Federal Government Unit 1
Studies show that an increasing number of young Americans receive their political knowledge from
late-night comedy shows
During the Philadelphia Convention, the New Jersey Plan was supported by
less populous states
As a constitution, the Articles of Confederation were concerned primarily with
limiting the powers of the central government
The power of Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Indian tribes is found in ______ of the Constitution.
Article I
Which of the following was designed by the frames to be an office directly elected by people?
member of the House of Representatives
The principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency is what Montesquieu calls a
mixed regime
The era of federalism which saw a return of decision making power to the states is called
new federalism
James Madison believed that in the Constitutional Convention the greatest conflict of interests was between
northern states and southern states
A state government's authority to regulate the safety, health, and morals of its citizens is called ______ power.
police
The belief that you can influence how your government acts is called
political efficacy
Shay's Rebellion was an attempt to
prevent the state of Massachusetts from foreclosing on the lands of debt-ridden farmers
Which of the following presidents brought about the era of cooperative federalism?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The newest federal cabinet department is
Homeland Security
Which of the following was a ramification of the Three-Fifths Compromise?
It allowed for a political agreement between the North and the South
What is one of the biggest problems with federal block grants?
There is a need for greater accountability in how the funds are actually spent by the states.
All of the following are constitutional powers of the president except the power to
regulate commerce between the states
Who said that the best government was the one that "governed least"?
Thomas Jefferson
The willingness to be restrained by the power of social institutions, but not political or legal institutions, is hallmark of a(n) ______ regime.
authoritarian
Which of the following was not necessarily a separate era of federalism, but signified the federal government gaining extensive control over the states?
coercive federalism
Which of the following economic policies was the national government allowed to implement during the nineteenth century?
establishing a series of national banks
Since the 1960s, Americans' trust in their government has generally
fallen sharply
A block grant entails specific detailed instructions which must be followed in order for the recipient to receive the funds.
false
A federal block grant gives states no discretion on how to spend the money.
false
Because of the United States' diversity of races, ethnicities, and religions, Americans do not share a common political culture.
false
Cooperative federalism ended during the Civil War.
false
In the 1990s, welfare policy was centralized by the national government.
false
The Anti-federalists wanted a stronger central government than that proposed in the Constitution.
false
The Boston Tea Party started as a reaction to the British imposing an embargo of tea and coffee trade on the colonies.
false
The Declaration of Independence was the United States' first governing constitution.
false
The New Deal led to the weakening of the national government's powers.
false
The Tenth Amendment gives the national government expressed powers over state governments.
false
The United States has never accepted the principle of popular sovereignty.
false
The era of new federalism was brought about by FDR's New Deal.
false
The full faith and credit clause demands that the U.S. government run a balanced budget.
false
When a single ruler controls all government power, it is called an oligarchy.
false
Before the eighteenth century
government rarely sought the support of their people
Compared with the Articles of Confederation, federalism under the Constitution has led to
greater centralization of power
The first prerequisite to increasing political efficancy is
increasing political knowledge
The U.S. Supreme Court Case "Gibbons v. Ogden" (1824) was important because
it established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce
The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution addresses
reserved power
In a federal system a majority of governmental responsibilities are
shared by both state and federal authorities
According to the text, which sector of society did not have interests that were important to colonial politics?
slaves
The Stamp Act was a
tax on commerce
What was the most common form of taxation during the colonial era?
taxes on commercial products and activities
The first written constitution for the United States was called
the Articles of Confederation
Federal laws concerning crime mostly deal with
the District of Columbia and other federal territories
What led the British to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?
the French and Indian War
Which event was most influential in the rise of a more active national government?
the Great Depression
Which of the following possesses the sole power to create revenue bills?
the House of Representatives
Which clause of the Constitution has been critical in allowing the growth of national power?
the commerce clause
According to the text, what is the main benefit of a constitutional government?
the government is limited by the rule of law
What constitutional clause affirms that national laws and treaties, made under the authority of the Constitution, are the supreme law of the land?
the supremacy clause
Colonial protesters of the Stamp Act rallied around what famous political slogan?
"No taxation without representation"
Congressional grants paid for ______ percent of the development of an interstate highway after World War II.
90
______ describes the strategy of delegating a policy program to a lower level of government.
Devolution
Recent polls reveal that more than three-fourths of Americans know the name of the current speaker of the House.
False
The principle of "one person, one vote" summarizes the idea of liberty.
False
Which of the following eras of federalism saw the extensive use of block grants?
New Federalism
Which of the following presidents brought about the era of new federalism?
Richard Nixon
Over the past several decades, the public's belief that the government is responsive to the people has declined.
True
Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education are both Supreme Court cases dealing with the meaning of equality.
True
The referendum is a form if direct democracy.
True
At the Constitutional Convention, the plan to create a Congress where representation was distributed according to population was called the
Virginia Plan
Which of the following is NOT an example of a public good?
a job
A service that a person needs but is usually unable to provide for him or herself individually is called
a public good
The federal system can be best defined as
a system of government in which power is divided between a national government and lower levels of government
Which of the following is NOT a reason given to explain American citizens' increased political apathy?
an increase in the knowledge of how government operates
If the government were controlled by a small group of wealthy landowners and corporate leaders, this would be best described as
an oligarchy
A ______ is a system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for powers expressly delegated to a national government.
confederacy
A government that is formally limited by laws and rules is called
constitutional
Shay's Rebellion was significant because it
convinced many observers that the government of the Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive
The era of federalism in which the federal government and state governments started to deal with the same issues is known as
cooperative federalism
Which era of federalism saw the introduction of categorical grants?
cooperative federalism
The electoral college is
designed to select the president
Which of the following is not an accurate statement about the consequences of declining trust in government?
distrust motivates people to participate in politics through voting, volunteering for political campaigns, and running for office
The era of federalism in which the national government and state government dealt mainly with their own issues and did not overlap is called
dual federalism
According to a 2007 poll, compared to readers of major newspaper websites, the audience of the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" had ______ political knowledge
equal
Only one-third of the Senate is up for re-election during any single election year because the framers believed that
this was the only way to protect the Senate against radical changes
Which of the following powers are NOT explicitly given to Congress by the Constitution?
to abolish state boundaries
During the era of dual federalism, what was the primary goal of the federal government's domestic policies?
to assist the development of commercial activity within and between the states
Which of the following powers do state governments not have?
to coin their own money
What was the primary goal of the Constitution's frames?
to create an effective government
Local governments are not mentioned anywhere in the U.S. Constitution.
true
Many of the most critical dilemmas of American politics involve conflicts over the way commonly held values are put into practice.
true
McCulloch v. Maryland gave Congress potentially expansive powers for regulating commercial activity.
true
Parliaments began in Europe as institutions for aristocrats.
true
The Anti-federalists feared an overly strong central government under the new Constitution.
true
The Articles of Confederation created a weak central government and a loose alliance of nearly independent states.
true
The Constitution guarantees that a state cannot discriminate against someone from another state.
true
The Virginia Plan would have created a federal legislature where representation was based solely on the population of each state.
true
The constitution is very difficult to change by amendment.
true
Unfunded mandate refers to the national government imposing regulatory costs on the states without reimbursement.
true
The framers of the Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of
withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college