Test questions

According to the Declaration of Independence, governments get their "just powers" from

"the consent of the governed."

What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he wrote "all men are created equal"?

All people are entitled to equal protection under the law.

Which of the following best describes Americans' tolerance of leaders who make deceptive claims in recent years?

Americans have become more tolerant of leaders who slant the facts.

Which of the following was not provided for by the Articles of Confederation?

An independent federal executive

Which of the following would create a situation in which states must use their own money to comply with a federal law?

An unfunded mandate

Where in the Constitution is the Full Faith and Credit Clause located?

Article IV, Section 1

Which of the following is not discussed in the Full Faith and Credit Clause?

Ballot boxes

Why might recent state legalization of marijuana use create a problem?

Because the federal government still outlaws marijuana.

Under the evidentiary interpretation, who or what has absolute power to decide what effects the judgments of one state will have on another?

Congress

What provided the constitutional basis for the Great Society's social welfare programs?

Congress' power to tax and spend money

Which represents the most significant change in federal law resulting from the 1990s period of devolution?

Creation of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families under the Welfare Reform Act

Which of the following demonstrated a judicial check on legislative power?

Declaring DOMA unconstitutional

In the field of American education, which is the following is typically carried out by the national government?

Developing workplace safety guidelines

In the early 1900s, African Americans were legally forbidden to travel in the same buses, attend the same schools, and dine in the same restaurants as white people. Today, this would be regarded a violation of the core principle of

Equality

What system of government does the United States have?

Federal

Which of the following was an argument in favor of federalism at the time of the writing of the Constitution?

Federalism will protect liberty. Federalism will force officials to be more responsive to the people. Federalism will provide for a stronger national government than existed under the Articles of Confederation.

Which of the following statements about democracy, as currently practiced in the United States, is most accurate?

In the United States, national public policy is determined by the people's representatives, not by the people themselves.

Who was serving as chief justice of the Supreme Court when it decided the case of Marbury v. Madison?

John Marshall

The debate over representation in the new Congress pitted which two groups against one another?

Large states versus small states

Which branch of government establishes the lower court system?

Legislative

The European philosopher whose concept of natural rights had a great impact on American politics is

Locke.

________ is an illustration of cooperative federalism.

Medicaid

The origin of the concept of separation of powers is most associated with

Montesquieu.

What recent issue is given as an example of a controversy involving the Full Faith and Credit Clause?

Same-sex marriage

Which event best showcased the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation?

Shays' Rebellion

What document outlines the current division of power between national and state governments in the United States?

The Constitution

Where is the Bill of Rights found in the Constitution?

The first ten amendments

Which of the following actions taken by America in the past is a violation of its own cultural ideals?

The suspension of Chinese immigration in 1882

________ was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson

How many federal branches of government are there in the United States?

Three

The compromise reached over the counting of slaves for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives was called the

Three-fifths compromise.

Why did the writers of the American Constitution divide authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches?

To keep a check on the power of the majority

Why did the framers establish a system of separation of powers and checks and balances?

To minimize the threat of tyranny

Under which system does the central government hold the majority of power?

Unitary

Which of the following is not a check on the executive by the legislative branch?

Vetoing acts of Congress

The Great Compromise produced

a bicameral Congress.

The Federalists gained enough votes to get the Constitution ratified when they promised this:

a bill of rights to be quickly added to the Constitution

The Bill of Rights added to the Constitution, among other things,

a guarantee of freedom of speech.

The framers of the Constitution preferred which of the following political arrangements?

a republic as opposed to a pure democracy

McCulloch v. Maryland

affirmed that national law is supreme to conflicting state law.

Which of the following best describes the importance of the Marbury v. Madison case?

asserted the power of the judiciary to decide whether a government official or institution has acted within the limits of the Constitution and, if not, to declare its action null or void.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the national government

asserted the power to regulate the nation's economy.

What type of government suppresses individuality, forcing people to think and act in prescribed ways or risk punishment?

authoritarian

recognized right of officials to exercise power as a result of the positions they hold

authority

The Virginia Plan called for a ____________ legislature, while the New Jersey plan proposed a ___________ legislature.

bicameral, unicameral

federal grants-in-aid that permit state and local officials to decide how the money will be spent within a general area, such as education or health

block grants

federal grants-in-aid to states and localities that can be used only for designated projects

categorical grants

Federal grants-in-aid used only for a designated activity are called

categorical grants.

If a state accepts a federal grant-in-aid, it must

comply with federal restrictions on its use.

a governmental system in which sovereignty is vested entirely in subnational (state) governments

confederacy

Which choice below describes the American change in governmental structure in 1787?

confederal to federal

The first plan of government for the United States was a

confederation.

The "Three-Fifths Compromise" was a response to

conflict over the institution of slavery.

A federal system is one where

constitutional authority is divided between a national government and state governments.

idea that there are lawful limits on the power of government

constitutionalism

In an oligarchy

control rests with a small group, such as military officers or a few wealthy families.

Shays' Rebellion

convinced many political leaders that the national government was too weak.

A public policy program on which national, state, and local policymakers collaborate is an example of

cooperative federalism

situation in which the national, state, and local levels work together to solve problems

cooperative federalism

A blending of state and national authority is associated with ________ federalism, while a separation of national and state authority is associated with ________ federalism.

cooperative; dual

The influence of business firms on public policy, as through the use of lobbyists, is called

corporate power

a form of government in which the people govern, either directly or through elected representatives

democracy

The United States has certain rules in place to keep government in check. These rules include which of the following?

democracy. constitutionalism. free markets.

passing down of authority from the national government to the state and local governments

devolution

The federal government's power to tax, regulate commerce among the states, and declare war are all examples of ________ powers.

enumerated

seventeen powers granted to the national government under Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution

enumerated powers

notion that individuals are equal in their moral worth and thereby entitled to equal treatment under the law

equality

Cooperative federalism is based on the viewpoint that federalism is a fixed principle for allocating power between the national government and the states

false

a governmental system in which authority is divided between two sovereign levels of government: national and regional

federalism

a term that refers to the expenditure of federal funds on programs run in part through states and localities

fiscal federalism

Roughly one in every ________ dollars spent by local and state governments in recent decades was raised not by them but by the government in Washington.

five

Following the legalization of same-sex marriage, the next battlefront for the LGBT community is

full civil rights protections regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity

federal cash payments to states and localities for programs they administer

grant-in-aid

federal government's constitutional authority (through the "necessary and proper" clause) to take action that is not expressly authorized by the Constitution but that supports actions that are so authorized

implied powers

idea that people should take the initiative, be self-sufficient, and accumulate the material advantages necessary for their well-being

individualism

Enormous concentrations of wealth and power exist in the U.S. private sector, primarily in the hands of:

large corporations.

Under the Virginia Plan

large states would have more representatives in both chambers of Congress.

Which of the following terms is defined as the principle that individuals should be free to act and think as they choose, provided they do not infringe unreasonably on the freedom and well-being of others?

liberty

principle that individuals should be free to act and think as they choose, provided they do not infringe unreasonably on the freedom and well-being of others

liberty

The idea that government should be restricted in its lawful uses of power and hence in its ability to deprive people of their liberty is expressed by the term

limited government.

idea that the majority prevails not only in elections but also in policy determination

majoritarianism

Which of the following is a national power only?

national defense

authority granted Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper" for the implementation of its enumerated powers

necessary and proper clasue

Which of the following is most closely related to the concept of implied powers?

necessary and proper clause

Under the New Jersey Plan, each state would have ____ vote(s) in Congress.

one

condition in which opinions and actions in response to political issues and situations divide substantially along political party lines

party polarization

Devolution is the

passing of authority from the national government to the state and local levels.

The fact that many people seek out information from blogs, websites, and other media sources matching what they already believe shows that:

paying closer attention to politics does not necessarily make a person better informed.

theory of American politics that holds that society's interests are substantially represented through power exercised by groups

pluralism

widely shared and deep-seated political beliefs of a particular people

political culture

systematic study of government and politics

political science

The systematic study of government and politics is termed

political science.

process through which a society settles its conflicts

politics

The process by which a society settles its conflicts and allocates the resulting benefits and costs is called

politics.

ability of persons, groups, or institutions to influence political developments

power

Which of the following is almost exclusively a state power?

registering voters

powers granted to the states under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution

reserved powers

principle that the people are the ultimate source and proper beneficiary of governing authority; in practice, a government based on majority rule

self- government

The fact that the United States uses primary elections and has more elected officials than other countries is a reflection of the belief in

self-government

Marbury v. Madison is a landmark Supreme Court decision because it

set the precedent for judicial review

supreme (or ultimate) authority to govern within a certain geographical area

sovereignity

Article VI of the Constitution, which makes national law supreme over state law when the national government is acting within its constitutional limits

supremacy clause

Which of the following is a concurrent power held by both the national government and state governments?

taxation

The Connecticut or Great Compromise called for the election of a single executive by

the Electoral College.

Presidential appointments and treaties must be approved by

the Senate.

All of the following were major controversies at the Constitutional Convention EXCEPT

the division of power between the national government and the states.

Since the 1930s, the creation of the federal departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Education, serves as an example of

the expansion of the federal government into policy areas traditionally reserved to the states.

Where is the Bill of Rights found in the Constitution?

the first ten amendments

In a democratic society, who or what is responsible for personal development?

the individual

Marguerite is a conservative voter. She routinely listens to partisan talk shows for several hours a day. It is likely that Marguerite is among

the most misinformed citizens.

The Greek words demos and kratis together mean

the people rule.

The Tenth Amendment addressed the concerns of Anti-Federalists about

the powers of state governments.

National authority has greatly expanded in the twentieth century in large part because

the states and the federal government have become increasingly interdependent.

Which of the following is an example of checks and balances?

the veto the impeachment process judicial review

In a constitutional system

there are lawful restrictions on a government's power.

In a constitutional system,

there are lawful restrictions on a government's power.

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution can only be ratified if approved by

three-fourths of state legislatures or three-fourths of special state conventions.

To the framers, the great danger of democratic government was the risk of

tyranny of the majority.

a governmental system in which the national government alone has sovereign (ultimate) authority

unitary system

A defining characteristic of American politics is the

widespread sharing of power.