Govt 2305 unit 1
The text of the Constitution deals with slavery by referring to slaves as
"all other Persons."
The U.S. Constitution contains about _________ words.
4,300
Before it could take effect, the Constitution had to be ratified by__________ states:
9
checks and balances
A government structure that gives each branch some scrutiny of and control over the other branches.
republic
A government without a monarch; a government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed.
confederation
A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters.
extraordinary majority
A majority greater than the minimum of 50 percent plus one.
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
Which political philosopher inspired the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap-piness" in the Declaration of Independence?
John Locke
The compact among the thirteen original colonies that established the United States in 1777 was known as the
Articles of Confederation.
Equality
Each person should have equal opportunity and fair treatment from the government.
The ________ Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Fourth
Under the Constitution, if no candidate wins a majority of the electoral vote, then the president will be selected by the
House of Representatives.
Which of the following states was not present at the Second Continental Congress' vote for independence?
Rhode Island
Great Compromise
Submitted by the Connecticut delegation to the Constitutional Convention, and thus also known as the Connecticut Compromise, a plan calling for a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be represented equally in the Senate.
New Jersey Plan
Submitted by the head of the New Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention, a set of nine resolutions that would have, in effect, preserved the Articles of Confederation by amending rather than replacing them.
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 selecting the president, each state has a number of electors equal to
the number of its representatives in Congress.
The chief obstacle to ratification of the Constitution by the states was
the omission of a bill of rights.
According to the text, "it is hard to imagine a government framework better suited [than the Constitution] to __________."
the pluralist model
Suppose Congress funds elementary education by giving states a grant that the states then designate the specific educational programs to receive these funds. This is an example of a ________ grant.
block
The power of the president to veto laws is an example of
checks and balances.
Under separation of powers, the U.S. system keeps power among branches balanced by enabling one branch to counter the actions of another by the use of
checks and balances.
The following group values both equality and order more than freedom, and its members support both affirmative action and laws that restrict pornography:
communitarians.
Under the Constitution, the slave trade
could be ended after twenty years.
The 2007 European Reform Treaty did all but
create a centralized debt-refinancing agency for indebted countries.
Congress exercises a potential check on the judicial branch through its constitutional power to
create or eliminate lower federal courts.
The Great Depression represented a shift away from _________ and toward _________.
dual federalism; cooperative federalism
The text suggests that there are _________ forces that may be pushing authoritarian governments toward democratization.
economic
Examples of public goods are
education, sanitation, and parks.
Liberals are more likely to favor generous government support for
education, wildlife protection, public transportation, a whole range of social programs
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.
American colonists in the eighteenth century under Great Britain
enjoyed freedoms denied most other people in the world at that time.
Government's "modern dilemma" is how best to balance
equality and freedom.
When one person has the same chance to succeed in life as another, this is called
equality of opportunity.
Social order is usually defined as
established patterns of authority and traditional modes of behavior.
The law-enforcing branch of government is known as the
executive branch.
Shays's Rebellion consisted of
farmers trying to prevent foreclosure on their property for debts and taxes owed.
Conservatives strongly
favor free enterprise, argue against government job programs, want to preserve traditional patterns of social relations
Unless they are impeached, federal judges serve
for life.
During the 1990s, Congress prohibited private businesses from discriminating in employment, public services, and public accommodations on the basis of physical or mental disabilities. This act creates a clash between
freedom and equality.
Money paid by one level of government to another level of government to be spent for a given purpose is called a
grant-in-aid
Liberty
individuals should be free to think and act as they choose, provided they do not infringe unreasonably on others.
An organized group that seeks to influence government policy is called a(n)
interest group.
According to the Declaration of Independence, when a government fails to secure the people's unalienable rights,
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.
One similarity between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan was that both plans
left unspecified how many people the executive might have.
Article I of the Constitution refers to the
legislative branch.
The broad, basic definition of government given by the text is
legitimate use of force within specified geographic boundaries to control hu-man behavior.
The core principles of American government are
liberty, individualism, self-government
The "unalienable rights" identified by the Declaration of Independence are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Elite theory is discredited as an explanation of American national politics because studies show that
no one identifiable group regularly prevails on different issues.
According to Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, the proper objective of govern-ment is to ensure
order.
Diversity
our individual differences are a source of strength and a basis of self-interest.
According to John Marshall's decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the elastic clause might be interpreted to mean that Congress can take a particular action not specified in the Constitution if that action is
plainly adapted to achieving a legitimate constitutional end.
The complexity of the American federal system encourages
pluralism.
The text suggests that the United States fulfills the __________ model quite well.
pluralist
federalism
The division of power between a central government and regional governments.
The process of redrawing boundaries for electoral jurisdictions is known as
redistricting.
An alleged weakness of the majoritarian democratic model is its
reliance on the American public to be knowledgeable and participatory.
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.
In 2010 Congress passed the Affordable Health Care Act that
required nearly all Americans to buy health coverage or pay a penalty.
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 through their representatives.
Originally, the Constitutional Convention's purpose was to
revise the Articles of Confederation.
The idea that the people agree to establish rulers for certain purposes, but they have the right to resist or remove rulers who violate those purposes, is also known as
social contract theory.
After the Constitution was amended to permit the federal government to levy a progressive income tax, government could more effectively further the goal of
social equality.
A person who favors government ownership of some basic industries and a strong government role in directing the economy, but also some private ownership of pro-ductive capacity, would best be labeled as a
socialist.
The Bill of Rights is at the core of our
substantive theories of democracy.
Capitalism is best described as a(n)
system of government that favors privately owned businesses.
The Bill of Rights consists of the first __________ amendments to the Constitution.
ten
A greater percentage of the United States population died or was wounded during the Revolution than in any other U.S. conflict except
the Civil War.
The __________ Amendment prohibited slavery.
Thirteenth
implied powers
Those powers that Congress needs to execute its enumerated powers.
A result of the Second Continental Congress was
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
The broad, basic definition of politics given by the text is
the authoritative allocation of values for a society.
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.
Constitutionalism
We govern by majority rule and the government itself is constrained by the rules set forth in the Constitution. In particular, the government is constrained from violating individual rights.
Individualism
a commitment to private enterprise and the ability of each individual to achieve what he wants, on his own.
A confederation can best be described as
a loose association of independent states.
Capitalism
the government interferes with the economy as little as possible, thus allowing individual enterprise to flourish.
Self-government
the individual is more important than the government and that their general welfare is the purpose of government.
Compared with majoritarian thought, the pluralist model of democracy shifts the fo-cus of democratic decision making from _________ to _________.
the mass electorate; organized groups
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.
Thomas Hobbes's ideal form of government was
a single ruler with unquestioned authority.
A key component of the Virginia Plan was
a strong national legislature.
A combination of Majoritarianism, Elitism, and Pluralism (interest groups) all effect political decisions.
true
Including the Bill of Rights, __________ amendments have been added to the Constitution:
twenty-seven
The basic premise of federalism is that
two or more governments share power and authority over the same land and people.
According to Madison in Federalist No. 10, the most common and durable source of factions has been
unequal distribution of property.
Federalism, or the division of power between a national government and regional units, stands in contrast to
unitary government.
Shays's Rebellion indicated the
urgent need to maintain domestic order.
Compared to citizens in other nations, Americans
value freedom of speech more than order.
The primary goal of Federalist No. 10 was to demonstrate that the new government
would not fall under the dominance of any one faction.
The primary goal of Federalist No. 51 was to argue for
the separation of powers and checks and balances.
Democracy
the will of the people is expressed through elections. It is this general will, not the opinion of dictators, that guides the decision process.
The primary contribution of the Federalist papers is
their insight into the meaning of the Constitution.
enumerated powers
The powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Constitution.
The United States Constitution was written in
1787.
Virginia Plan
A set of proposals for a new government, submitted to the Constitutional Convention of 1787; it included separation of the government into three branches, division of the legislature into two houses, and proportional representation in the legislature.
The Federalist papers were written by
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison.
The Great Compromise was also known as the __________ Compromise because of the state delegation that initially proposed it.
Connecticut
Declaration of Independence
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the document that proclaimed the right of the colonies to separate from Great Britain.
The _________ protects against excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
Eighth
Supporters of the Constitution named themselves
Federalists
Which of the following European nations was not debt-ridden and did not suffer questions from creditors during 2012?
Germany
By 2012, members of the European Union (EU) agreed to greater central authority over their respective economies, with the exception of
Great Britain.
The power of Congress to charter a bank is an example of what type of power?
Implied
Which document proclaimed, "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 Declaration of Independence
Articles of Confederation
The compact among the thirteen original states that established the first government of the United States.
politics
The competition among individuals and groups for government policy decisions
separation of powers
The assignment of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to separate branches of government.
social contract theory
The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes.
supremacy clause
The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict.
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution. They prevent the national government from tampering with fundamental rights and civil liberties, and emphasize the limited character of national power.
judicial review
The power to declare congressional (and presidential) acts invalid because they violate the Constitution.
necessary and proper clause
The last clause in Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated powers. This clause is the basis for Congress's implied powers. Also called the elastic clause.
executive branch
The law-enforcing branch of government.
judicial branch
The law-interpreting branch of government.
legislative branch
The lawmaking branch of government.
Which of the following is not a power granted to the president under the Constitution?
The power to declare war
Unity
The people together form an indivisible union.
The Declaration of Independence was based on input from many people, but its primary author was
Thomas Jefferson.
The Articles of Confederation failed because
they did not provide an effective means for the government to raise money. they did not include an independent leader to direct the government. they did not give the government the power to regulate commerce.
To amend the Articles of Confederation required a
unanimous vote.