which document became the codified hold according to the Constitution?
embodiment of the U.S. rule of law?
a. Power of the President
a. Articles of Confederation b. Power of the purse
b. Declaration of Independence c. Power of the judiciary
c. Magna Carta d. Power of the military
d. U.S. Constitution

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9. Who has the authority to judge acts as a. President
unconstitutional in the U.S. political b. Senate
system? c. Supreme Court
d. House of Representatives
a. President
b. Senate 15. What power did the Supreme Court
c. House of Representatives establish in the Marbury v. Madison
d. Supreme Court case?
10. How many electoral votes are needed a. Legislative authority
to claim victory in the U.S. presidential b. Executive authority
election? c. Judicial review
d. Electoral authority
a. 100
b. 200 16. Which branch of government was
c. 270 intended to be dominant in the U.S.
d. 400 political system by the framers of the
Constitution?
11. Which system has favored the
emergence of two broadly defined parties a. The Executive
in the U.S. electoral system? b. The Legislature
c. The Judiciary
a. Proportional representation
d. The Cabinet
b. Plurality system
c. Direct democracy 17. What role does the president play in
d. Dictatorship U.S. foreign policy?
12. What process refers to the a. Commander in Chief
manipulation of district boundaries to b. Chief Justice
favor a political party in the U.S. electoral c. Speaker of the House
system? d. Senate Majority Leader
a. Redistricting 18. In what year did the federal court
b. Gerrymandering system of the U.S. begin resolving
c. Bipartisanship conflicts between state and federal laws?
d. Coalition building
a. 1603
13. How are senators elected in the U.S. b. 1703
system since 1913? c. 1803
d. 1903
a. Directly by the people
b. Indirectly by state legislatures 19. What is the purpose of the Electoral
c. Through electoral colleges College in U.S. presidential elections?
d. By the President
a. Directly elect the President
14. Who plays a prominent role in the b. Control the Senate
American political system due to the trust c. Determine the winner
in the rule of law? d. Appoint Supreme Court justices

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20. Which system divides authority
between self-governing states and the
national government in the U.S.?
a. Centralized system
b. Unitary system
c. Federal system
d. Confederal system

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Answer Key
1. b. Rule of law
2. b. Federalism
3. c. 1789
4. d. U.S. Constitution
5. c. Three
6. d. The Supreme Court
7. c. 100
8. b. Power of the purse
9. d. Supreme Court
10. c. 270
11. b. Plurality system
12. b. Gerrymandering
13. a. Directly by the people
14. c. Supreme Court
15. c. Judicial review
16. b. The Legislature
17. a. Commander in Chief
18. c. 1803
19. c. Determine the winner
20. c. Federal system

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