Gov

Use the chart to answer the question. If you wanted to gather a group of friends and respectfully protest against a new law, on which amendment's protections would you rely?

1st Amendment

Use the chart to help you answer the question. Which statement describes the method missing from the chart by which a constitutional amendment can be ratified?

A pro-ratification vote by 3/4 of the State legislatures

Read this excerpt from the text: "At times, a President has had to turn to roundabout methods in order to achieve his [treaty] goals. When a Senate minority defeated a treaty to annex Texas, President John Tyler was able to bring about annexation in 1845 by encouraging passage of a joint resolution—a move that required only a majority vote in each house. In 1898, President William McKinley used the same tactic to annex Hawaii." What does this excerpt illustrate about the process of approving treaties?

A treaty is not the only tool a President can use to make agreements with other countries.

In what way was the government of ancient Athens different from that of the United States?

Athens was a direct democracy in which citizens voted on laws themselves.

Read this quotation from the United States Senate website. "The chair of each committee and a majority of its members represent the majority party. The chair primarily controls a committee's business. Each party assigns its own members to committees, and each committee distributes its members among its subcommittees. The Senate places limits on the number and types of panels any one senator may serve on and chair."—The United States Senate What would most likely happen in the wake of the Democrats taking over the Senate from the Republicans after an election?

Both the chairs and most of the Republican committee members would be replaced by Democrats.

The map shows the years that various states were admitted into the Union. Note the date of California's admission compared to its neighbors. Based on your knowledge of the terms under which States are admitted, what does this suggest?

California had a higher population than its neighbors and thus met the requirement for a territory to apply for statehood before they did.

The chart shows information about some parts of the Executive Office of the President. Which of the following BEST completes the chart?

Consults with the President on foreign affairs

Use this photo to answer the question. What argument is the cartoon making about the role of compromise in our democratic government?

Failing to compromise on major issues by finding common ground can lead to disaster in public policy.

Which of the following statements about the forms of government shown in the chart is correct?

In a unitary system, the central government determines which powers the local governments have.

This chart shows the final steps to a bill becoming a law. Why is step 11 an important part of the process?

It allows for settling any differences over the bill.

Use the chart to answer the question. Which statement best describes the intent of the 10th Amendment?

It is an effort to promote a balance of power between the Federal and State governments in the federal system

Which statement best explains the oversight function of congressional committees?

It is one of the checks the legislative branch holds over the executive branch.

What is the best summary of this quotation? "Congress has a split personality. On the one hand, it is a lawmaking institution and makes policy for the entire nation. In this capacity, all the members are expected to set aside their personal ambitions and perhaps even the concerns of their constituencies. Yet Congress is also a representative assembly, made up of 535 elected officials who serve as links between their constituents and the National Government. The dual roles of making laws and responding to constituents' demands forces members to balance national concerns against the specific interests of their States or districts."—James M. Burns, et al., Government by the People

Members of Congress must balance the interests of their constituencies along with national concerns.

Read the excerpt and answer the question. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, . . ." —The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America Which of the following BEST paraphrases this statement?

People are born with certain rights that no one can take from them.

Read this excerpt from the text: "Congress has not declared war since World War II. On eight occasions since then, however, it has enacted joint resolutions to authorize the President to meet certain international crises with military force." Which is the STRONGEST conclusion that can be drawn based on this statement?

The Constitution is flexible enough to allow Congress and the President to meet crises in a number of ways.

Use the excerpt from The Federalist essays to answer the question. "[A] people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who . . . have nobly established general liberty and independence.This country and this people seem to have been made for each other . . . united to each other by the strongest ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties" —The Federalist No. 2, John Jay Based on this excerpt, which statement best describes the Federalist view of the proposed Constitution?

The Federalists believed that similarities of the people in the United States was a source of strength and should be further strengthened by a strong national government.

Identify which fact about the amendment process best supports this quotation from the lesson text. "The formal amendment process emphasizes the federal character of the governmental system."

The National and State governments must work together to propose and ratify a constitutional amendment.

Read this quotation from President Wilson and then answer the question. "'It is indispensable that besides the House of Representatives which runs on all fours with popular sentiment, we should have a body like the Senate which may refuse to run with it at all when it seems to be wrong—a body which has time and security enough to keep its head, if only now and then and but for a little while, till other people have had time to think."—Woodrow Wilson, Congressional Government According to President Wilson, how should the Senate function?

The Senate should be more measured in its thinking than the House.

What is one way the Speaker of the House differs from the president of the Senate?

The Speaker of the House is voted into the position by colleagues, while the Vice President of the United States serves as president of the Senate.

What argument was Oliver Wendell Holmes making in this quotation about how our federal system works? "I do not think the United States would come to an end if we [the Court] lost our power to declare an Act of Congress void. I do think the Union would be imperiled if we could not make that declaration as to the laws of the several States." —Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Supreme Court needs to be able to settle disputes between the States and the Federal Government by reviewing the constitutionality of State laws.

Read this excerpt from the text: "Sections 3 and 4 of the 25th Amendment fill the disability gap. . . . The Vice President is to become Acting President if (1) the President informs Congress, in writing, 'that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,' or (2) the Vice President and a majority of the members of the Cabinet inform Congress, in writing, that the President is so incapacitated. The President may resume the powers and duties of the office by informing Congress by 'written declaration' that no inability exists. However, the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet may challenge the President on this score. If they do, Congress has 21 days in which to decide the matter." Suppose the President were badly injured, and unable to inform the Vice President that he could not discharge the power and duties of his office. How would power be transferred to the Vice President?

The Vice President and a majority of the members of the Cabinet would inform Congress in writing that the President was incapacitated.

Which statement BEST expresses what the photograph of Vice President Joe Biden shows about the role of modern Vice Presidents?

The Vice President often has an important role in diplomacy with other nations.

Which of the following statements best expresses the argument Alexander Hamilton is making in the quotation below?

The government needs courts to explain and interpret laws.

Read this excerpt from the text. "The Framers of the Constitution intended to create a new and stronger National Government. The ratification of their plan was opposed by many, and that opposition was not stilled by the adoption of the Constitution. Rather, the conflict between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists continued into the early years of the Republic." What was the ultimate resolution of this conflict in the McCulloch v. Maryland case?

The liberal constructionists prevailed and the implied powers of the Federal Government were cemented and have grown ever since.

This graph compares the number of congressional members from the first Congress to 2012. Which statement is most likely supported by the graph?

The number of senators rose from 1900 to 2012 as several States were added to the Union.

The map shows the types of governments used by nations across the world.

The people elect officials to represent them in government.

. This diagram shows the first steps to a bill becoming a law. What happens immediately after the sixth step?

The subcommittee in the other chamber now begins to process the bill.

Use the quotation to answer the question. "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." —Benjamin Franklin What message was Franklin trying to convey to the Second Continental Congress when he spoke these words?

The thirteen colonies should work together to better their chance of success of winning independence from Great Britain.

Read the chart. Then choose the answer that best completes the statement. Based on this chart, a senator's role as a politician might interfere with his or her role as

a representative, because it could prevent her from supporting bills that would benefit her State.

An official representative of the United States appointed by the President to represent the nation in matters of diplomacy is called

an ambassador.

What constitutional principle prevents the tyranny that James Madison describes in the quotation below from taking place? "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many . . . may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." —James Madison, The Federalist No. 47, 1788

b. separation of powers

Use the photo to answer the question. Which constitutional principle was being practiced at the event represented by this ticket?

checks and balances

Use the Preamble to the Constitution to answer the question. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."—U.S. Constitution, Preamble Which of the following actions is one example of how the American government establishes justice?

creating a set of laws and a court system

In which way are the women shown on this poster demonstrating their support for the ideals of American government?

displaying patriotism by volunteering to serve the public good

Which of the following examples shows a government exercising its executive powers?

enforcing a new tax law

Use this quotation to answer the question. "No freeman [person] shall be taken or imprisoned, . . . or outlawed, or banished, or in any way destroyed, unless by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. . . ." —Magna Carta, 1215 Which of the following principles does this quotation from the Magna Carta explain?

guarantee of due process

In the United States, the concept of equality means that every individual

is entitled to receive the same treatment under the law.

Which of the following powers is a concurrent power shared by both the Federal Government and the State governments?

levying and collecting taxes from businesses and citizens

Use the quotation to answer the question. ". . . it is expedient that on the second Monday in May next a Convention of delegates who shall have been appointed by the several States be held in Philadelphia for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. . . ." —The Continental Congress, 1787 This quotation is historically significant because at this meeting, the Framers

met to address the Articles of Confederation but ended up creating a new form of government.

Study the outline. Which of the following phrases BEST completes the outline?

natural disasters

This image shows Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, surrounded by his military officers.

oligarchy

This clause in the Constitution is used to justify what type of action by the Federal Government? [Congress has the power] "to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general welfare of the United States." —Article I, Section 8, Clause 1

providing federal grants-in-aid to State governments in many policy areas

Use this quote by the French Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu to answer the question. "In every government there are three sorts of power; the legislative; the executive, in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive, in regard to things that depend on the civil law." What principle of government presented by the U.S. Constitution is Montesquieu describing?

separation of power

Use the chart to answer the question.

social contract theory

The chart lists some of the powers denied to the Federal Government. An explicitly denied power is a power banned outright by the Constitution. An implicitly denied power is a power banned, but not directly mentioned in the Constitution. Which one of the following powers is implicitly denied to the Federal Government, and could go in the empty place on the chart?

tax State or local governments

The guarantee of religious liberty found in this proposed law is the sort of guarantee of individual rights that Anti-Federalists demanded be added to the Constitution. "We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact, that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious Worship place or Ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened [burdened] in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise [way] diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." —Virginia General Assembly, 1777 This resulting listing of basic liberties in the Constitution is called:

the Bill of Rights

Which of the following MOST DIRECTLY led to the calling of the First Continental Congress?

the Intolerable Acts

Read the quotation from Alexander Hamilton. ". . . the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency to produce a good administration." —Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 76 To what does Hamilton MOST LIKELY refer when he writes of "a good administration"?

the executive branch

Read this excerpt from the United States Constitution. "To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;" —Article I, Section 8 This section of the Constitution relates to

the expressed powers of the legislative branch.

Read this excerpt from the text about foreign policy in the United States. "The Constitution gives the President primary responsibility for the conduct of American foreign policy. As the Supreme Court put that point in a leading case, United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. in 1936, the Chief Executive is 'the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations.'" The Constitution provides the President with this power because

the fifty States are not sovereign and, therefore, have no standing in international law.

Read this excerpt from the text: "In 1952, at the height of the Korean War, a labor dispute threatened to shut down the nation's steel industry and imperil the war effort. To avert a strike, President Harry Truman, acting as commander in chief, ordered the Secretary of Commerce to seize and operate several steel mills. But the Supreme Court found that here the President had overstepped his constitutional authority. It held that only Congress, acting under its commerce power, could authorize the seizure of private property in time of war, and it had not done so." This is an example of

the judicial branch limiting the executive branch.

If you know that a nation uses a parliamentary system of government, but have no other information, what do you know for certain about the structure of that government?

the relationship between the executive and legislative branches

Read this excerpt from the text about the power of Congress to carry out investigations. "Both houses may choose to conduct investigations for any one or a number of reasons. Most often, those inquiries are held to (1) gather information necessary to the framing of legislation, (2) oversee the operations of various agencies in the executive branch, (3) focus public attention on some particular matter, (4) expose the questionable activities of some public official or private person or group, and/or (5) promote the particular interests of some members of Congress." A recent investigation into the unfair process of reviewing tax exemptions within the IRS by groups called "Patriots" would fall under

the second reason.

Read this passage from the War Powers Resolution of 1973: "(c) The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." What is the intent of this section of the document?

to limit the President's power to commit the U.S. to military action without meeting certain conditions

In 1754, Ben Franklin drew this cartoon. For what purpose did he draw it?

to unite the colonists against French and Native American attacks

The diagram shows some of the ways the executive branch can limit the power of the other branches. What is another way in which the executive branch can check the legislative branch that is missing from the diagram?

vetoing a bill

Use the chart to answer the question: Duties are actions a citizen is required to take. Responsibilities are actions a citizen should take. Which of the following actions is a responsibility of citizenship?

voting in elections