I85PREP
⌘ K
CLEP History of the United States II study materials
CLEP History of the United States II study resources

CLEP History of the United States II practice questions

One question at a time. Build your CLEP History of the United States II understanding.

First 50 of 198 questions. Each one lists the choices, the correct answer, and an explanation. The checker at the top of this page saves progress in this browser when it is available.

Continue in the practice tool above to load more questions, 50 at a time.

Question 1Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 was significant primarily because it

  1. authorized federal regulation of railroad rates
  2. created the first federal tax on individual wages
  3. established merit-based hiring for many federal jobs Correct answer.
  4. set a maximum length for the industrial workday

Explanation

Passed after the assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker, the Pendleton Act created the Civil Service Commission and placed a growing share of federal positions under competitive examination rather than patronage. It marked the beginning of the professional, merit-based federal bureaucracy. Later statutes, not this one, addressed taxation, railroad rates, and hours.

Question 2Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, changed the Constitution by

  1. granting Congress the power to levy an income tax
  2. requiring the direct popular election of U.S. senators Correct answer.
  3. extending the suffrage to women in federal elections
  4. limiting presidents to two elected terms in office

Explanation

Originally senators were chosen by state legislatures, a system that deadlocked frequently and left Senate seats vacant. The Seventeenth Amendment transferred the choice to the voters of each state. Income tax authority came from the Sixteenth Amendment, and women's suffrage from the Nineteenth.

Question 3Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Nineteenth Amendment, ratified in 1920, provided that

  1. men and women must receive equal pay for equal work
  2. the right to vote could not be denied on account of sex Correct answer.
  3. poll taxes could not be required in federal elections
  4. the national voting age could not exceed eighteen

Explanation

The Nineteenth Amendment completed a decades-long suffrage campaign by barring the denial of the franchise on the basis of sex. It applied to both state and federal elections. Poll taxes were addressed by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, and pay equity by the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

Question 4Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Social Security Act of 1935 established which of the following?

  1. A federal old-age insurance system Correct answer.
  2. The Civilian Conservation Corps
  3. The Medicare program for the elderly
  4. The Tennessee Valley Authority

Explanation

The Social Security Act created a contributory old-age pension financed by payroll taxes, along with unemployment insurance and federal aid to dependent children and the blind. Together these programs formed the core of the American welfare state. Medicare was added in 1965, while the TVA and CCC were created in 1933.

Question 5Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court held that

  1. the Fourteenth Amendment did not apply to public education
  2. states could segregate schools if the facilities were physically equal
  3. racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal and unconstitutional Correct answer.
  4. federal courts lacked authority to order desegregation plans

Explanation

A unanimous Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson's separate-but-equal doctrine as applied to public education, reasoning that segregation by law generated a sense of inferiority that harmed Black students. The following year the Court required desegregation to proceed with all deliberate speed.

Question 6Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

A central enforcement mechanism of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was

  1. a national requirement that voters present photo identification
  2. abolition of the Electoral College in covered states
  3. automatic restoration of voting rights to people convicted of felonies
  4. federal review of changes to voting laws in covered jurisdictions Correct answer.

Explanation

Section 5 required jurisdictions with a history of discriminatory practices to obtain federal approval, or preclearance, before changing any voting law or procedure. Section 4 supplied the coverage formula that determined which jurisdictions were subject to review. The Act also suspended literacy tests and authorized federal examiners.

Question 7Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment (1971) was ratified primarily in response to

  1. the argument that people old enough to be drafted should be able to vote Correct answer.
  2. the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
  3. Supreme Court decisions striking down literacy tests
  4. pressure to abolish the poll tax in state elections

Explanation

During the Vietnam War era, supporters argued that eighteen-year-olds who could be conscripted should not be denied the ballot. Congress first lowered the voting age by statute in 1970, and the Supreme Court held that Congress could do so for federal but not state elections, prompting a constitutional amendment.

Question 8Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was intended chiefly to

  1. outlaw contracts and combinations that restrain trade Correct answer.
  2. regulate the safety of food and medicinal products
  3. establish a central bank for the United States
  4. guarantee workers the right to bargain collectively

Explanation

The Sherman Act made illegal contracts, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade and prohibited monopolization or attempts to monopolize. It was the first federal statute aimed at concentrated economic power, though early enforcement was inconsistent. Food safety, banking, and labor organizing were addressed by other laws.

Question 9Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created

  1. a national income tax collected by the Treasury
  2. a central banking system with regional reserve banks Correct answer.
  3. a government corporation that lent money to homeowners
  4. a federal agency to insure individual bank deposits

Explanation

The Act established the Federal Reserve System, combining a central board in Washington with twelve regional reserve banks, and gave the system power to issue currency and influence credit conditions. It was designed to prevent the kind of banking panics that had produced the Panic of 1907. Deposit insurance and homeowner lending came during the New Deal.

Question 10Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935), the Supreme Court

  1. invalidated the Wagner Act's protections for union organizing
  2. sustained the processing tax that funded the Agricultural Adjustment Act
  3. upheld the National Industrial Recovery Act under the commerce power
  4. struck down the National Recovery Administration's industry codes Correct answer.

Explanation

The Court held that the National Industrial Recovery Act improperly delegated legislative power to the president and that the poultry business before it was largely intrastate and thus beyond the commerce power. The decision helped prompt Roosevelt's court-packing proposal. The AAA was struck down in a separate case the following year, and the Wagner Act was upheld in 1937.

Question 11Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

President Franklin Roosevelt's 1937 "court-packing" proposal would have

  1. given Congress the power to reverse Supreme Court rulings
  2. created a separate court to review New Deal legislation
  3. added a new justice for each sitting justice over seventy Correct answer.
  4. forced Supreme Court justices to retire at age seventy

Explanation

The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill would have let the president appoint an additional justice, up to six, for every member of the Court older than seventy who had not retired. Critics saw it as retaliation for decisions striking down New Deal programs, and the Senate rejected it. The episode damaged Roosevelt's political standing even as the Court began upholding his programs.

Question 12Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

  1. authorized federal examiners to register voters in covered counties
  2. required states to submit new election laws for federal approval
  3. prohibited job discrimination based on race, sex, or religion Correct answer.
  4. barred racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodations

Explanation

Title VII banned discrimination in hiring, pay, and promotion on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce it. The other listed provisions describe Title II and the voting provisions of the same statute.

Question 13Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964 was significant because it

  1. required the withdrawal of American troops within ninety days
  2. declared war on North Vietnam by a formal congressional vote
  3. authorized the president to use military force in Southeast Asia Correct answer.
  4. committed the United States to a negotiated political settlement

Explanation

Passed after reported attacks on U.S. destroyers, the resolution approved the use of armed force to assist South Vietnam and to prevent further aggression, functioning as a broad authorization rather than a declaration of war. Presidents cited it to justify escalation, and Congress repealed it in 1971.

Question 14Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to

  1. obtain Senate ratification of executive agreements on troop deployments
  2. submit all military budgets to a joint congressional committee
  3. seek a formal declaration of war before committing armed forces
  4. notify Congress within 48 hours and end hostilities within 60 days without approval Correct answer.

Explanation

Enacted over President Nixon's veto, the resolution requires the president to report to Congress within forty-eight hours of introducing forces into hostilities and to terminate the action within sixty days, extendable by thirty, unless Congress authorizes continued involvement. It was intended to reassert congressional war powers after Vietnam.

Question 15Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court

  1. rejected fixed quotas but permitted race as one admissions factor Correct answer.
  2. banned all consideration of race in public university admissions
  3. upheld fixed racial quotas in medical school admissions
  4. required congressional approval of all affirmative action programs

Explanation

A divided Court struck down a set-aside of seats for minority applicants while allowing admissions officers to consider race as one factor among many in pursuing educational diversity. This compromise shaped affirmative action doctrine for decades. Later decisions narrowed but did not immediately eliminate the diversity rationale.

Question 16Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947

  1. set a federal minimum wage for interstate industries
  2. required employers to bargain with unions chosen by a majority
  3. created a federal agency to mediate railway labor disputes
  4. outlawed secondary boycotts and closed-shop agreements Correct answer.

Explanation

Enacted over President Truman's veto, Taft-Hartley amended the Wagner Act by restricting union tactics such as secondary boycotts, jurisdictional strikes, and closed shops, and by allowing states to pass right-to-work laws. It also created an eighty-day cooling-off period in national emergency disputes.

Question 17Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Hatch Act of 1939 restricted the political activities of

  1. officers of national political parties
  2. federal civil service employees Correct answer.
  3. state and local elected officials
  4. members of the Electoral College

Explanation

The Hatch Act limited federal employees in the executive branch from engaging in partisan political activity, such as running for partisan office or soliciting campaign contributions, while on duty. It responded to concerns that relief programs were being used to build political support. State and local officials are generally not covered.

Question 18Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Medicare and Medicaid programs were created by

  1. the Social Security Act of 1935
  2. the Public Health Service Act of 1944
  3. the Social Security Amendments of 1965 Correct answer.
  4. the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964

Explanation

The 1965 amendments added Medicare, a hospital and medical insurance program for the elderly under Social Security, and Medicaid, a federal-state program of health coverage for the poor. Both were centerpieces of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The 1935 Act had created the original old-age pension system.

Question 19Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In Bush v. Gore (2000), the Supreme Court

  1. struck down the winner-take-all rule for electoral votes
  2. ordered a statewide manual recount of disputed Florida ballots
  3. halted the Florida recount, effectively deciding the election for Bush Correct answer.
  4. ordered a new popular vote in Florida under federal supervision

Explanation

The Court held that the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court lacked uniform standards and violated equal protection, and that no constitutional recount could be completed by the safe-harbor deadline. The decision ended the recount and left Bush with Florida's electoral votes and the presidency.

Question 20Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Supreme Court

  1. struck down state laws requiring voters to present photo identification
  2. invalidated the coverage formula that triggered federal preclearance Correct answer.
  3. upheld the Voting Rights Act's coverage formula without change
  4. extended the preclearance requirement to all fifty states

Explanation

The Court held that the 1965 coverage formula, last updated in the 1970s, no longer reflected current conditions and therefore exceeded Congress's enforcement power under the Fifteenth Amendment. Preclearance itself remained on the books but applied to no jurisdiction until Congress enacted a new formula.

Question 21Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

Wickard v. Filburn (1942) expanded federal regulatory power by holding that

  1. federal farm programs required approval by state legislatures
  2. Congress could not set quotas on agricultural production
  3. even wheat grown for home use could affect interstate commerce Correct answer.
  4. the commerce power did not reach manufacturing or production

Explanation

The Court reasoned that although Filburn's wheat was consumed on his own farm, the aggregate effect of many such small producers on the national wheat market was substantial, bringing the activity within the commerce power. This aggregation principle became a foundation for broad federal regulation.

Question 22Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) held that the president

  1. could remove any executive branch official at will
  2. could not remove a Federal Trade Commissioner except for cause Correct answer.
  3. needed Senate consent to dismiss a cabinet secretary
  4. could abolish independent agencies by executive order

Explanation

The Court distinguished Myers v. United States by holding that multimember commissions exercising quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions are not purely executive, so Congress may limit removal to specified causes such as inefficiency or neglect of duty. The decision underpins the independence of modern regulatory agencies.

Question 23Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In United States v. Nixon (1974), the Supreme Court ruled that

  1. the president may withhold evidence whenever national security is invoked
  2. a president may be impeached only for indictable criminal offenses
  3. executive privilege shields all presidential conversations from subpoena
  4. executive privilege is qualified and cannot block evidence in a criminal trial Correct answer.

Explanation

The Court acknowledged a presumptive privilege for confidential presidential communications but held it was not absolute and gave way to the need for evidence in a criminal prosecution. Nixon was ordered to release the tapes, and he resigned soon afterward.

Question 24Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

In Clinton v. City of New York (1998), the Supreme Court struck down the Line Item Veto Act because it

  1. was not renewed by Congress within the required ten years
  2. delegated too much authority to the budget office
  3. applied only to appropriations bills rather than tax bills
  4. let the president effectively amend statutes, violating presentment Correct answer.

Explanation

The Court held that canceling individual spending items after enactment amounted to amending or repealing parts of duly enacted statutes, a power the Constitution grants only through the ordinary bicameral passage and presentment process. Congress cannot authorize the president to rewrite a law it has passed.

Question 25Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

South Dakota v. Dole (1987) upheld Congress's power to

  1. compel state legislatures to pass laws implementing federal policy
  2. tax one state's exports for the benefit of another
  3. require state officers to enforce a federal gun-control statute
  4. condition highway funds on a state's minimum drinking age Correct answer.

Explanation

The Court held that Congress may attach conditions to federal grants under its spending power so long as the conditions serve the general welfare, are stated clearly, relate to the federal interest, do not induce unconstitutional action, and are not so coercive as to amount to compulsion. Withholding five percent of highway funds was pressure, not compulsion.

Question 26Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 established which principle for federal employment?

  1. Merit appointment through competitive examinations Correct answer.
  2. Appointment based on seniority within a department
  3. Appointment based on a quota system for each state
  4. Appointment limited to veterans of the Union Army

Explanation

The Pendleton Act created the Civil Service Commission and required competitive examinations for many federal jobs, reducing the spoils system. It followed the assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker.

Question 27Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Seventeenth Amendment (1913) changed the Constitution by providing for

  1. a federal income tax
  2. the abolition of the Electoral College
  3. national prohibition of alcohol
  4. the direct election of U.S. senators Correct answer.

Explanation

Before the Seventeenth Amendment, state legislatures chose U.S. senators; the amendment shifted selection to popular vote. Prohibition came with the Eighteenth Amendment and the income tax with the Sixteenth.

Question 28Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) guaranteed

  1. the right to vote regardless of poll-tax payment
  2. the direct election of senators
  3. the right to vote regardless of sex Correct answer.
  4. electoral votes for the District of Columbia

Explanation

The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised women nationwide by prohibiting denial of the vote on account of sex. Poll taxes were addressed by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, and D.C. electoral votes by the Twenty-Third.

Question 29Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Social Security Act of 1935 created

  1. a federal minimum wage and maximum-hour rules
  2. old-age pensions and unemployment insurance Correct answer.
  3. a national system of health insurance for all workers
  4. the Medicare and Medicaid programs

Explanation

The Social Security Act established social insurance programs financed by payroll taxes, including old-age pensions and unemployment compensation. National health insurance was not enacted, and Medicare and Medicaid came in 1965.

Question 30Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Twenty-Second Amendment (1951) limits

  1. the use of poll taxes in federal elections
  2. the president to two elected terms Correct answer.
  3. presidential succession to the Speaker of the House
  4. the voting age to persons eighteen or older

Explanation

Ratified after Franklin Roosevelt's four elections, the Twenty-Second Amendment bars a president from being elected more than twice. The voting age and poll-tax issues were handled by later amendments.

Question 31Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) held that

  1. federal courts may order busing to achieve integration
  2. the separate-but-equal doctrine is constitutional
  3. segregation in public schools violates equal protection Correct answer.
  4. affirmative-action admissions policies are unconstitutional

Explanation

Brown overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in education, holding that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal and violate the Equal Protection Clause. Court-ordered busing developed later as a remedy.

Question 32Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970 primarily to

  1. administer the Clean Air Act of 1963
  2. consolidate federal pollution programs Correct answer.
  3. manage the national park system
  4. regulate the safety of nuclear weapons

Explanation

President Nixon's reorganization plan brought federal air, water, and waste programs together in a single independent agency. National parks are managed by the Park Service, and nuclear-weapons safety falls to defense and energy agencies.

Question 33Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment (1964) outlawed

  1. poll taxes in federal elections Correct answer.
  2. literacy tests in federal elections
  3. white primaries in federal elections
  4. grandfather clauses in federal elections

Explanation

The Twenty-Fourth Amendment banned requiring payment of a poll tax as a condition for voting in federal elections. Literacy tests and white primaries were addressed by statute and court decisions rather than this amendment.

Question 34Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 required railroads to

  1. sell their tracks to the federal government
  2. provide free passes to members of Congress
  3. pay a federal tax on all passenger tickets
  4. charge reasonable and nondiscriminatory rates Correct answer.

Explanation

The act created the Interstate Commerce Commission and barred practices such as rebates and rate discrimination. It regulated railroad rates but did not nationalize the industry or impose a ticket tax.

Question 35Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 attempted to

  1. ban former members of Congress from working as lobbyists
  2. limit campaign contributions made by lobbying groups
  3. create a new federal agency to license all lobbyists
  4. require lobbyists to register and disclose finances Correct answer.

Explanation

This was the first general federal lobbying-disclosure law, requiring lobbyists to register with Congress and report finances. It did not ban lobbying, create a licensing agency, or set campaign-contribution limits.

Question 36Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

Reynolds v. Sims (1964) established the principle that

  1. racial gerrymandering is always unconstitutional
  2. Congressional districts must be drawn by independent commissions
  3. the federal courts cannot review reapportionment
  4. state legislative districts must have equal populations Correct answer.

Explanation

Reynolds applied the one-person, one-vote rule to state legislatures under the Equal Protection Clause. Baker v. Carr had already made reapportionment justiciable, and independent commissions were not required.

Question 37Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Lemon test, announced in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), requires that government action

  1. be approved by a majority of Congress
  2. be limited to the states under the Tenth Amendment
  3. serve a secular purpose and avoid excessive entanglement Correct answer.
  4. avoid any contact with religious organizations

Explanation

The Lemon test asked whether a law had a secular purpose, whether its primary effect advanced or inhibited religion, and whether it caused excessive entanglement. It governed Establishment Clause cases for decades.

Question 38Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 was designed to

  1. give the public access to federal agency records Correct answer.
  2. protect the confidentiality of presidential deliberations
  3. require the news media to disclose their sources
  4. create a federal privacy board

Explanation

FOIA established a presumption of public access to executive agency records, subject to specific exemptions. It did not broadly shield presidential deliberations or regulate news sources.

Question 39Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was enacted chiefly in response to

  1. Nixon's refusal to spend appropriated funds Correct answer.
  2. the Watergate burglary
  3. the growth of the national debt in the 1980s
  4. the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Nixon

Explanation

The act limited presidential impoundment, created the Congressional Budget Office, and established a new budget process. It responded to President Nixon's withholding of funds Congress had appropriated.

Question 40Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 created

  1. the Federal Election Commission
  2. the Office of Management and Budget
  3. the House Ethics Committee
  4. independent counsel and financial disclosure Correct answer.

Explanation

This post-Watergate law provided for an independent counsel to investigate high officials and required financial disclosure. The FEC and OMB were created earlier, and congressional ethics committees predated it.

Question 41Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 did which of the following?

  1. nationalized the major airlines
  2. set uniform international airfares
  3. phased out control over routes and fares Correct answer.
  4. created the Federal Aviation Administration

Explanation

The act dismantled the Civil Aeronautics Board's economic regulation of routes and fares, relying more on market competition. The FAA had been created in 1958 for safety regulation.

Question 42Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

  1. created the Border Patrol
  2. established a guest-worker program with Mexico
  3. ended the deportation of undocumented immigrants
  4. abolished the national-origins quota system Correct answer.

Explanation

The Hart-Celler Act replaced the national-origins quota system with preferences based on family reunification and skills. It did not create the Border Patrol or end deportation.

Question 43Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

  1. established the Social Security program
  2. expanded federal cash assistance without time limits
  3. created the Medicaid program
  4. replaced AFDC with TANF and imposed work requirements Correct answer.

Explanation

This welfare-reform law ended the open-ended entitlement to cash assistance, replacing AFDC with block-granted TANF and adding work requirements and time limits. Medicaid and Social Security were created earlier.

Question 44Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

  1. tied federal aid to standardized testing and accountability Correct answer.
  2. eliminated the Department of Education entirely
  3. prohibited states from adopting their own academic standards
  4. provided free college tuition to all high school graduates

Explanation

This reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act required annual testing and adequate yearly progress in exchange for federal aid. It did not eliminate the Education Department or bar state standards.

Question 45Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

  1. established a new federal disability insurance program
  2. created the Social Security Disability Insurance program for all workers
  3. required all public buildings to be owned by the federal government
  4. barred discrimination against disabled people in jobs and public places Correct answer.

Explanation

The ADA extended civil-rights protections to people with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, and other areas. Disability insurance programs predated the act and did not depend on federal ownership of buildings.

Question 46Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 did which of the following?

  1. created the Congressional Budget Office
  2. gave Congress sole responsibility for estimating revenues
  3. required an annual presidential budget and created the GAO Correct answer.
  4. established the line-item veto

Explanation

The act created the Bureau of the Budget, a precursor to the Office of Management and Budget, and the General Accounting Office. It shifted responsibility for preparing a unified federal budget to the president.

Question 47Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946

  1. gave Congress the power to appoint agency heads
  2. abolished independent regulatory commissions
  3. established notice-and-comment rulemaking for agencies Correct answer.
  4. required all agency regulations to be approved by the Supreme Court

Explanation

The APA set basic procedures for federal agencies, including public notice, comment on proposed rules, and standards for judicial review. It did not abolish agencies or give Congress appointment power.

Question 48Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Congressional Review Act of 1996 allows Congress to

  1. impound funds appropriated by prior Congresses
  2. appoint the heads of independent agencies
  3. overturn Supreme Court decisions by statute
  4. disapprove agency rules through expedited procedures Correct answer.

Explanation

The CRA created a fast-track procedure for Congress to nullify major federal regulations through a joint resolution. It does not affect Supreme Court decisions or agency appointments.

Question 49Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 was intended to

  1. give states the power to veto federal laws
  2. curb unfunded federal requirements on states Correct answer.
  3. require Congress to fund all state programs
  4. eliminate the use of block grants

Explanation

The law requires cost estimates for mandates exceeding certain thresholds and creates procedural points of order in Congress. It aims to restrain, not eliminate, federal mandates on state and local governments.

Question 50Political institutions, behavior, and public policy

Buckley v. Valeo (1976) held that

  1. corporate independent expenditures may be banned
  2. Congress may ban all political contributions
  3. independent campaign spending limits violate free speech Correct answer.
  4. public financing of campaigns is unconstitutional

Explanation

The Court upheld contribution limits but struck down limits on independent expenditures as restrictions on political speech. It also upheld public financing, and corporate expenditures were addressed later in Citizens United.