U.S. Government - Unit 3 - Quiz Questions

Which of the following policies would states most likely prefer according to the political cartoon?

Block grants

South Carolina passed a law to increase the state tax on gasoline to help fund repairs on highways and bridges. The state tax is in addition to the federal tax on every gallon of gasoline that is sold. Which of the following constitutional provisions does this scenario best illustrate?

Concurrent powers

In 2005, the Utah state legislature passed a law that allowed school districts to ignore parts of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a law passed by Congress in 2001 that supported national standards-based education reform. Which of the following statements best explains why Utah believed they were justified taking this action?

Educational policy is not mentioned in the Constitution, which has created debate about the proper role for the national government in educational policy.

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of Federal Power vs. State Power?

Enhance FEDERAL Power- Supremacy Clause Enhance STATE Power- Tenth Amendment

Which of the following constitutional principles best explains why there is variation among states on the use of capital punishment?

Federalism

Which of the following Constitutional ideas best explains the data on the map?

Federalism, concurrent powers, and the Tenth Amendment create inequalities between states on the implementation of health-care policy.

Which of the following is NOT a delegated power of the national government?

Provide education

Which of the following is the most accurate interpretation of the political cartoon?

State governments prefer federal funding but do not want federal oversight over how the money is spent.

Which of the following is an accurate description of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Lopez (1995) ?

The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was struck down as unconstitutional because Congress exceeded the implied powers given to it by the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Commerce Clause.

Congress is not explicitly granted the authority to establish a national I.D. but it is given the enumerated power to address national security issues. If Congress established a national identification card, which of the following Constitutional clauses would most likely allow them to do this?

The Necessary and Proper clause

Arizona enacted an immigration law in 2010, claiming the legislation was needed for security. The Obama administration disagreed, claiming the state law conflicted with an existing national law. Which clause of the U.S. Constitution did the U.S. Supreme Court most likely use to strike down a section of the state law?

The Supremacy Clause

In the passage, Hamilton is concerned that under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government does not have sufficient constitutional powers to gain compliance from state governments. Which of the following is a way that the Constitution allows the federal government to address this problem?

The federal government can pass laws that allow it to fine or tax individuals directly.

Which of the following is an accurate description of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

The federal government had the authority to establish a national bank, and Maryland's tax was unconstitutional.

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the concept of concurrent powers?

The federal government provides about 25% of the total funding for highways and transit in the United States, while the other 75% of the funding comes from states.

What is President Johnson's main argument in the following passage?

The relationship between the federal government and state governments is flexible and both levels of government must cooperate in order to tackle difficult issues.

Concurrent powers have which of the following effects on the United States political system?

They grant citizens and interest groups seeking policy change multiple access points.

Which of the following accurately reflects the U.S. Supreme Court's shifting views on federalism?

United States v. Lopez- Less power to the national government based on a narrow reading of the Commerce Clause.

Based on Federalist 21, which of the following arguments about government would Hamilton likely agree with?

When in conflict, the laws of the national government ought to have supremacy over state laws.