Political Science Expert Answers & Study Resources

46. The general property tax is a stable, predictable source of funding, especially important characteristics for local governments, because many of their functions (such as police and fire protection, record keeping, and the provision of prisons, jails, schools, and libraries), are fairly constant from year to year. This stability can.

  11. Education is an issue of concern to so many people that it is hard to separate politics from it. 12. Since the end of World War II there has been a major expansion in the number and size of public four-year colleges. 13. Publicly funded colleges and universities usually can control.

41. ________ are financial instruments issued by state and local governments and bought by investors. In exchange for a cash payment at the time the bond is issued, the issuing government promises the investor that it will repay the loan with interest over time. A. Broker certificates B. Lines of credit C. Stocks D..

36. Utah does NOT support any form of legalized gambling. 37. Lotteries helped establish Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. 38. Medicaid accounted for 43% of federal grant money in 2007. 39. State and local governments spent $2.26 trillion in 2007. More than half of that total went to two functions: public safety and transportation. 40..

51. The most important source of revenue for state government is A. property tax. B. sales tax. C. value-added tax. D. individual income tax. E. user fees. 52. State and local officials are worried that the national government might impose a(n) ___ tax. A. exchange B. excise C. value-added D. graduated E. flat rate 53. The Continental Congress ran a lottery to.

21. Sales taxes are difficult to administer and produce a modest amount of revenue. 22. The state individual or personal income tax has been one of the fastest-growing revenue sources for most states in recent decades. 23. Only Hawaii and Utah do NOT permit some form of legalized gambling. 24. A property tax.

31. The ideal of a fluid tax rate that matches the rise and fall of the economy is defined as A. concurrent tax brackets. B. balanced taxing. C. market taxing. D. concurrent taxing. E. indexed tax brackets. 32. Born during the Great Depression, the _______ is the most important source of revenue for states, which collected.

  56. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text as among “other police forces” at the state level? A. Liquor law enforcement officials B. Fish and game wardens C. Fire wardens D. Special weapons and tactics E. Detective bureaus 57. Federal law enforcement agencies include which of the following? A. NGS B. NPS C. ATF D. GPR E. TVA 58..

16. Many state and local governments have privatized major parts of their A. public works system. B. technology needs. C. welfare services. D. health care services. E. All of the above. 17. By _________, personnel systems public managers may be able to get the people they really need. A. centralizing B. regulating C. deregulating D. streamlining E. decentralizing 18. Contracting with private.

  46. How many states do NOT provide additional benefits to families that have children after they were receiving welfare? A. 8 B. 50 C. 25 D. 20 E. 39 47. Philosophically, the issue of private charity initially fit well with traditional U.S. notions of limited government and self-reliance. That view changed dramatically during ___________. A. the Nixon.

56. Revenue bonds do NOT require A. large sums of money. B. a restrictive spending clause. C. voter approval. D. legislative oversight E. All of the above 57. What programs are taking up more and more federal resources? A. Education B. Defense C. Foreign policy D. Medicaid and health care E. Overseas engagements 58. The major source of general revenue for many.

6. Subsequent to 1939, many state and local governments enacted “_________” that enforced merit principles and restricted the political activities of their employees. A. little Pendleton Acts B. little Hatch Acts C. little Spoils Acts D. State Spoils Acts E. State Merit Acts 7. State personnel offices are concerned with all of the following EXCEPT A. administering.

Multiple Choice Questions 1. According to the text, state employees account for what ratio of the nation’s workforce? A. Five out of one hundred B. Three out of ten C. One out of seven D. One out of ten E. Five out of twenty 2. By 2016, more than 20.7 million American adults will work in the.

66. Health programs and elementary and secondary education absorb ________ percent of all state and local spending at the state and local levels. A. 5 B. 15 C. 25 D. 45 E. 65 67. In which of the following areas do state and local governments spend most of their funds? A. Education B. Health C. Public Safety D. Administration E. Infrastructure 68..

1. Rather than relying on their own employees, many state and local governments have “contracted out” public services to private sector organizations, including for-profit corporations as well as nonprofit agencies, in a practice called A. freelancing. B. freejacking. C. the spoils system. D. outsourcing. E. repurposing. 2. The Pendleton Act A. sought to eliminate political patronage. B. was.

  66. The Community Greens group helps residents A. live fuller, more eco-friendly lives. B. create and share parks in cities across the country. C. become educate on how to develop sources of green energy on their own. D. start a recycling program within their communities. E. All of the above 67. What state signed a deal.

  6. It has long been a U.S. tradition that education should be kept free of partisan political influences. 7. A reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act requires that to receive federal funds, states must design state standards and annually test children in grades.

  11. During the 1970s and 1980s, _________ became the federal government’s way to integrate the nation’s schools. A. schools built equidistantly between the inner city and suburbs B. vouchers C. the National Guard D. busing E. tax incentives 12. After much debate and encouragement from George W. Bush, Congress adopted in 2002 one of the most.

6. Wages for public employees constitute more than ________ of the cost of state and local government. A. one-fourth B. one-third C. one-half D. two-thirds E. four-fifths 7. A government seeks to identify the value of land and other properties through a process termed A. ad valorem. B. appraisal. C. assessment. D. levying. E. appropriation. 8. A hundred years ago, wealth primarily.

6. Local governments bear most of the costs of law enforcement. 7. Zoning regulations help a city or county government coordinate services with land use and to stabilize property values. 8. The group Community Greens helps individuals live fuller, more eco-friendly lives. 9. States have become more and more responsible for waste management. 10..

True/False Questions 1. Unlike the federal workforce, which actually has relatively few employees who work directly with citizens, almost all state and local employees have contact with the public. 2. Approximately one-fifth of the cost of state and local government is employees’ salaries. 3. Under a 1976 Supreme Court decision, states can and.

True/False Questions 1. In ancient Greece, Plato and Aristotle saw defense as a vital task of government. 2. Today free public education for grades 1 through 12 is an established practice in the United States. 3. The state is the basic unit responsible for public elementary and secondary education in the U.S. 4. In.

21. Which of the following is NOT one of the listed interpretations of the U.S. Constitution in terms of regulating the states’ ability to create revenue? A. No using taxing powers to deprive people of equal protection of the law B. No taxation of any company designated by a sitting governor C. No.

  36. Nebraska signed a pact with Cuba to export 11 million dollars worth of wheat. 37. State economic development is a key component to building a larger private service industry. 38. The basic model of environmental regulation has been for the state governments to set individual standards for water and air quality. 39..

  51. There are almost 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States, employing more than ____________ officers. A. 100,000 B. 350,000 C. 600,000 D. 400,000 E. 700,000 52. Inherent powers of state governments to pass laws to protect public health, safety, and welfare are defined by the text as _______. A. tacit-consent powers B. tyranny.

26. Sales taxes are only applied to luxury items and thus only apply to those who can afford them. 27. Alaska does NOT rely heavily on severance tax like Wyoming does. 28. North Dakota operates its own city-run liquor stores. 29. $5.7 billion in revenue came from taxes on gambling establishments in 2006. 30..

  16. No single program in the United States provides cash benefits to all poor people. 17. Programs that provide payments to poor families with children are typically what people mean by the term incentives. 18. Workfare programs are designed to help welfare recipients pay for expenses that go along with work like.

36. Taxes on gasoline, alcohol, and cigarettes are classified as ______ taxes. A. severance B. ad valorem C. excise D. flat E. sales 37. The text mentions “other sources” of state and local revenue which include all of the following EXCEPT A. building inspections. B. parking meters. C. operating courts. D. excise taxes. E. disposing of garbage. 38. For many years only.

  76. States pay what percentage of federal environmental programs? A. 50% B. 70% C. 80% D. 40% E. 60% 77. _______________ adopted in 2006 a law “requiring a 25 percent reduction in the state’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2020,” but in late 2007 was denied the waiver to do so. A. New York B. Boston C. California D. Philadelphia E. Seattle 78..

  6. What 1957 event prompted Congress to strengthen math and science education in the U.S.? A. The integration of the first high school in Arkansas B. The announcement of the Eisenhower doctrine C. The 1957 Civil Rights Act D. The launching of Sputnik E. The first round-the-world nonstop jet plane flight 7. In 1965, Congress adopted.

11. Which of the following is an example of value-added taxation? A. An employee notices that 8% of his latest paycheck has been taxed by the state government. B. A homeowner mails a check to the local government equal to 1% of her home’s appraised value. C. The accountant for a coal mining.

6. Successful privatization requires the contract between the government and the private company to define the parameters of the service in question to the satisfaction of both parties. 7. The Hatch Act of 1939 limited the activities of federal, state, and local employees whose salaries were supported by federal funds. 8. The.

True/False Questions 1. Only in the twentieth century did it become generally accepted that government should provide tax-supported education for everyone. 2. One method of school integration in the 1970s, which became controversial, was to give minority students transferable vouchers to achieve racial balance in the schools and overcome the effects of.

61. What percentage of general revenue do state and local governments receive from the  federal government? A. 15 B. 19 C. 16 D. 9 E. 20 62. Which of the following statements about property taxes is true? A. They are fairly flexible. B. They are easy to compare from community to community. C. They are often used to finance.

  26. A real state police system developed around 1914 with the Irish Police Academy of Boston. 27. For at least the first century of the United States’ existence, its cities were allowed to grow unchecked. 28. Before the automobile, long-distance commercial travel was conducted mainly by horse and cart. 29. Competition among states.

  61. The _________ consists of more than 46,000 miles of superhighways linking almost all cities with a population of 50,000 or more. A. National Matrix B. National System of Interstate and Defense Highways C. Eisenhower Interstate System D. Roosevelt Interstate System E. National Interstate Highway Initiative 62. In January 2008, the National Surface Transportation Policy and.

11. Texas is the only state that has NOT privatized its human services sector. 12. The merit system was developed to counteract the discrepancies of the patronage system. 13. The U.S. Constitution does NOT dictate where state and local governments are to find revenue. 14. Out of hundreds of disputes, courts have decided.

Multiple Choice Questions 1. According to the text, which of the following is NOT a heavy expenditure drain for state and local governments? A. Education B. Welfare and health-related matters C. Highway and transportation systems D. Safety and law enforcement E. Beautification 2. According to the text, which of the following is a primary reason that the.

16. In 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal constitutional requirement that the amount spent per pupil in each school district be the same. 17. Real property rather than personal property is the chief beneficiary of many local services, such as fire protection. 18. The general property tax is an unstable,.

26. The valuation a government places on property for the purposes of taxation is defined as A. ad valorem. B. appraisal. C. assessment. D. levying. E. appropriation. 27. Several state courts have ruled that wide differences between school districts in per-pupil expenditures are inconsistent with the equal protection clause of the ________ Amendment. A. Sixteenth B. Ninth C. Fourteenth D..

  21. A responsibility contract is required for all welfare recipients. 22. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, twenty-five of the fifty states have designated a homeland security coordinator. 23. Highlighted by the text, the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership is a program that rewards states.

71. In the text, the economic resources a state may tax are referred to as A. consumables. B. avenues of income. C. revenues. D. fiscal capacities. E. expendables. 72. The per capita incomes for Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts were more than A. 50,000 B. 40,000 C. 35,000 D. 25,000 E. 20,000 73. Which of the following are hard or even impossible.

True/False Questions 1. Merit systems are generally administered by the office of state personnel. 2. Merit systems often are overly centralized and regulated; which can lead to difficulties when trying to retain and recruit valuable employees. 3. State and local government often rely on their own employees to conduct their will and they.

11. In the state of Kentucky it is often the rule of thumb to hire road construction crews from the private sector to do road work. What is this an example of? A. Privatization. B. Outsourcing. C. Service contracting. D. Decentralizing services. E. All of the above 12. Which of the following is NOT an advantage,.

  71. Which of the following was NOT a federally adopted environmental plan of the 1970s? A. Superfund B. The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 C. The Clean Air Act of 1970 D. The Coal Usage Reduction Act of 1977 E. The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 72. Which president below created the U.S. Environmental.

6. Public higher education has traditionally been provided by A. religious institutions. B. the federal government. C. the states. D. county government. E. a national educational tax since 1967. 7. Land-grant universities including Michigan State and the University of Georgia were created by A. the No Child Left Behind Act. B. the Homestead Act of 1860. C. the Morrill.

  31. Only when the automobile was developed was there an urge for paved roads. 32. Zoning is the only form of community developing and planning. 33. A way in which to limit growth is to place building restrictions and requirements for new growth. 34. The federal government has supported highway construction since 1916. 35..

31. When states want to build new schools they often just apply for a grant from the government to avoid borrowing money. 32. Although education does use much of the state funds, Medicaid uses the most federal funds. 33. The most important revenue for states is the property tax. 34. Excise tax is.

11. When we refer to the inherent power of states to use physical force if necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens, we are talking about ______________ powers. A. inherent B. judicial C. police D. regulatory E. federal 12. For states, it is essential to have a large tax base for _______________. A..

6. Some cities have started using a payroll tax to bolster revenue. 7. Bonds are financial instruments issued by the state and local government and bought by investors. 8. Property taxes are based on land, houses, and the contents of them, respectively. 9. State and local governments spend most of their funds on.