Dual U.S. Government

Which of the following statements about the state governments is accurate?

they carry out virtually all the functions they always have, while the national government has taken on new functions

Which of these has no formal role in amending the Constitution?

the president

Which of the following describes the dramatic changes in American federalism that have occurred over the past two centuries?

the rise of fiscal federalism AND a gradual shift from dual federalism to cooperative federalism

Almost every policy the national government has adopted has originated with...

the states

Which is responsible for most public policies dealing with social, family, and moral issues?

the states

Who authored the Federalist Papers?

Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Publius, AND James Madison

Which of the following was NOT among the reasons the framers adopted a federal system when they wrote the Constitution?

America had always had a federal system and it would have been too radical and disruptive a change to adopt another system

In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), Chief Justice Marshall argued that...

Congress's enumerated power to coin money, regulate its value, and impose taxes implied the right of Congress to do whatever was necessary and proper for carrying out these powers, including the power to create a bank AND the national government has implied powers that go beyond those explicitly enumerated in Article 1, Section 8 AND in cases of conflict between national and state law, the national law was in accordance with the Constitution AND Maryland could not tax the national bank

Which state was the first to approve the Constitution?

Delaware

Who authored The Second Treatise of Civil Government?

John Locke

Judicial review was established in

Marbury v. Madison

Which of the following was NOT among the power prohibited to the States in the Constitution?

None of the above - look at Constitution Test for options

The women's rights movement was most famously launched with the signing of the...

Seneca Falls Decleration

Which of the following statements regarding the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists is TRUE?

The Federalists supported the Constitution; the Anti-Federalists opposed the Constitution and preferred to revise the Articles of Confederation AND the Federalists favored a stronger national government; the Anti-Federalists favored stronger state governments and a weaker national government

________ was proposed by William Patterson, in which each state was to be equally represented in the new Congress

The New Jersey Plan

Which of the following is TRUE of intergovernmental relations in the United States over the past two centuries?

There has been a gradual shift from dual federalism to cooperative federalism AND there has been an increase in federal grants-in-aid to the states and localities from the national government AND intergovernmental relations are increasingly characterized by fiscal federalism AND there is a greater sharing of powers between the national and state governments

The __________ Amendment outlawed slavery in the United States.

Thirteenth

Who argued that, without a strong government, life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"?

Thomas Hobbes

Who is the author of Leviathan?

Thomas Hobbes

The Supreme Court held in _______ that the federal Gun Free School Zones Act of 1990 exceeded Congress's constitutional authority to regulate commerce.

United States v. Lopez

The __________, offered as a proposal at the Constitutional Convention, called for giving each state in Congress representation in proportion to the state's share of the population

Virginia Plan

According to John Locke, the "state of nature" refers to...

a state in which there are no formal laws or government

An amendment may be proposed by...

a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress AND a national convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislatures

The Thirteenth Amendment...

abolished slavery

The separation of powers and the checks and balances established by the Constitution...

allow almost all groups some place in the political system where their demands for public policy can be heard

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Clean Air Act of 1970 are similar in that they both...

are considered underfunded mandates AND require states to meet and administer federal standards AND do not allocate federal funds to assist states in policy implementation

The Thirteenth Amendment was passed...

at the end of the Civil War

In response to complaints from state and local governments about the paperwork and requirements attached to most grants, Congress has established ___________ to support programs in areas like community development and social services.

block grants

Federalism is a way of organizing a nation so that...

both national and state levels of government have some authority over the same land and people

The principal type of federal aid for states and localities is...

categorical grants

The idea that government derives its authority by sanction of the people refers to the principle of...

consent of the governed

________ occur(s) when a condition of one federal grant is extended to all activities supported by federal funds, regardless of their source.

crosscutting requirements

Regarding the right to vote in national elections, the framers of the Constitution...

decided to leave it up to the individual states to determine voter qualifications in their own states

In determining the power of Congress to regulate commerce in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Supreme Court...

defined commerce very broadly, encompassing virtually every form of commercial activity

The foundation of Locke's philosophy was that human beings...

derive their rights from nature

The United States Constitution...

does prescribe the functions and structure of government in detail

The national government has exclusive control over foreign and military policy, the postal system, and monetary policy, while the states have exclusive control over other specific areas. This division of responsibilities reflects...

dual federalism

The Constitution's provisions that Congress has the right to "make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution" its powers is often referred to as the...

elastic clause

Which of the following statements about federalism is FALSE?

federal aid to state and local governments has declined over the past several decade

Grants for specific programs distributed according to community demographic factors, such as population or income, are...

formula grants

Some scholars have suggested that a consequence of separation of powers and checks and balances has been...

fragmented policymaking processes

Contracts between business firms can be enforced across state boundaries as part of the constitutional provision of...

full faith and credit

The Constitution requires that states give _______ to the public acts, records, and civil judicial proceedings of every state in ________.

full faith and credit; Article 4

The main instrument the national government uses to influence state governments is...

grants-in-aid

The Madisonian system...

has a conservative bias favoring the status quo

Federal policies to regulate food and drugs, build interstate highways, protect consumers, try to clean up dirty air and water, and do many other things are all justified as _________ of Congress.

implied powers

The immediate reaction to Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was...

increased enrollment in private schools by Whites in the South and a threat to close public schools

The writers of the Constitution...

intended there to be no popular vote for the president

In Strauder v. West Virginia (1880), the Supreme Court...

invalidated a law barring African Americans from jury service AND refused to extend the Fourteenth Amendment to remedy subtle forms of discrimination

Which of the following is often seen as a benefit of federalism?

it allows states to function as laboratories of democracy, or policy innovators

Which of the following is TRUE of the Constitution?

it created obligations of the national government toward the state including the obligation to protect states from invasion AND it established states as vital components of the machinery of government AND it granted the continuation of each state by forbidding Congress to create new states by dividing existing states without the approval of the existing state AND it guaranteed states equal representation in the Senate

Which of the following is NOT true of the Articles of Confederation?

it gave the president too much power

In what ways does federalism decentralize political power?

it provides more opportunities for political participation AND it creates fewer layers of government AND it creates more elections

Which of the following was NOT among Anti-Federalist objections to the proposed constitution?

it was far too decentralized and fragmented

Which of the following was NOT one of the economic difficulties the writers of the Constitution attempted to address?

lack of unemployment compensation and welfare payments

Constitutional amendments are usually ratified by...

legislatures of three-fourths of the states

An amendment may be ratified by...

legislatures of three-fourths of the states AND special state conventions called by three-fourths of the states

The Supreme Court's 1986 ruling in Thornburg v. Gingles

reaffirmed the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 AND upheld the principle that redrawing district boundaries should avoid discriminatory results, and not just discriminatory intent

Which of the following was a method used to discourage or prevent Blacks from voting?

literacy tests AND poll taxes AND white primaries

The Constitution's supremacy clause...

made the Constitution, the laws of the national government, and the national government's treaties the supreme law of the land

Which of the following characteristics do NOT apply to the 55 delegates who convened the Constitutional Convention?

most were residents of western frontiers

Ratification of the Constitution...

needed the approval of nine states

Legal segregation of the races was declared unconstitutional in the 1954 landmark ruling known as...

none of the above

With respect to the Electoral College, the Constitution...

originally specified that electors were to be selected by state legislatures or voters in the states AND does not prohibit electors from voting for any candidate AND specifies that each states get a number of electors equal to the total of its senators and representatives in Congress

The fact that the legal drinking age is 21 across the 50 United States is a good example of...

the influence the national government can wield over state governments through the withholding of federal funds, despite state police powers AND the potential influence of lobbying organizations, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in a federalist system

"Comparable worth" refers to the issue of...

paying men and women equivalent salaries for jobs requiring similar skills

The Defense of Marriage Act...

permits states to disregard same-sex marriages or civil unions of same-sex partners issued in other states

Among the most important ends of government for the delegates at the Constitutional Convention was the...

prevention of tyranny AND preservation of property

The sole purpose of government, according to John Locke, was to...

protect natural rights

Opposition to the ratification of the Constitution was based on the belief that it would...

provide for elite control, endanger liberty, and weaken the states

The effect of Congress's 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act was to...

redraw district boundaries to avoid discriminatory results AND prevent district boundaries from diluting the votes of African Americans

Only the national government is allowed to...

regulate commerce with foreign nations

The Twenty-first Amendment...

repealed prohibition

The United States Supreme Court has handed down each of the following decisions concerning gender discrimination in employment and business activity EXCEPT...

requiring the federal government to give women equal pay for jobs of comparable worth

The Connecticut Compromise at the Constitutional Convention...

resolved the impasse between those who favored the New Jersey Plan and those who preferred the Virginia Plan

In Bush v. Hera (1996) and Shaw v. Hunt (1996) the Supreme Court...

ruled that convoluted majority-minority districts that abandon compact district lines constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymandering

The feature of the Constitution that requires each of the three branches of government to be relatively independent of control over the others and that requires each branch to share powers with at least one of the other branches is the doctrine of...

separation of powers

The enumerated powers of Congress and the national government are those...

specifically spelled out in the Constitution

In the Constitution, the powers to coin money, to enter into treaties, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states were given to...

the national government

Cooperative federalism refers to a system in which...

the national government and the state governments share powers and policy assignments

The framers of the Constitution gave chief economic policymaking power to the...

states

The Tenth Amendment

states that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by the states, are reserved for the states

Lockean thought and the Declaration of Independence are similar in that both...

support the concept of natural rights and the idea that the government is built on the consent of the governed

Each of the following violations of individual rights is forbidden in the original Constitution EXCEPT...

suspension of freedom of speech

All of the following are powers given by the Constitution to the national government EXCEPT...

taking measures for public health, safety, and morals

Which of the following is covered by Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce according to current Supreme Court interpretation?

telephone messages AND the internet AND insurance transactions AND radio signal

On the issue of slaves, the Constitution specified...

that slaves would count as three-fifths persons for counting the nation's population and determining seats in the House

Which of the following element of government did the Constitution place within direct control of the votes of the majority?

the House of Representatives

Which of the following statements regarding the Constitution is FALSE?

the original Constitution offers numerous guidelines on voter eligibilty

Fiscal federalism is...

the pattern of spending, taxing, and providing grants in the federal system

The case Shaw v. Reno (1993) was significant in that...

the Supreme Court decried the creation of oddly-shaped districts based solely on race AND the Supreme Court gave legal standing to challenges to oddly-shapes majority-minority districts

Which of the following is TRUE?

the Supreme Court has declined the use of race in voluntary integration plans to be in violation of the equal protection clause AND Affirmation Action programs are subject to strict scrutiny under the Court's standards of review AND race is a permissible factor among many to use in consideration of admission to colleges

Which of the following was NOT a power giver to Congress by the Constitution in terms of the economy?

the ability to force states to abolish slavery

Which of the following events contributed to the accumulation of national over state power?

the elaboration of the doctrine of implied powers AND the Civil War AND the definition of the commerce clause AND the struggle for civil rights and racial equality

What was the purpose of the Twenty-sixth Amendment?

to lower the voting age to 18

Devolution refers to...

transferring responsibility for policies from the national government to state governments

All of the amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by Congress and ratified by state legislatures EXCEPT the _________ Amendment.

twenty-first

According to the U.S. Constitution, how many Senators does each state have?

two

In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court...

upheld the University of Michigan law school's use of race as one of many factors in determining student admissions AND agreed there was a compelling interest in promoting racial diversity on the University of Michigan law school campus

The Supreme Court case of Printz v. United States...

voided the congressional mandate in the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act requiring local community officials to conduct background checks on prospective gun purchasers