Govt 2305 unit 1

The text of the Constitution deals with slavery by referring to slaves as

"all other Persons."

The U.S. Constitution contains about _________ words.

4,300

Before it could take effect, the Constitution had to be ratified by__________ states:

9

checks and balances

A government structure that gives each branch some scrutiny of and control over the other branches.

republic

A government without a monarch; a government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed.

confederation

A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters.

extraordinary majority

A majority greater than the minimum of 50 percent plus one.

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's statement that "all men are created equal" is similar to which theorist's belief that government is based on the "consent of the governed"?

John Locke

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

John Locke

The compact among the thirteen original colonies that established the United States in 1777 was known as the

Articles of Confederation.

Equality

Each person should have equal opportunity and fair treatment from the government.

The ________ Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Fourth

Under the Constitution, if no candidate wins a majority of the electoral vote, then the president will be selected by the

House of Representatives.

Which of the following states was not present at the Second Continental Congress' vote for independence?

Rhode Island

Great Compromise

Submitted by the Connecticut delegation to the Constitutional Convention, and thus also known as the Connecticut Compromise, a plan calling for a bicameral legislature in which the House of Representatives would be apportioned according to population and the states would be represented equally in the Senate.

New Jersey Plan

Submitted by the head of the New Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention, a set of nine resolutions that would have, in effect, preserved the Articles of Confederation by amending rather than replacing them.

The Great Compromise provided for

a two-chamber legislature with equal representation for all states in one chamber and population-based representation in the other.

When selecting the president, each state has a number of electors equal to

the number of its representatives in Congress.

The chief obstacle to ratification of the Constitution by the states was

the omission of a bill of rights.

According to the text, "it is hard to imagine a government framework better suited [than the Constitution] to __________."

the pluralist model

Suppose Congress funds elementary education by giving states a grant that the states then designate the specific educational programs to receive these funds. This is an example of a ________ grant.

block

The power of the president to veto laws is an example of

checks and balances.

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.

The following group values both equality and order more than freedom, and its members support both affirmative action and laws that restrict pornography:

communitarians.

Under the Constitution, the slave trade

could be ended after twenty years.

The 2007 European Reform Treaty did all but

create a centralized debt-refinancing agency for indebted countries.

Congress exercises a potential check on the judicial branch through its constitutional power to

create or eliminate lower federal courts.

The Great Depression represented a shift away from _________ and toward _________.

dual federalism; cooperative federalism

The text suggests that there are _________ forces that may be pushing authoritarian governments toward democratization.

economic

Examples of public goods are

education, sanitation, and parks.

Liberals are more likely to favor generous government support for

education, wildlife protection, public transportation, a whole range of social programs

A constitutional clause that allows for a broad interpretation of implied powers is known as a(n) __________ clause.

elastic

The "necessary and proper" clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution is an example of a(n) "__________ clause."

elastic

A referendum is best described as a(n)

election on a policy issue.

American colonists in the eighteenth century under Great Britain

enjoyed freedoms denied most other people in the world at that time.

Government's "modern dilemma" is how best to balance

equality and freedom.

When one person has the same chance to succeed in life as another, this is called

equality of opportunity.

Social order is usually defined as

established patterns of authority and traditional modes of behavior.

The law-enforcing branch of government is known as the

executive branch.

Shays's Rebellion consisted of

farmers trying to prevent foreclosure on their property for debts and taxes owed.

Conservatives strongly

favor free enterprise, argue against government job programs, want to preserve traditional patterns of social relations

Unless they are impeached, federal judges serve

for life.

During the 1990s, Congress prohibited private businesses from discriminating in employment, public services, and public accommodations on the basis of physical or mental disabilities. This act creates a clash between

freedom and equality.

Money paid by one level of government to another level of government to be spent for a given purpose is called a

grant-in-aid

Liberty

individuals should be free to think and act as they choose, provided they do not infringe unreasonably on others.

An organized group that seeks to influence government policy is called a(n)

interest group.

According to the Declaration of Independence, when a government fails to secure the people's unalienable rights,

it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.

One similarity between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan was that both plans

left unspecified how many people the executive might have.

Article I of the Constitution refers to the

legislative branch.

The broad, basic definition of government given by the text is

legitimate use of force within specified geographic boundaries to control hu-man behavior.

The core principles of American government are

liberty, individualism, self-government

The "unalienable rights" identified by the Declaration of Independence are

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Elite theory is discredited as an explanation of American national politics because studies show that

no one identifiable group regularly prevails on different issues.

According to Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan, the proper objective of govern-ment is to ensure

order.

Diversity

our individual differences are a source of strength and a basis of self-interest.

According to John Marshall's decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the elastic clause might be interpreted to mean that Congress can take a particular action not specified in the Constitution if that action is

plainly adapted to achieving a legitimate constitutional end.

The complexity of the American federal system encourages

pluralism.

The text suggests that the United States fulfills the __________ model quite well.

pluralist

federalism

The division of power between a central government and regional governments.

The process of redrawing boundaries for electoral jurisdictions is known as

redistricting.

An alleged weakness of the majoritarian democratic model is its

reliance on the American public to be knowledgeable and participatory.

According to the New Jersey Plan, how was representation to be structured in Congress?

There would be one house, and all states would have equal representation in it.

In 2010 Congress passed the Affordable Health Care Act that

required nearly all Americans to buy health coverage or pay a penalty.

Republicanism is a form of government in which power

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

A republic is a government

resting on the consent of the governed through their representatives.

Originally, the Constitutional Convention's purpose was to

revise the Articles of Confederation.

The idea that the people agree to establish rulers for certain purposes, but they have the right to resist or remove rulers who violate those purposes, is also known as

social contract theory.

After the Constitution was amended to permit the federal government to levy a progressive income tax, government could more effectively further the goal of

social equality.

A person who favors government ownership of some basic industries and a strong government role in directing the economy, but also some private ownership of pro-ductive capacity, would best be labeled as a

socialist.

The Bill of Rights is at the core of our

substantive theories of democracy.

Capitalism is best described as a(n)

system of government that favors privately owned businesses.

The Bill of Rights consists of the first __________ amendments to the Constitution.

ten

A greater percentage of the United States population died or was wounded during the Revolution than in any other U.S. conflict except

the Civil War.

The __________ Amendment prohibited slavery.

Thirteenth

implied powers

Those powers that Congress needs to execute its enumerated powers.

A result of the Second Continental Congress was

the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

The broad, basic definition of politics given by the text is

the authoritative allocation of values for a society.

A group of delegates to the Constitutional Convention proposed a powerful national government to replace the weak confederation of states. This was known as the

Virginia Plan.

Constitutionalism

We govern by majority rule and the government itself is constrained by the rules set forth in the Constitution. In particular, the government is constrained from violating individual rights.

Individualism

a commitment to private enterprise and the ability of each individual to achieve what he wants, on his own.

A confederation can best be described as

a loose association of independent states.

Capitalism

the government interferes with the economy as little as possible, thus allowing individual enterprise to flourish.

Self-government

the individual is more important than the government and that their general welfare is the purpose of government.

Compared with majoritarian thought, the pluralist model of democracy shifts the fo-cus of democratic decision making from _________ to _________.

the mass electorate; organized groups

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.

Thomas Hobbes's ideal form of government was

a single ruler with unquestioned authority.

A key component of the Virginia Plan was

a strong national legislature.

A combination of Majoritarianism, Elitism, and Pluralism (interest groups) all effect political decisions.

true

Including the Bill of Rights, __________ amendments have been added to the Constitution:

twenty-seven

The basic premise of federalism is that

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

According to Madison in Federalist No. 10, the most common and durable source of factions has been

unequal distribution of property.

Federalism, or the division of power between a national government and regional units, stands in contrast to

unitary government.

Shays's Rebellion indicated the

urgent need to maintain domestic order.

Compared to citizens in other nations, Americans

value freedom of speech more than order.

The primary goal of Federalist No. 10 was to demonstrate that the new government

would not fall under the dominance of any one faction.

The primary goal of Federalist No. 51 was to argue for

the separation of powers and checks and balances.

Democracy

the will of the people is expressed through elections. It is this general will, not the opinion of dictators, that guides the decision process.

The primary contribution of the Federalist papers is

their insight into the meaning of the Constitution.

enumerated powers

The powers explicitly granted to Congress by the Constitution.

The United States Constitution was written in

1787.

Virginia Plan

A set of proposals for a new government, submitted to the Constitutional Convention of 1787; it included separation of the government into three branches, division of the legislature into two houses, and proportional representation in the legislature.

The Federalist papers were written by

Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison.

The Great Compromise was also known as the __________ Compromise because of the state delegation that initially proposed it.

Connecticut

Declaration of Independence

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the document that proclaimed the right of the colonies to separate from Great Britain.

The _________ protects against excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.

Eighth

Supporters of the Constitution named themselves

Federalists

Which of the following European nations was not debt-ridden and did not suffer questions from creditors during 2012?

Germany

By 2012, members of the European Union (EU) agreed to greater central authority over their respective economies, with the exception of

Great Britain.

The power of Congress to charter a bank is an example of what type of power?

Implied

Which document proclaimed, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights"?

The Declaration of Independence

Articles of Confederation

The compact among the thirteen original states that established the first government of the United States.

politics

The competition among individuals and groups for government policy decisions

separation of powers

The assignment of lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions to separate branches of government.

social contract theory

The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes.

supremacy clause

The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution. They prevent the national government from tampering with fundamental rights and civil liberties, and emphasize the limited character of national power.

judicial review

The power to declare congressional (and presidential) acts invalid because they violate the Constitution.

necessary and proper clause

The last clause in Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution, which gives Congress the means to execute its enumerated powers. This clause is the basis for Congress's implied powers. Also called the elastic clause.

executive branch

The law-enforcing branch of government.

judicial branch

The law-interpreting branch of government.

legislative branch

The lawmaking branch of government.

Which of the following is not a power granted to the president under the Constitution?

The power to declare war

Unity

The people together form an indivisible union.

The Declaration of Independence was based on input from many people, but its primary author was

Thomas Jefferson.

The Articles of Confederation failed because

they did not provide an effective means for the government to raise money. they did not include an independent leader to direct the government. they did not give the government the power to regulate commerce.

To amend the Articles of Confederation required a

unanimous vote.