Foundations of American Democracy

Which of the following policies is an example of a present-day debate about the balance of power between the federal government and state governments?

Congress passing the Every Student Succeeds (ESSA) Act that decreased the number of standardized tests.

Which of the following scenarios would violate the Tenth Amendment?

Congress passing a law raising the minimum driving age to 21.

Which of the following describes a way that the federal government could influence state spending on education?

Issuing a mandate tying federal block grants to the amount of state spending per pupil.

" To what expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied, by so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places." -Publius (James Madison), Federalist No. 51, 1788 Which of the following principles of US government is most consistent with the author's argument?

Checks and balances.

During the 1980s, members of the Republican Party advocated for devolution (transferring responsibilities for programs from the federal government to state and local governments). Which of the following describes a difficulty Congress might face in implementing devolution?

Due to the concurrent powers of state and national government, many programs are administered by both state and federal agencies.

"When the Articles of Confederation were drafted, Americans had little experience of what a national government could do for them and bitter experience of what an arbitrary government could do to them. In creating a central government they were therefore more concerned with keeping it under control than with giving it the means to do its job." -Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic, 1763-89, 1956 Which of the following concepts is most consistent with the author's argument?

Limited government.

Which of the following is a consequence of federalism in the United States?

National policymaking is held in check.

In June 2017, voters in Puerto Rico voted on a referendum to make Puerto Rico the 51st state of the United States. This is an example of which of the following models of democracy?

Participatory democracy.

"The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular states, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other states: a religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the confederacy; but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it, must secure the national councils against any danger from that source: a rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the union." -Publius (James Madison), Federalist No. 10, 1787 Which of the following models of representative democracy is most consistent with the passage?

Pluralist democracy.

After a House of Representatives member supports an unpopular tax despite protests from his constituents, he loses his bid for reelection. This is an example of which of the following democratic ideals?

Popular sovereignty.

Read the passage and answer the following question. "In so extensive a republic, the great officers of government would soon become above the control of the people, and abuse their power to the purpose of aggrandizing themselves, and oppressing them. The trust committed to the executive offices, in a country of the extent of the United States, must be various and of magnitude." -Brutus No. 1 Which constitutional provision would the author most likely support?

The addition of a Bill of Rights.

In Federalist No. 10, Madison argues that the Constitution disperses power between the federal government and state governments. Which of the following describes a constitutional provision in the newly-ratified Constitution that does that?

US senators were chosen by state legislatures.

Which of the following is a consequence of the allocation of power between the national government and state governments?

Stakeholders and institutions have multiple access points to influence public policy.