Government: True or False

The Constitution prohibits the National Government from giving money to the States, so State budgets are seriously out of balance.

False

The Constitution states that Congress must make changes in the document's wording because of changes in society.

False

The National Government must guarantee that States are run by the Republicans.

False

The Necessary and Proper Clause is often called the Elastic Clause because it cause the powers of Congress to snap.

False

The President may not call the Congress into session.

False

The President's only options are to sign or veto a bill passed in both the House and the Senate.

False

The Senate, when considering a bill, tends to be more formal than the House.

False

The United States Federal Government is an example of a direct democracy.

False

The main job of the House Rules Committee is to watch over the ethics of House members.

False

The votes in Virginia and New York brought the number of ratifying States to nine, the number that the Constitution required for it to go into effect.

False

Thomas Jefferson was a liberal constructionist.

False

Upon the death of a President, the Vice President assumes the powers and duties of the presidency, but technically does not become President.

False

The colonists' unhappiness with taxation without representation, expressed in the Declaration of Rights, came as a surprise to the British king.

True

The free enterprise system is an economic system, not a political system.

True

The main job of standing committees or their subcommittees is to conduct investigations.

True

The scope of a President's power depends largely on the views of the President.

True

The secretary of state is the first Cabinet officer in the line of succession.

True

The words continuous body, as applied to the Senate, mean that all its seats are never up for election at the same time.

True

The absence of a bill of rights was cause for many people to oppose ratification of the Constitution.

True

A senator is required to meet the same requirements for office as a member of the House.

False

After the Revolutionary War came a 10-year period of domestic harmony.

False

All U.S. Presidents have taken a broad view of their powers.

False

All people in a democracy are expected to have equal abilities.

False

As chief citizen, the President is the automatic head of the political party that controls the executive branch.

False

As chief of party, the President is expected to represent the interests of all the people, not just the constituents of a State or congressional district.

False

Bicameralism was the invention of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

False

Block grants are made for a very specific purpose.

False

Colonies immediately accepted Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of the Union.

False

Conference committees meet to confer over the organization of their respective houses.

False

Dictatorships exercise limited authority over the people.

False

Hamilton feared the powers of the Bank of the United States.

False

If a new State joins the nation, the total number of senators in the Senate will remain the same.

False

If the office of Vice President becomes vacant, Congress appoints a new one.

False

Implied powers give the Federal Government the authority to do anything on behalf of the general welfare and public interest.

False

In a democracy, the interests of the few must be elevated above the interests of the many.

False

In a democracy, the majority is not always expected to have the right answer.

False

In a unitary government, political authority rests in the hands of both central and local governments.

False

In its early stages, industrialization weakened the power of the presidency.

False

Liberal constructionists hesitated to use implied powers.

False

Like the House, all the Senate seats are up for election at the same time.

False

Most opponents of ratification believed the new Constitution gave too little power to the National Government.

False

Over the years, the Constitution has been changed only 10 times.

False

Seven States were needed to ratify the Constitution.

False

The 25th Amendment established the complete line of succession to the presidency.

False

The Articles set up three branches of government.

False

A confederate government possesses little authority to act on its own.

True

A quorum is a majority.

True

A standing committee is a permanent group.

True

A term is the length of time between elections in Congress.

True

Amendments to the Constitution have as much legality as the original Constitution.

True

As chief of state, the President is ceremonial head of government.

True

As commander in chief, the President has control of the army and navy.

True

As far as Congress was concerned, the main purpose for a 1787 convention in Philadelphia was to revise the Articles of Confederation.

True

At the Philadelphia Convention, some of the Framers argued that the President should be subordinate to Congress.

True

Cloture is a Senate rule for limiting debate.

True

Compromise is vital in the decision-making process of a democracy.

True

Congress can appropriate money to different departments of the Federal Government.

True

Economic issues first motivated Americans to get together to discuss the effectiveness of the Articles of Confederation.

True

Every one of the 13 States had to ratify the Articles of Confederation before it became effective.

True

Filibusters are practiced by those in the minority on an issue.

True

Formal amendment refers to a change or addition that becomes part of the written Constitution.

True

George Washington believed the Senate would soften some of the more extreme legislation of the House.

True

Implied powers are those reasonably deduced from the expressed powers.

True

In a presidential government, the legislative and executive branches are independent and coequal.

True

Liberal constructionism was linked to a strong National Government.

True

McCulloch v. Maryland gave strength to implied powers and elevated the Federal Government over the States.

True

Neither house of Congress may end a session without the consent of the other.

True

One reason that presidential power has grown is the President's ability to command the attention of the mass media.

True

Select committees are set up for a specific purpose for a limited time.

True

Self-government in the early days of the colonies was made possible by the great distance between North America and England.

True

Strict constructionists believed that Congress should exercise only its expressed powers and those powers absolutely necessary to carry out those expressed powers,

True

The 13 colonies, although fiercely independent, sometimes experimented with plans of union.

True

The Bill of Rights states the guarantees of basic freedoms for the American people.

True

The Intolerable Acts prompted colonists to call the First Continental Congress.

True

The National Government has the authority to send troops to a State to quell civil disorder, even without an invitation by the State's governor.

True

The President is the chief administrator, or head of the large federal bureaucracy.

True

The President must sign an act of admission in order for a State to join the Union.

True

The Senate is the house that practices filibusters.

True

The Senate may expel one of its members with a two-thirds vote.

True

The Vice President cannot be removed from office by the President.

True