Government Test

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 1

Procedures outlining how to amend the Constitution are found in Article

Article 5

How many proposed amendments to the constitution have been formally offered to congress?

Over 11,000

The Federalists believed that the most apparent source of tyranny was:

Popular majority

Shays' Rebellion was significant because it:

Proved the Government of the Confederation had become dangerously inefficient.

What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?

Representation would be equal for each state.

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

A ______ is a system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for powers expressly delegated to a national government.

confederacy

When the national government funds a project that is actually implemented by the states, it is an example of:

cooperative federalism

In what year was Texas's current constitution ratified?

1876

What is the length of a term of office for members of the U.S. House of Representatives?

2 years

What is the Three-Fifths Compromise?

3 out of every 5 slaves would be counted for representation and taxation

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the states, is called:

Federalism

The majority of delegates to the Convention of 1836 that drafted the constitution for a newly independent Republic of Texas were from

Southern Slave States

In Texas, who creates special districts?

Texas voters in the areas that will be covered

According to the text, what is the main benefit of a constitutional government?

The government is limited by rule of law.

Under the United State's first constitution:

There was no president

Why did the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention turn down the idea of including a list of citizens' rights in the Constitution?

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

What was the purpose of the Annapolis Convention?

To discuss the weakness of the Articles of Confederation

What is an at-large election?

an election in which voters elect officials from the entire geographical area, rather than from a smaller district within the area

Philosophically, the Texas constitution reflects a

distrust against politicians and political power.

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

individual liberty

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

prevent the new government from abusing its power

Economic policies that attempt to benefit the poor by taxing and spending are referred to as

redistributive programs.

The term suffrage refers to

right to vote