2019 Midterm - AP Gov Khan Academy
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government authorized the Justice Assistance Grant in order to provide states and local governments with the funding necessary to support a range of law enforcement and crime prevention programs. Which response illustrates the best rationale for the type of grant fitting this scenario?
Block grants provide states with a great deal of flexibility in using federal funds to address specific local needs
In 1972, the federal government established the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Recipients of aid must be women who are pregnant or breastfeeding or children under the age of 5 whose family income falls below 185% of the federal poverty line.
Categorical grants
A president issues an executive order banning newspapers from printing articles critical of the US government. The Supreme Court declares the executive order unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment right to freedom of the press. This is an example of which of the following principles of US government?
Checks and balances
Removal of a public official for crimes or abuse of power is an example of which of the following principles of American government?
Checks and balances
Which of the following statements best summarizes the decision in United States v. Lopez (1995)?
Congress cannot use the commerce clause to regulate the possession of firearms in public schools
Which of the following statements best summarizes the decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?
Congress has implied powers not listed in the Constitution in order to implement its enumerated powers
Which of the following scenarios would violate the Tenth Amendment?
Congress passing a law raising the minimum driving age to 21
The government of Maryland is considering increasing its welfare benefits significantly. Which of the following describes a difficulty that the state government may face in the policy implementation process?
Due to the "privileges and immunities" clause of Article IV, poorer citizens of other states might move to Maryland in order to take advantage of the benefits
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? Choose 1 answer:
Due to the concurrent powers of state and national government, many programs are administered by both state and federal agencies
Which two were weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? I. The federal government could not levy taxes. II. The executive branch was more powerful than Congress. III. The federal government could not raise an army. IV. Each state had two votes in a bicameral Congress.
I and III
Which of the following may Congress do to limit the power of the executive?
Impeach the president
In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees people of the same sex the right to marry in the same manner as opposite-sex couples. Following this ruling, the National Organization for Marriage appealed to members of Congress encouraging them to pass an amendment to the Constitution defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This is an example of which of the following principles of American government? Choose 1 answer:
Multiple access points for stakeholders to influence policymaking
Which of the following is a consequence of federalism in the United States?
National policymaking is held in check
"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
Pluralist democracy
Anthony is concerned by his state government's efforts to decrease regulations on pesticides that could hurt the bee population. He decides to join the League of Conservation Voters to help them lobby against deregulating pesticides. This is an example of which of the following models of democracy?
Pluralist democracy
Read the passage and answer the following question. "As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed . . . The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results; and from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors, ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties." -Publius (James Madison), Federalist No. 10 Based on the text, which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?
Political liberty is best protected by the fragmentation of political power in a large republic
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
In the 1960s, the federal government passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, which compelled state and local governments to desegregate public schools and public places. This is an example of which of the following aspects of federalism in the United States?
Pressure at the national level can force state and local policy changes
Shana has a daughter in a public school whose students take a national reading test each year. Shana strongly disagrees with the test's methods and believes the test should either be replaced or eliminated. Which of the following is an action Shana could take to influence education policy?
Run for a seat on her local school board in order to influence her district not to use the test
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
Which of the following best illustrates the concept of limited government?
The president vetoing a bill from Congress
Which of the following statements best explains how the Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted to enhance federal power?
The Fourteenth Amendment gave Congress the right to regulate discrimination in states
A member of the House of Representatives proposes a Constitutional amendment that would force the president and Congress to balance the budget every year. Which of the following accurately describes the amendment process?
The bill must pass both the House and the Senate with a two-thirds majority
The National Recovery Act of 1933, enacted by Franklin Roosevelt's administration to combat the Great Depression, vastly expanded the power of the federal government to regulate wages and labor standards. This scenario is an example of which of the following aspects of federalism?
The changing balance of power between the states and federal government in response to societal needs
"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 pieces of evidence would best support the author's conclusion?
The lack of centralized military power under the Articles of Confederation
"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 statements best summarizes Madison's argument?
The structure of the government itself should limit its powers
"Our Debts being unfunded and unprovided for, the Interest cannot be paid. Those therefore who trusted us in the Hour of Distress are defrauded. To expect that under such Circumstances others will confide in the Government would be Folly, and to expect that Foreigners will Trust a Government which has no Credit with its own Citizens must be madness . . . "The United States have call'd for eight Million of Dollars early in November last, of which the first quarterly Payment was to have been made on the first Day of April next. But I cannot find that a single State has laid the Taxes." -Robert Morris, letter to the president of Congress, 1782 Which of the following statements best summarizes the author's argument?
The taxation structure under the Articles poses a serious threat to the economic well-being of the United States
social contract is best defined as which of the following?
the agreement between people and the government defining the rights and duties of each
Read the passage and answer the following question. "In a pure democracy the people are the sovereign, and their will is declared by themselves; for this purpose they must all come together to deliberate, and decide. This kind of government cannot be exercised, therefore, over a country of any considerable extent; it must be confined to a single city, or at least limited to such bounds as that the people can conveniently assemble, be able to debate, understand the subject submitted to them, and declare their opinion concerning it." -Brutus No. 1 Which of the following political parties would have agreed with the ideological perspectives in the passage when it was written?
Anti-Federalists
Read the passage and answer the following question. "As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed . . . The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government. From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results; and from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors, ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties." -Publius (James Madison), Federalist No. 10 Which of the following statements is most consistent with the author's argument in this passage?
Factions, while inevitable, can be controlled
The Three-Fifths Compromise is best defined as which of the following?
For every five enslaved Africans, three would be counted for representation
"In a pure democracy the people are the sovereign, and their will is declared by themselves; for this purpose they must all come together to deliberate, and decide. This kind of government cannot be exercised, therefore, over a country of any considerable extent; it must be confined to a single city, or at least limited to such bounds as that the people can conveniently assemble, be able to debate, understand the subject submitted to them, and declare their opinion concerning it." -Brutus No. 1 Based on the text, which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?
Local and state governments are better equipped to deal with issues affecting people's daily lives
The National Rifle Association (NRA) testifies in front of Congress to advocate for several laws, including one that would protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits concerning violence committed with weapons they made.
Pluralist democracy
Which of the following scenarios would be considered an unconstitutional use of state power?
Requiring Amish students to attend school until age 16 despite their religious beliefs
"Given the increasing difference in size between the largest and smallest states, combined with other changes in the American political context[,] any effects of Senate apportionment are greater today than in the past. By reference to the one person, one vote standard, the Senate is the most malapportioned legislature in the world . . . Currently Wyoming, with fewer than half a million residents, enjoys the same level of representation as California, with more than 30 million." -Frances E. Lee and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation, 1999 Which of the following statements best summarizes the author's argument?
The Great Compromise failed to anticipate growing population differences in small and large states, leaving matters unresolved
Read the passage and answer the following question. "In revising the federal system we ought to inquire 1. into the properties, which such a government ought to possess, 2. the defects of the confederation, 3. the danger of our situation & 4. the remedy. "The Character of such a government ought to secure 1. against foreign invasion, 2. against dissensions between members of the Union, or seditions in particular States, 3. to procure to the several States various blessings, of which an isolated situation was incapable, 4. to be able to defend itself against encroachment, & 5. to be paramount to the state constitutions." -Edmund Randolph, as recorded in James Madison's journal, 1787 Based on the text, which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?
The United States would benefit from a stronger central government
"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
Read the passage and answer the following question. "In revising the federal system we ought to inquire 1. into the properties, which such a government ought to possess, 2. the defects of the confederation, 3. the danger of our situation & 4. the remedy. The Character of such a government ought to secure 1. against foreign invasion, 2. against dissensions between members of the Union, or seditions in particular States, 3. to procure to the several States various blessings, of which an isolated situation was incapable, 4. to be able to defend itself against encroachment, & 5. to be paramount to the state constitutions." -Edmund Randolph, as recorded in James Madison's journal, 1787 Which of the following was a consequence of the ideas described in the passage?
The development of a new national Constitution
"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 Based on the text, which of the following statements would the author most likely agree with?
Citizens cannot hold distant elected representatives accountable for their actions
Which of the following was a way in which Shays's Rebellion demonstrated the weaknesses of the national government under the Articles of Confederation?
It could not raise money to pay a militia to put down the rebellion
Which of the following procedures results in the addition of an amendment to the Constitution?
Two-thirds of state legislatures propose a Constitution Amendment Bill, which is ratified by three-fourths of the states
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 aspects of the US Constitution best illustrates the concept of elite democracy?
The original wording of the Constitution regarding the selection of US senators
A member of the Senate makes a statement to the press that she is unsure of how she is going to vote on a bill. After numerous calls from her constituents asking her to vote for the bill, she votes in support of the bill.
republicanism
