AP GOV CHAPTER 3 TEST
According to the chart, in which of the following years (approximately) did the number of federal military personnel fall below that of federal civilian personnel?
1990
Which of the following statements about the federal government between 1948 and 1978 is supported by the chart?
A relatively stable number of employees administered larger federal budgets and enforced more regulations.
Which of the following forms of financial aid from the national government gives the states the broadest discretion in the spending of money?
Block grants
Which of the following actions did President Johnson suggest he would take to address problems in public schools?
Calling on experts to advise the federal government in finding ways to improve public education
South Carolina passed a law to increase the state tax on gasoline to help fund repairs on highways and bridges. The state tax is in addition to the federal tax on every gallon of gasoline that is sold. Which of the following constitutional provisions does this scenario illustrate?
Concurrent powers
The case United States v. Lopez (1995) struck down the Gun-Free School Zones Act because
Congress exceeded its authority in the use of the commerce clause
The decision of the Supreme Court upheld the principle that
Congress has the power to make laws to carry out its constitutional duties
Which of the following pairs of statements correctly describes both federal and unitary systems?
D. Power is constitutionally shared between the national and state governments. The national government may grant certain powers to the states.
Cooperative federalism can best be described by which of the following statements?
Different levels of government are involved in common policy areas.
Which constitutional concept is best reflected in the passage?
Dual federalism
What is the significance of the data on the graph, and how do the data relate to American government and politics?
For over fifty years, the federal government has become increasingly involved in state and local governmental affairs.
Which of the following public policy problems is most likely to result from the situation shown in the chart?
Government employees may become responsible for larger bodies of regulation than they can effectively monitor.
Which of the following sets of Supreme Court cases best illustrates how views of federalism have shifted in the United States?
McCulloch v maryland, us v lopez
Based on the passage and your knowledge, which of the following most likely explains how Adam Smith might react to the decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ?
Smith would disapprove of the court's decision to expand the federal government's power to regulate the economy.
The increasing number of state and local government employees reflects which of the following about the political system in the United States?
State and local governments provide many necessary public services in a federal system.
Which of the following is the most reasonable implication of James Madison's argument in The Federalist 46 ?
States can resist the federal government's encroachments more readily than the federal government can oppose state policies, leading to a federal system based on a foundation of states.
In McCulloch v. Maryland , the Supreme Court established which of the following principles?
States cannot interfere with or tax the legitimate activities of the federal government.
Which of the following scenarios best exemplifies Madison's argument in The Federalist 46 ?
States passing laws that allow increased legal use of marijuana even though federal law prohibits marijuana
Which of the following statements best describes the impact of the Supreme Court's decision in McCulloch v. Maryland?
The Court ruled that states have authority over commercial activity within their borders, weakening national power.
Which of the following best defines the constitutional interpretation of federalism?
The federal government and the states have separate but overlapping powers; where these powers conflict the federal government prevails.
Which of the following is a correct statement about the federal government's role in interstate commerce?
The federal government's role has been greatly expanded through the interpretation of the interstate commerce clause.
Which of the following resulted from this Supreme Court decision?
The power of the national government was strengthened.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, which provides protections for the disabled, is an example of
a federal mandate
Which of the following powers allows both the federal and state governments to make policies involving taxation?
concurrent powers
Which of the following policies involves more state spending than federal spending?
education
The framers of the United States Constitution left decisions on voting eligibility to the
individual states
The reserved powers of the state governments can best be described as those powers
not specifically granted to the national government or denied to the states
The congressional power that has been contested most frequently in the federal courts is the power to
regulate interstate commerce
The Americans with Disabilities Act was widely unpopular with governors and mayors because it
required that states and cities pay for federally mandated construction and remodeling
The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to
reserve powers to the states
Which of the following clauses in the Constitution justifies the "implied powers doctrine" ?
the necessary and proper clause
A prominent example of the process of returning more of the responsibilities of governing from the national level to the state level is
welfare reform
Which of the following policies would the states most likely prefer according to the political cartoon?
Block grants
Which of the following best summarizes the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Lopez (1995) ?
Congress does not have the authority under the commerce clause to pass a law forbidding possession of a firearm in a school zone.
Which of the following is the best example of a categorical grant?
Money given to states for special education programs
Which of the following statements best describes the viewpoint expressed in the political cartoon?
Supreme Court decisions do not resolve long-standing disagreements over social policy issues.
In 1993, Congress enacted the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act,83 mandating that anyone seeking to buy a firearm must first undergo a federal background check. One provision in that act required state law enforcement officials to conduct those background checks. In Printz v. United States (1997),84 the Supreme Court declared that portion of the act to be unconstitutional, reasoning, "The Federal Government may not compel the States to enact or administer a federal regulatory program." Which constitutional provision most logically and directly supports the Court's conclusion in the quoted language?
Tenth Amendment
Which of the following statements is supported by the data on the map?
Texas (TX) has a higher rate of uninsured people than New Jersey (NJ).
Which of the following is an accurate description of the decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ?
The federal government had the authority to establish a national bank, and Maryland's tax was unconstitutional.
Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the concept of concurrent powers?
The federal government provides about 25% of the total funding for highways and transit in the United States, while the other 75% of the funding comes from states.
Which of the following statements best describes the author's perspective and reasoning?
The powers that the Constitution would grant to the national government will not intrude upon the power of state governments.
By using the phrase "creative federalism," President Johnson is most likely referring to which of the following features of the American system?
The relationship between the federal and state governments evolves over time and is flexible enough to permit new forms of interaction.
Concurrent powers have which of the following effects on the United States political system?
They make it possible for the states and the national government to simultaneously exercise influence in the same areas of public policy.
The supremacy clause in the Constitution states that
federal law takes precedence over state law when the laws conflict
The decision in United States v. Lopez (1995) reflected new ideas about federalism at the time that can be best characterized by which of the following?
A delegation of power from the federal government to state governments, increasing state and local sovereignty
Which of the following is a consequence of having concurrent powers within a federal system of government?
Citizens and interest groups seeking policy change can choose from multiple access points.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) required states to implement standards-based education reform in order to receive federal funds. Which of the following criticisms of NCLB is being expressed in the cartoon?
Education resources are being systematically reduced, while education standards are becoming more unreachable.
Interpretations of this clause have been central to attempts to define the nature of which of the following aspects of the United States political system?
Federalism
Which constitutional principle best explains the differences in poverty rates presented in the map?
Federalism
Which of the following constitutional principles best explains why there is variation among states on the use of capital punishment?
Federalism
Which of the following characteristics best explains the data on the map?
Federalism creates differences between states on the implementation of health-care policy.
Adapted from Vital Statistics on American Politics, ed. Harold W. Stanley and Righard G. Niemi, Washington, D.C.: Washington Quarterly Press, 2000 Which of the following statements can be supported from information in the table above? Federal grants to state and local governments have increased substantially in total dollar amount since 1950. In 1994 the federal government devoted a larger percentage of outlays to grants than in 1980. Between 1980 and 1990, grants decreased as a percentage of federal outlays. In 1994 states were more dependent on federal grants for revenue than in 1990, 1970, or 1960.
I, III, and IV only
Which of the following actions by the federal government best illustrates the concept of unfunded mandates?
Requiring states and municipalities to provide certain services for their citizens without providing resources to pay for those services
Which of the following is the most accurate interpretation of the political cartoon?
State governments prefer federal funding but do not want federal oversight over how the money is spent.
Which of the following is an accurate description of the decision in United States v. Lopez (1995) ?
The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was struck down as unconstitutional because it exceeded the commerce clause.
Which inference is most clearly drawn from the graph?
The category receiving the largest federal funding has shifted over time from "Education, training, employment, and social services" in 1975 to "Health" in 2011.
Which of the following debates is most relevant to the excerpt from The Federalist 46 ?
The debate over whether states should cooperate with the federal government's immigration enforcement policies
Which of the following constitutional provisions broadened the power of Congress?
The necessary and proper clause
Which of the following is true based on information on the map?
The poverty rate in the United States varies by state and region.
By holding that Congress may regulate activity that is neither interstate nor commerce under the Interstate Commerce Clause, the Court abandons any attempt to enforce the Constitution's limits on federal power . . . —Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting opinion, Gonzales v. Raich Which of the following statements best describes the viewpoint conveyed in the quotation?
The system of federalism is threatened by the national government's expansion of power under the commerce clause.
Which of the following is a method by which Congress is likely influencing state policy being depicted in the cartoon?
Unfunded mandates
Federal nutrition guidelines require public schools to serve healthy lunches to students and limit the amount of "junk food" available in vending machines. A state seeking to challenge these nutrition rules should cite which of the following cases?
United States v. Lopez
Many scholars argue that categorical grants-in-aid do which of the following?
Weaken the power of state governors and legislators
All of the following are consequences of the federal system in the United States EXCEPT
a strict division of power among levels of government
The practical effect of this clause has been to
allow the national government to extend its powers beyond those enumerated in the Constitution
States and localities have the most discretion in establishing policy when federal funding is derived from
block grants
Giving state governments greater discretion in deciding how to achieve the specific goals of welfare reform is an example of
devolution
In a federal system of government, political power is primarily
divided between the central government and regional governments
The terms "fiscal federalism" and "cooperative federalism" refer to situations in which
federal, state, and local governments work together to complete a project, with the federal government providing much of the project funding
Diversity of public policy throughout the United States is primarily a consequence of
federalism
Which of the following constitutional principles most directly addresses the relationship between the national and state governments?
federalism
In contrast to revenue sharing, categorical grants-in-aid provide state and local governments with
funds to administer programs clearly specified by the federal government
When independent regulatory agencies make rules, enforce those rules, and adjudicate disputes arising under those rules, they risk violating the constitutional concept of
separation of powers
The most significant trend in federal-state relations during the 1980s was
shifting the responsibilities and costs for many programs to state governments
Arizona enacted an immigration law in 2010, claiming the legislation complemented existing federal law. The Obama administration disagreed, claiming the state law conflicted with national law. Which clause of the Constitution did the Supreme Court most likely use to strike down a section of the state law?
supremacy clause
The clause in the United States Constitution that states that federal law will prevail in the event of a conflict between federal and state law is known as the
supremacy clause
Of the following, which has been used most to expand the power of the national government?
the commerce clause of the constitution
In the United States political system, the term Federalism refers to
the division of powers between the levels of government
