Gov Ch2

Under the original Constitution, Congress could not ban the slave trade until

1808.

A U.S. representative (member of the House) has a term of service of

2 years.

A U.S. senator's term of service is

6 years

Regulates the relationship between the many states

Article IV

Outlines the process of amending the constitution

Article V

All treaties shall be the supreme law of the land

Article VI

Marbury v. Madison was an ingenious decision because it

Asserted the power of the judiciary without creating the possibility of its rejection by either the executive or the legislative branch.

According to the Virginia Plan, who or what would exercise power in all areas "in which the separate states are incompetent"?

Congress

The power to impeach and remove the president from office is held by Blank______.

Congress

One way to propose an amendment to the Constitution is to have Blank______.

Congress pass it by at least a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate

The system chosen by the framers to select the president is the Blank______.

Electoral College

The essay Federalist No. 10, written by Blank______, is considered one of the most influential writings on American government.

James Madison

The debate over representation in the new Congress pitted which two groups against one another?

Large states versus small states

Which branch of government establishes the lower court system?

Legislative

The European philosopher whose concept of natural rights had a great impact on American politics is

Locke.

The concept of separation of powers was proposed by Blank______.

Montesquieu

The origin of the concept of separation of powers is most associated with the

Montesquieu

he proposal that tended to favor the less-populated states was called the Blank______.

New Jersey Plan

Which of the following is not a check on the executive by the legislative branch?

Overriding presidential vetoes, denying presidential appointments, and impeaching the president. But vetoing acts of Congress is not.

When the states drafted new constitutions after the start of the Revolutionary War, Blank______ did not have separation of powers. Its negative experience, in which the all-powerful legislature ignored basic rights and freedoms, proved the necessity of separation.

Pennsylvania

Which of the following events showcased the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation?

Shays' Rebellion.

Identify the events that led to creation of the U.S. Constitution.

Shays' rebellion had shown the weakness of the national government under the Articles of Confederation. The Annapolis Convention did not have enough participants to revise the Articles of Confederation. Madison and Hamilton encouraged delegates at the Annapolis Convention to meet again to revise the Articles of Confederation.

Which of the following were features of the Virginia Plan for national government?

States with the largest populations would have the most representatives. It would include a bicameral legislature.

________ explains the ideas of the Constitution and urges its ratification

The Federalist Papers

What is the method of selecting nominees for state and national offices that was introduced by Progressives and adopted by most states by the early 1900s?

The common people voted for nominees in primary elections.

What were some of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

The national government did not have the power to regulate commerce between the states. The national government depended on the states for its funding, and they often didn't pay their full share.

Why did smaller states oppose the Virginia Plan?

The plan made representation in the legislature proportional to state population

Presidential appointments and treaties must be approved by the

The senate

Why didn't Congress respond with troops when the governor of Massachusetts asked for assistance during Shays' Rebellion?

There were no troops to send.

How did Madison view factions?

They are natural divisions, but no faction should gain full power.

How many federal branches of government are there in the United States?

Three

The compromise reached over the counting of slaves for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives was called the

Three-fifths compromise.

Why did the framers establish a system of separation of powers and checks and balances?

To minimize the threat of tyranny

True or false: Natural rights are defined as those possessed by all people.

True

Describes the process of ratifying the constitution

VII

Most historians assume that Blank______ role in the new government is what tipped the balance toward ratification of the Constitution.

Washington's

Written constitutions, such as the United States Constitution, contain all of the following elements EXCEPT

a description of the government structures found in each of the fifty states.

Historian Charles Beard described the framers who wrote the U.S. Constitution as Blank______

a group of wealthy individuals whose main goal was to keep power in the hands of the wealthy

For the Federalists, the Bill of Rights was Blank______.

a political necessity to get the Constitution ratified

The framers of the constitution preferred which of the following political arrangements?

a republic rather than a pure democracy

In the framers' view, a republican government does which of the following? (Choose every correct answer.)

adds constraints that protect the rights of individuals reduces the risk of tyranny of the majority

The framers' goal of a government that would not threaten liberty was to be accomplished by Blank______.

an elaborate system of checks and balances

John Adams believed that the nation was best governed by Blank______.

an elite class

Which of the following was NOT provided for by the Articles of Confederation?

an independent federal executive

The U.S. system is considered to be less democratic than some other systems because of

barriers to the power of popular majorities, like staggered terms of office

Andrew Jackson believed the public should Blank______.

be more fully involved in government

The Virginia Plan called for a __________ legislature, while the New Jersey plan proposed a _________ legislature.

bicameral, unicameral

A dilemma that confronted the framers is that a threat to liberty is inherent in government because of its Blank______ power.

coercive

While historian Charles Beard's critique of the U.S. Constitution as a vehicle for protecting wealthy interests has some truth to it, the framers were also Blank______.

concerned with the unchecked rule of the majority

The U.S. system of government created by the founders in 1787 can be described as which of the following?

constitutional republican

Despite the original purpose of the Philadelphia convention, which was to revise the Articles of Confederation, from its beginning prominent delegates were determined to Blank______.

create a stronger central government

Which of the following demonstrated a judicial check on legislative power?

declaring DOMA unconstitutional

The U.S. system of government is said to be Blank______ in providing for majority influence through elections.

democratic

The European parliamentary democracies are considered different from the U.S. system because they

do not have a division of legislative and executive power

Why was there strong support for a bill of rights during the debate over ratification of the Constitution?

fear that the national government would not respect people's rights

John Adams publicly stated that the Constitution was designed Blank______.

for a governing elite

Under the Articles of Confederation, the states Blank______.

had more power than the national government

The U.S. Constitution placed limitations on popular rule in which of the following ways?

having the president elected by the Electoral College having U.S. senators elected by state legislatures having the president nominate federal judges

What tax policies did the South fear as the negotiations began that eventually resulted in the Three-Fifths Compromise? (Choose every correct answer.)

heavy taxes on manufactured goods imported from Europe heavy taxes on agricultural goods exported from the United States a tax of any kind on the importation of slaves

The president's ability to veto a bill Blank______.

is a check on Congress

In the Electoral College, each state has electors equal to Blank______.

its representation in Congress

n the Electoral College, each state has electors equal to Blank______.

its representation in Congress

As defined by the framers, who or what limits the majority's power in a democracy?

nothing and no one

Andrew Jackson persuaded the states to award their electoral votes

on the basis of the popular vote.

Historical evidence suggests that a majority of ordinary Americans Blank______ ratification of the Constitution.

opposed

The United States Constitution includes a(n)_________, which outlines the mission and goals of the United States government

preamble

One goal of the framers of the Constitution was to Blank______.

preserve the states as governing entities

Regular voters select their party nominees through Blank______ elections.

primary

Which of the following are constitutional grants of power to the national government?

raising an army declaring war against another nation taxation

Even if passed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, a constitutional amendment still must be Blank______ by three-quarters of the states.

ratified, approved, or passed

In the framers' view, a republican government does which of the following? (Choose every correct answer.)

reduces the risk of tyranny of the majority adds constraints that protect the rights of individuals

A government in which people govern by voting for officials to act for them is called a Blank______

representative government

A government in which people govern by voting for officials to act for them is called a Blank______.

representative government

Today, the American system of governance closely resembles a(n)

representative government

Multiple Choice Question Political scientist Richard Neustadt described the system of checks and balances set up by the framers of the Constitution as system of Blank______.

separated institutions sharing power

There are__________ articles in the United States constitution that outline the fundamental structures of the United States government and its operating procedures

seven

All of the following were major controversies at the Constitutional Convention (also include except)

slave trade. the structure of new government. the counting of citizens for purposes of representation in the Congress. Except: the division of power between the national government and the states

The framers entrusted the selection of U.S. senators to

state legislatures

The Connecticut or Great Compromise called for the election of a single executive by

the Electoral College.

The Bill of Rights limited the power of Blank______.

the national government

During the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, Anti-Federalists believed that Blank______.

the national government was going to have excessive power under the Constitution

Executive power is vested in Blank______.

the president

Multiple Choice Question Who or what is responsible for executing court decisions?

the president

Who or what has the power to pardon persons convicted in the courts?

the president

Amendments to the U.S. Constitution can only be ratified if approved by the

three-fourths of state legislatures of three-fourths of special state conventions.

According to the New Jersey Plan, what power in addition to those in the Articles of Confederation would the national government have?

to tax

The tyranny of the majority feared by the framers of the Constitution occurs when the majority Blank______

tramples on the rights of the minority

The American Revolution was partly a rebellion against Britain's failure to Blank______.

uphold colonial traditions of self-government