Chapter 1,2,3,4 US Government
. The framers of the Constitution intended ____ to be the strongest branch(es) of government
Congress
How likely are voters to participate in state and local elections compared with national elections?
less likely
According to Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, the proper objective of government is to ensure
order
The Federalist papers were written by
a. Alexander Hamilton. b. John Jay. d. James Madison.
Dual federalism is the practice of
allowing the states and the federal government to exercise power separately in areas of legitimate concern to them.
The constitutional provision found in Article I, Section 8, which gives Congress the means to execute its powers, is an example of what type of power?
enumerated
The single most important factor leading to the Constitutional Convention was
inability of the national or state governments to maintain order under the Articles
The basic premise of federalism is that
two or more governments share power and authority over the same land and people.
The goal of the First Continental Congress was to
restore harmony between Britain and the colonies.
. The Supreme Court's interpretation of the commerce clause has historically
served to increase national power.
The constitutionality of the so-called Brady Bill was challenged by
several sheriffs.
A proponent of states' rights would argue that
the national government's powers should be interpreted narrowly.
Opponents of the Constitution demanded inclusion of the Bill of Rights because they feared abuse of power by
the national government.
The effect of national emergencies and judicial interpretations on federalism has been to
increase the power of the national government
The oldest objective of government is
maintaining order.
The state of nature refers to
society without government.
The Tenth Amendment gives what level(s) of government additional unwritten powers?
state
Including the Bill of Rights, the following number of amendments have been added to the Constitution
twenty-seven
....
...
America's massive interstate highway system was initiated during the ____ administration.
Eisenhower
Which metaphor best describes cooperative federalism?
a marble cake
Money awarded for broad, general purposes is called a ____ grant
block
The primary contribution of the Federalist papers is
their insight into the reasons for constitutional provisions.
The general conclusion of the Supreme Court in United States v. Lopez was that
there are limits to the national government's ability to regulate behavior based on the commerce clause
The following refrain was heard from some 20,000 protesters, many of them women, in October of 1932 as they demanded repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment:
"We want beer."
About how many constitutional amendments have been introduced in Congress since 1787?
10,000
The Constitutional article that enabled Alaska and Hawaii to become states is
Article IV
. Supporters of the Constitution named themselves
Federalists
An example of a totalitarian government is the government of
Nazi Germany
Larger states benefited most under what plan?
The virginia plan
According to the New Jersey Plan, how was representation to be structured in Congress?
There would be one house, and all states would have equal representation in it
The Declaration of Independence was based on input from many people, but its primary author was
Thomas Jefferson
John Locke's views on government are expressed in
Two Treatises on Government.
Federalism is a combination of which two ideas?
Unitary government and a confederation
A group of delegates to the Constitutional Convention proposed a powerful national government to replace the weak confederation of states. This was known as the
Virginia plan
Which metaphor best describes dual federalism?
a layer cake
A confederation can best be described as
a loose association of independent states.
The assignment in the Constitution of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches respectively is known as:
a separation of powers
A key component of the Virginia Plan was
a strong national legislature.
The Great Compromise provided for
a two-chamber legislature with equal representation for all states in one chamber and population based representation in the other.
When compared with the U.S. Constitution, most American state constitutions
are longer and more detailed
There is a concerted campaign across Europe to force the United States to terminate
capital punishment.
The constitutional provision that allows Congress to override the president's veto is an example of
checks and balances.
The Greek word demos, which is the root of the term democracy, means
common people
The Constitution is written in language that is
deliberately vague as a result of compromise that allows for flexibility.
Someone who believes that the elastic clause of the Constitution should be narrowly interpreted is most likely to endorse the concept of____ federalism.
dual
In the Printz v. United States decision, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the five-member conservative majority, argued that federally mandated background checks by local sheriffs on gun purchases in their states violated the principle of:
dual federalism
A constitutional clause that allows for a broad interpretation of implied powers is known as a(n) ____ clause
elastic
The "necessary and proper" clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution is an example of a(n) "____ clause."
elastic
A referendum is best described as a(n)
election on a policy issue.
When one person has the same chance to succeed in life as another, this is called
equality of opportunity
. A central question in the McCulloch case was whether or not Congress had the power to
establish a national bank.
Social order is usually defined as
established patterns of authority and traditional modes of behavior.
The constitutional amendment process requires
extraordinary majorities.
Shays's Rebellion consisted of
farmers trying to prevent foreclosure on their property for debts and taxes owed.
Construction of the massive interstate highway system
gave the national government leverage to regulate many behaviors indirectly related to highway travel
A notable trend in the backgrounds of recent presidents is experience as a
governor
In 1995, the Supreme Court concluded that Congress had overreached the legitimate bounds of the commerce power when Congress tried to regulate the possession of ____ in or near a school.
guns
Thomas Hobbes supported a strong central government because
he believed that only a strong government could restrain people's selfish, animal instincts
The procedural view of democracy is most concerned with
how government decisions are made.
The Constitution did not give Congress the authority to establish the Internal Revenue Service. Congress did so, however, to implement its power to "lay and collect taxes." This is an example of the use of a(n) ____ power.
implied
A citizen's group gathers enough signatures on a petition to force a popular vote on a statewide lottery proposal. This proposal would represent a(n)
initiative
.When the authors say that we live in an era of "globalization," they mean that citizens and nations are increasingly
interdependent.
In order to understand political ideology, we must look at both the scope of governmental action and
its purpose
The broad, basic definition of government given by the text is
legitimate use of force within specified geographic boundaries to control human behavior
Compared with people in other Western countries, Americans are ____ to choose equality over freedom.
less likely
The "unalienable rights" identified by the Declaration of Independence are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The best contemporary example of an oligarchy would be a(n)
military dictatorship.
All of the following are principles of procedural democracy except
minority rights
Globalization can be seen as a threat to
national sovereignty.
The text of the Constitution deals with slavery by
not mentioning it directly.
An autocracy is a political system ruled by
one individual
Whereas majority rule is defined as decision making by 50 percent plus one person, ____ is defined as decision making by most participants
plurality rule
A country abiding by the principle "one man, one vote" is practicing
political equality
Each citizen having one vote demonstrates
political equality
A consistent set of values and beliefs about the proper purpose and scope of government is a(n)
political ideology.
The Greek word kratos, one of the roots of the word democracy, means
power
Democratization is the
process of institutionalizing the rules of procedural democracy and establishing substantive democratic policies.
Of the following major objectives of government, the most recent one is
promoting equality
Republicanism is a form of government in which power
resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.
A republic is a government
resting on the consent of the governed.
Originally, the Constitutional Convention's purpose was to
revise the Articles of Confederation.
The lines that define congressional districts are usually drawn by
state legislatures.
The Articles jealousy guarded
state sovereignty
Congressional redistricting occurs once every ____ years.
ten
The Bill of Rights consists of the first ____ amendments to the Constitution.
ten
The American system allows for the will of the majority to be blocked by
the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court
The main argument against the need for a bill of rights was that
the Constitution established a government of limited powers; because the government was not given the power to regulate individual liberties, no bill of rights was necessary
. The following constitutional amendment, which prevents members of Congress from voting themselves immediate pay increases, was submitted to the states in 1789, but was not ratified until 1992:
the Twenty Seventh Amendment
A result of the Second Continental Congress was
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
. For the United States, the core substantive principles of democracy are embedded in
the bill of rights and other amendments to the constitution
The shift away from dual federalism and toward cooperative federalism was a response to the problems associated with
the great depression
Antifederalists attacked the proposed Constitution on the grounds that
the national government it created was too strong.
The ancient Greeks classified governments as autocracies, oligarchies, or democracies based on
the number of citizens involved in governing.
The chief obstacle to ratification of the Constitution by the states was
the omission of a bill of rights.
Home rule is
the right of municipal governments to enact their own legislation in certain administrative areas.
The constitutional provision that made cooperative federalism possible is
the supremacy clause
When Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford became the nation's first ____ president.
unelected
The idea that all adults within the boundaries of a political community should be allowed to vote is known as
universal participation
At the Constitutional Convention, the institution of slavery
was opposed by some but preserved in order to maintain unity among the states.
Since 1789, the typical constitution has lasted about ____ years.
17
The Constitution was written in
1787
There are about ____ politically sovereign nation states in the world today.
195
What kind of grant-in-aid allows the recipient of the grant the least discretion in determining how to spend the money?
. Categorical grant
Before it could take effect, the Constitution had to be ratified by the following number of states:
9
What constitutional crisis emerged from Shays's Rebellion?
Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, lacked the power to confront significant national emergencies.
The method for choosing the president was designed to address which of the following concerns?
Distrust of the judgment of the people and the small states' fears that the large states would dominate the selection process
The following allows a person to acquire information and documents online, and also provides a medium to register opinions and complaints to government officials
E-government
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's statement that "all men are created equal" is similar to which theorist's belief that government is based on the "consent of the governed"?
John Locke
The Great Compromise resolved what issue?
The power of large versus small states
A power not specifically mentioned in the Constitution but necessary if another specific grant of power is to be carried out is called a(n) ____ power.
implied