Midterms quizzes

The constitutional provision found in Article I, Section 8, which gives Congress the means to execute its powers, is an example of what type of power?

Enumerated

All citizens are guaranteed the equal protection of the laws by the

Fourteenth Amendment.

Under what conditions is prayer permitted in public schools?

If the prayer takes place outside instructional hours and is not sponsored by the school

Which political philosopher inspired the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence?

John Locke

According to Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, the proper objective of government is to

Maintain order

Which of the following best identifies the basis for state representation in the Electoral College?

Number of representatives in Congress

A consistent set of values and beliefs about the proper purpose and scope of government is a

Political ideology

Which of the following best describes the concept of civil rights?

Powers and privileges guaranteed to individuals and protected from arbitrary withdrawal by the government or individuals

What is the major rationale for affirmative action?

Special consideration for racial minorities is necessary to overcome the effects of centuries of racial discrimination.

The Great Compromise resolved what issue?

The power of large versus small states

One interesting feature of the U.S. Constitution is that it is

a comprehensive document of only 4300 words.

The U.S. Constitution, written in 1787 for an agricultural society currently guides the political life of

a massive urban society in the nuclear age.

The assignment in the Constitution of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to the legislative, executive, and judicial branches respectively is known as

a separation of powers.

A key component of the Virginia Plan was

a strong national legislature.

Dual federalism is the practice of

allowing the states and the federal government to exercise power separately in areas of legitimate concern to them.

A citizen who lives in the District of Columbia, owns a firearm, and may possess a gun on his person may consider his gun ownership

an individual right.

Money awarded for broad, general purposes is called a ____ grant.

block

In the U.S., freedom of press has primarily meant protection from

censorship

Prior restraint refers to

censorship before publication.

Under separation of powers, the U.S. system keeps power among branches balanced by enabling one branch to counter the actions of another by the use of

checks and balances.

Jim Crow laws were intended to

enforce racial segregation.

The notion that American public schools are open to all is an example of

equality of opportunity.

Social order is usually defined as

established patterns of authority and traditional modes of behavior.

Franklin Roosevelt's four freedoms included all of the following except

freedom from inequality.

In the case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court mandated an end to

government-imposed racial segregation in public schools.

Discrimination against persons or groups that is harmful and is based on animus is called​ __________ discrimination.

invidious

According to the Lemon v. Kurtzman decision

laws dealing with religion must have a secular purpose, neither advance nor inhibit religion, and avoid excessive entanglement between religion and the state.

​As derived from John Locke's philosophy, the doctrine of liberalism holds that government should

leave citizens free to further their individual pursuits.

Civil liberties declare what the government

may not do to citizens.

Supporters of cooperative federalism argue that if there are national crises,

national and state governments and agencies should act jointly and share power to resolve the national crisis together

A citizen who gives a speech advocating the use of violent force against the U.S. government can be convicted of a crime

only if his or her words are likely to produce imminent lawless action.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans​

only ​discrimination against women and African Americans.

Most Americans support pursuing equality of ____ more than equality of ____.

opportunity; outcome

Using a two-dimensional model of political ideology, conservatives are more likely to support

order over freedom and freedom over equality.

The complexity of the American federal system encourages

pluralism

The purpose of the Civil War amendments was to

provide freedom and political equality to black Americans.

De facto segregation is

racial segregation in public schools resulting from residential patterns and without government involvement.

Republicanism is a form of government in which power

resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.

The Supreme Court's interpretation of the commerce clause has historically

served to increase national power.

The significance of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is that this clause has been used as a ____ to absorb and apply the Bill of Rights to state laws.

sponge

Among the most undemocratic​ features of the U.S. Constitution is the

state equality rule

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which challenged a Connecticut statute making the use of birth control devices a crime, established the principle that

the Bill of Rights as a whole creates a zone of personal privacy or autonomy.

The government's role in redistributing income to promote economic equality has been a major source of debate in the United States ever since

the Great Depression

The shift away from dual federalism and toward cooperative federalism was a response to the problems associated with

the Great Depression.

The constitutional provision that made dual federalism possible is

the Tenth Amendment.

The power to coin money belongs to __________ and the power to grant divorces belongs to

the federal government; the states.

When the Bill of Rights was first ratified, it placed restrictions on

the national government but not state governments.

A proponent of states' rights would argue that

the national government's powers should be interpreted narrowly.

An underlying assumption of the text is that perfect freedom and order can never be achieved because

these two values are inherently in conflict and cannot be provided simultaneously.

The basic premise of federalism is that

two or more governments share power and authority over the same land and people.