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POLS 2311 FINAL PREP 2026
ACTUAL QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS.
A writ of habeas corpus declares that
a. the government must show a legal cause for holding
someone in detention
b. the government cannot send a defendant to stand trial in a
geographically distant jurisdiction
c. a defendant in a felony trial must receive assistance from
legal counsel
d. capital punishment can be neither cruel nor unusual - correct
answer-a. the government must show a legal cause for holding
someone in detention
The doctrine of __________ requires courts to follow
authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case
a. stare decisis
b. habeas corpus
c. ex post facto
d. a prior - correct answer-a. stare decisis
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More than ________ percent of all cases in the US are heard in
state courts
a. 33
b. 50
c. 68
d. 97 - correct answer-d. 97
Cases _______ are NOT part of the original jurisdiction of the
US Supreme Court
a. between the US and one of the 50 states
b. involving foreign ambassadors
c. in which more than $1 million is at stake
d. brought by one state against citizens of another state or
against a foreign country - correct answer-c. in which more than
$1 million is at stake
The right of an individual or organization to initiate a court case,
on the basis of having a substantial stake in the outcome is
called privilege
a. true
b. false - correct answer-b. false
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In ________ cases, the losers cannot be fined or incarcerated
by the state
a. appellate
b. criminal law
c. civil law
d. common law - correct answer-c. civil law
Th three MOST important federal programs to assist the
working poor are
a. Social Services, Medicare, and TANF
b. the home mortgage deduction, the state and local tax
deduction, and the deduction for charitable contributions
c. the ACA, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and SNAP
d. Medicaid, AFDC, and Troubled Assets Relief Program -
correct answer-c. the ACA, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and
SNAP
Which of the following groups receives the MOST benefits from
government's social policies
a. the middle class and the elderly
b. the working poor
c. children
d. racial and ethnic minorities - correct answer-a. the middle
class and the elderly
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The No Child Left Behind Act of 2003 aimed to promote
equality of opportunity with which two provisions?
a. a provision that mandated a standardized national test to
evaluate all K-12 students and a provision that provided
scholarships for students in failing public schools to attend
private schools
b. a provision that required schools to show positive test results
for all subcategories of children and a provision that allowed
parents of children in failing schools to transfer their children to
better schools
c. a provision that mandated a standardized national test to
evaluate all K-12 students and a provision that created federally
run "scholarship academies" for low-income students that
scored highly on the national tests
d. a provision that outlawed all standardized testing in K-12
schools and a provision that mandated busing to integrate
racially homogenous schools - correct answer-b. a provision
that required schools to show positive test results for all
subcategories of children and a provision that allowed parents
of children in failing schools to transfer their children to better
schools
The power to raise or lower the tax rate is part of
a. fiscal policy
b. monetary policy
POLS 2311 FINAL PREP 2026
ACTUAL QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED
ANSWERS.
A writ of habeas corpus declares that
a. the government must show a legal cause for holding
someone in detention
b. the government cannot send a defendant to stand trial in a
geographically distant jurisdiction
c. a defendant in a felony trial must receive assistance from
legal counsel
d. capital punishment can be neither cruel nor unusual - correct
answer-a. the government must show a legal cause for holding
someone in detention
The doctrine of __________ requires courts to follow
authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case
a. stare decisis
b. habeas corpus
c. ex post facto
d. a prior - correct answer-a. stare decisis
, Page | 2
More than ________ percent of all cases in the US are heard in
state courts
a. 33
b. 50
c. 68
d. 97 - correct answer-d. 97
Cases _______ are NOT part of the original jurisdiction of the
US Supreme Court
a. between the US and one of the 50 states
b. involving foreign ambassadors
c. in which more than $1 million is at stake
d. brought by one state against citizens of another state or
against a foreign country - correct answer-c. in which more than
$1 million is at stake
The right of an individual or organization to initiate a court case,
on the basis of having a substantial stake in the outcome is
called privilege
a. true
b. false - correct answer-b. false
, Page | 3
In ________ cases, the losers cannot be fined or incarcerated
by the state
a. appellate
b. criminal law
c. civil law
d. common law - correct answer-c. civil law
Th three MOST important federal programs to assist the
working poor are
a. Social Services, Medicare, and TANF
b. the home mortgage deduction, the state and local tax
deduction, and the deduction for charitable contributions
c. the ACA, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and SNAP
d. Medicaid, AFDC, and Troubled Assets Relief Program -
correct answer-c. the ACA, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and
SNAP
Which of the following groups receives the MOST benefits from
government's social policies
a. the middle class and the elderly
b. the working poor
c. children
d. racial and ethnic minorities - correct answer-a. the middle
class and the elderly
, Page | 4
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2003 aimed to promote
equality of opportunity with which two provisions?
a. a provision that mandated a standardized national test to
evaluate all K-12 students and a provision that provided
scholarships for students in failing public schools to attend
private schools
b. a provision that required schools to show positive test results
for all subcategories of children and a provision that allowed
parents of children in failing schools to transfer their children to
better schools
c. a provision that mandated a standardized national test to
evaluate all K-12 students and a provision that created federally
run "scholarship academies" for low-income students that
scored highly on the national tests
d. a provision that outlawed all standardized testing in K-12
schools and a provision that mandated busing to integrate
racially homogenous schools - correct answer-b. a provision
that required schools to show positive test results for all
subcategories of children and a provision that allowed parents
of children in failing schools to transfer their children to better
schools
The power to raise or lower the tax rate is part of
a. fiscal policy
b. monetary policy
