POLS 111 - Chapter 2

In order for the Constitution to be formally adopted, ________ of the ________ states in the Union had to agree to its terms.

9; 13

Which of the following statements about the income tax is most accurate?

Although the income tax is currently one of the most important sources of government revenue, it had not yet developed during British rule over the colonies in the eighteenth century.

The expressed powers of Congress are listed in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

Article I, Section 8

The United States' first written constitution was called the ________.

Articles of Confederation

The Boston Tea Party was largely a response to the

British government's decision to grant the East India Company a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain.

Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that means the division of

Congress into two chambers.

The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia convention to fail, was resolved by the ________.

Connecticut Compromise

Which of the following was a ramification of the Three-Fifths Compromise?

It allowed for a political agreement between the North and the South.

Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable political statement for its time?

It helped unify colonial groups that were divided along economic, regional, and philosophical lines by identifying shared problems, grievances, and principles.

The 1787 convention to draft a new Constitution was held in ________.

Philadelphia

The president's power to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of ________.

checks and balances

A ________ is a system of government in which member states retain almost all of their sovereign authority and delegate limited powers to a weak central body.

confederation

The electoral college is

designed to select the president of the United States.

The Three-Fifths Compromise

determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.

The writing of the Constitution demonstrates the

marriage of interests and principles.

How many amendments to the Constitution have been formally proposed in Congress in U.S. history?

more than 11,000

James Madison believed that the greatest conflict of interest in the Philadelphia convention was between ________ and ________.

northern states; southern states

A ________ is a person who believes that the Constitution should not be amended by judges and that judges should adhere closely to the document's text.

strict constructionist

The Stamp Act was a

tax on commerce.

Judicial review is the power of

the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.

The decision to assign jurisdiction over controversies between citizens of different states to the Supreme Court was significant because it meant that

the federal judiciary, rather than the state courts, would ultimately become the primary venue for resolving disputes.

The idea of a "living constitution" means that

the judiciary can shape the interpretation of the Constitution in line with contemporary problems and values.

The Virginia Plan proposed a system of representation in the national legislature that was based on

the population of each state, the proportion of each state's revenue contribution, or both.

The Articles of Confederation were adopted in ________.

1781

There are ________ amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

27

How was political power in the Continental Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?

Each state had an equal vote.

Who were the authors of the Federalist Papers?

James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton

________ defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.

John Adams

Which of the following statements best describes the framers' view of liberty?

Liberty is less important than social and economic equality.

Which statement about amendments to the Constitution is most accurate?

One amendment to the Constitution has been successfully repealed

Which of the following statements best summarizes the Federalists' view on representation?

Representatives need not be a "true picture of the people," and the best system of representation allows citizens to elect individuals possessing ability, experience, and talent superior to their own.

Which of the following statements best describes British rule of the American colonies during the first half of the eighteenth century?

The British ruled with a light hand and exerted almost no influence at all in any colonial town or city.

What does the supremacy clause assert?

The Constitution and all laws made under it are superior to any state laws.

Which of the following is true about the U.S. Constitution?

The Constitution can be amended with a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of Congress and a ratification vote by three-fourths of the states.

Which office did the framers design to be directly elected by the people?

U.S. representative

Who was Gregory Watson?

a University of Texas undergraduate who began a successful campaign in 1982 to complete the ratification process for an amendment stating that no congressional pay increase can take effect until the next Congress is elected

What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?

a deficit that was incurred as a result of the French and Indian War

Montesquieu called ________ the principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency.

a mixed regime

Successful amendments to the Constitution

are most commonly concerned with the structure or composition of the government.

The power of judicial review was

asserted by the court in the case Marbury v. Madison.

What is the term length of a federal judge?

barring impeachment, life

One reason for the Constitution's longevity is that it

did not confer permanent advantage on any one set of economic or social forces.

The purpose of the Annapolis Convention was to

discuss revamping the Articles of Confederation

In the United States, the right to private property is

explicitly mentioned in the First Amendment.

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the state governments, is called ________.

federalism

In order to win concessions from large states at the Philadelphia convention, representatives from smaller states such as Delaware threatened to

form alliances with foreign nations.

The most common method of passing an amendment to the Constitution is passage

in both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote, followed by a majority vote in three-fourths of the state legislature.

In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the framers of the Constitution

included the elastic clause in the Constitution.

The most important political value for the framers of the Constitution was ________.

individual liberty

During the ratification debates, the Antifederalists were those who

opposed the new Constitution because they wanted a weaker central government.

The Federalists believed that the most apparent source of tyranny was the ________.

popular majority

Federal judges are appointed by the ________ and must be approved by the ________.

president; Senate

The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to

prevent the new government from abusing its power.

According to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of government is to

promote justice and secure the "blessings of liberty"

According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were mostly concerned with

promoting their own economic interests.

The Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to

regulate interstate commerce.

What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?

representation would be equal for each state

The framers attempted to reassure citizens that their views would be represented in the new government created by the Constitution by

requiring the direct election of senators, members of the House, and the president

The delegates at the Philadelphia convention turned down the idea of including a list of citizens' rights in the Constitution because they believed that

since the federal government was already limited to its expressed powers, further protection of citizens was not needed.

A ________ vote by both houses of Congress and a ratification vote of ________ of the states are required to amend the U.S. Constitution.

two-thirds; three-fourths

The American victory in the Revolutionary War changed the balance of political power in the new states so that royal land, office, and patent holders

were significantly weakened, and prerevolutionary radicals became the controlling forces in many state legislatures

The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of

withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.