Chapter 1 American Government

providing fire and police protection

". . . some activities that might be carried out privately are in fact conducted by government." Which of the following is an example of this statement?

Parliamentary governments are better able to prevent conflict between the executive and legislative branches.

"A majority of the governmental systems in the world today are parliamentary, not presidential, in form." Which of the following explanations best explains why people support parliamentary systems?

Judges have a duty to look at previous legal decisions when deciding new cases.

"For it is an established rule to abide by former precedents, where the same points come again ... to keep the scales of justice even and steady." Which of the following statements is an accurate rephrasing of Blackstone's argument?

Government is necessary, because people do not always behave perfectly.

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." —James Madison, Federalist No. 51 Which of the following BEST summarizes this idea?

political power is used indirectly by elected officials, not directly by the citizens themselves.

"Some people insist the United States is more properly called a republic rather than a democracy." The people who support this statement argue that the United States is a republic because in its government,

The government of the Roman Republic was centered in the Senate, and Senators were elected by citizens.

"The [Roman] Republic was far from democratic in the modern sense. It did introduce the concept of representation, however." Which of the following statements supports this idea?

Good citizens should be willing and able to accept the duties and responsibilities of living in a free society.

"The first requisite of a good citizen in our republic is that he should be able and willing to pull his weight." —President Theodore Roosevelt, 1902 Which of the following BEST summarizes Roosevelt's statement?

Everyone has rights, but the exercise of these rights cannot endanger others.

"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." —Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes What point was Justice Holmes making about the foundations of democracy?

The laws and policies of national governments affected greater numbers of people.

"To help manage the national government, monarchs hired loyal civil servants typically born in the towns and educated at local universities. Their perspectives were national, not regional. The state, in the person of the monarch, now had sovereignty, or the utmost authority in decision making and in maintaining order. Everyone, including the nobles, was subordinate to that authority. . . .With sovereignty, the monarch now had the right to make laws for the entire nation and all its people." How did the establishment of nations expand the power and reach of government?

It indicates how democratic a government is.

"To many people, the most meaningful of these classifications [of government] is the one that depends on the number of persons who can take part in the governing process." Why might this particular classification be most meaningful to people?

creating a set of laws and a court system

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."—U.S. Constitution, Preamble Which of the following actions is one example of how the American government establishes justice?

Their focus was to create a government that protected all aspects of the nation and its people.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."—U.S. Constitution, Preamble Which statement BEST expresses the concerns of the founders of the American government?

legislative power, executive power, judicial power

Which of the following lists the three basic powers a government must have?

autocracy

A government controlled by a single person

one that is accepted by its people and other governments as the sovereign authority of a nation.

A legitimate government is

The President has power to block actions of the legislature.

A newspaper headline that reads "President Rejects Tax Increase Bill" is an example of which of the following?

government by consent

According to John Locke, political society is created when individuals voluntarily form a government to create and enforce laws, thereby protecting the people who form that government. In this social contract, people give up some of their power to the government, which then rules in their interest. This is the basis of which of the following concepts?

By violating the social contract with the colonists, the king has lost his authority to rule.

According to the lesson text, "Thomas Jefferson called the [Declaration of Independence] 'pure Locke,'" referring to the English philosopher John Locke. Which of the following ideas shows Locke's influence on the Declaration of Independence?

voting in elections

Duties are actions a citizen is required to take. Responsibilities are actions a citizen should take. Which of the following actions is a responsibility of citizenship?

Unlike a president, a prime minister is a member of both the legislative and executive branches.

How does the chief executive of a parliamentary system differ from that of a presidential system?

the relationship between the executive and legislative branches

If you know that a nation uses a parliamentary system of government, but have no other information, what do you know for certain about the structure of that government?

is entitled to receive the same treatment under the law.

In the United States, the concept of equality means that every individual

Both are based on the principles of individual liberty and choice.

In what way are representative democracy and the free enterprise system similar?

Citizens choose small groups of people to make laws and policy for them.

In what way is the United States a representative democracy?

The central feature was an Assembly open to all male citizens at least 18 years of age.

In what way was Athenian democracy a direct democracy?

Athens was a direct democracy in which citizens voted on laws themselves.

In what way was the government of ancient Athens different from that of the United States?

displaying patriotism by volunteering to serve the public good

In which way are the women shown on this poster demonstrating their support for the ideals of American government?

enforcing a new tax law

Which of the following examples shows a government exercising its executive powers?

everything a government decides to do

Which of the following is the best definition of the public policies of a government?

separation of power

Use this quote by the French Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu to answer the question. "In every government there are three sorts of power; the legislative; the executive, in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive, in regard to things that depend on the civil law." What principle of government presented by the U.S. Constitution is Montesquieu describing?

Failing to compromise on major issues by finding common ground can lead to disaster in public policy.

What argument is the cartoon making about the role of compromise in our democratic government?

Failing to compromise on major issues by finding common ground can lead to disaster in public policy. *

What argument is the cartoon making about the role of compromise in our democratic government?

the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies

What is government?

In a unitary government power is held by a single, central agency; in a federal government power is divided between a central government and local governments.

What is the difference between a unitary government and a federal government?

The government does not decide what is produced or what items cost, but does play a role in the economy by protecting the public and preserving private enterprise.

What is the relationship between democracy and the free enterprise system?

the divine right of kings

Which of the following concepts is being expressed in this painting?

In a unitary system, the central government determines which powers the local governments have.

Which of the following statements about the forms of government shown in the chart is correct?

government*

Which of these characteristics represents the system a state uses to make and enforce public policy?

social contract theory

Which one of these explanations about the origins of states best applies to the type of political system created by the U.S. Constitution?

Different groups may have different ideas, but compromise is vital to a successful democracy.

Which statement BEST expresses the meaning of the cartoon?

The people elect officials to represent them in government.

Which statement best describes the form of government that is most common in Europe and the Americas?

The feudal system arose because centralized authority had collapsed, resulting in chaos and disorder.

Which statement describing feudalism reflects people's basic need for government?

feudalism

Which system of government was mostly closely associated with scenes like this one showing serfs working in a field?

oligarchy

Which type of government does Kim Jong-un represent?