US Ch. 2 ("Constitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-Government")

Which of the following methods of electing the president were considered by the delegates to the constitutional convention?

-Direct election by the people -Vote of Congress -Vote by state legislatures

Which of the following are elements of the social contract that John Locke believed was the foundation of government?

-If a government does not respect the natural right of the people, the people can rightfully rebel against it -People are born with certain inalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and property -People submit to governmental authority in return for the protection it can provide, if it respects their rights.

What are the branches of the federal government and their definition

-Legislative=the Congress -Executive=the president -Judicial=the Supreme Court

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

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

Which of the following statements describe the terms democracy and republic as understood by the framers of the Constitution?

-The separation of powers is a characteristic of republican government -The government of a republic responds to the needs of the majority while protecting the minority -In a democracy the power of the majority is unlimited

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

-constitutional -republican

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

An elaborate system of checks and balances

A key concern for the group known as the _____ was that the proposed Constitution lacked a bill of rights.

Anti-Federalists

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

Coercive

True or false: The Virginia Plan favored the states with smaller populations.

False

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

It's representation in Congress

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

Preserve the states as governing entities

The belief that the power of government can be controlled by dividing it into several branches instead of concentrating it in one area is known as _____.

Separation of powers

The House and the Senate (which together form the Congress) ______.

Share the lawmaking function in the United States

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.

The Bill of Rights limited the power of ____.

The national government

Amending the Articles of Confederation required _____ states to approve of the amendment.

Thirteen

As president, Andrew Jackson implemented much of what _____ had foreshadowed.

Thomas Jefferson

Who argued that "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse or rest on inference"?

Thomas Jefferson

True or false: It took over 60 votes for the delegates to the constitutional convention to agree on how the president would be chosen.

True

What provision had been removed from Jefferson's initial draft of the Declaration of Independence at the insistence of southern states?

a statement critical of slavery

Southern delegates to the Philadelphia convention were determined to _____.

block any attempt to end slavery

The principle of _____ and _____ is designed to prevent a branch of the government from exceeding its constitutional powers.

checks, balances

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

create a stronger central government

In choosing the president, the number of members of the House and Senate fro a state determines the state's number of _____.

electoral votes

The agreement of _____ states was required to enact legislation under the Articles of Confederation.

nine

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

nothing and no more

One key risk of _____ government is the potential for tyranny of the majority.

popular

Regular voters select their party nominees through _____ elections.

primary

Concerning banks, Andrew Jackson sought to _____.

reduce their power

Jefferson and Jackson had different views concerning the branch of government that was best equipped to _____.

represent the views of the majority

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

representative government

The challenge facing the framers was how to reconcile _____.

representative government and limited government

According to John Locke's theory, called the _____, people agree to form a government in order to protect society from the actions of dangerous individuals.

social contract

At the time the Constitution was created, what was the only institution that would be based on direct popular election?

the House of Representatives

In a majority of the state conventions to ratify the Constitution (8 of 13), it was claimed that _____ would have the power to nullify actions that violated the Constitution.

the judiciary

Who among the following felt threatened by Shays' Rebellion?

the wealthy

Andrew Jackson argued that electoral votes should be _____.

tied to the popular vote

The tyranny of the majority feared by the framers of the Constitution occurs when the majority _____.

tramples on the rights of the minority

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

uphold colonial traditions of self-government

The president's use of the _____ can prevent a congressional bill from becoming law.

veto

What was the first opportunity to determine whether or not the judiciary had the power to nullify actions that violated the Constitution?

when a dispute arose after the election of 1800

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

-Raising an army -taxation -declaring war against another nation

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

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

-The Annapolis Convention did not have enough participants to revise the Articles of Confederation -Shays' rebellion had shown the weakness of the national government under 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 are reasons that the system of government of the United States is in some ways seen as more democratic than those of many European countries?

-The U.S system elects representatives to its larger legislative chamber more frequently -The U.S system uses primary elections to select party nominees for office

The branches of the federal government that check one another's power and balance the other branches powers include _____.

-The judicial -The legislative -The executive

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

The mechanism by which political authority is divided between national government and the states is _____.

Federalism

What was the lesson of the Articles of Confederation?

Government must be granted the amount of power that is necessary for it to carry out its responsibilities.

The concept of separation of powers was proposed by ______.

Montesquieu

The Philadelphia convention was called to ______.

Revise the Articles of Confederation

Americans' personal freedom at the time the Constitution was being created is best characterized as ____.

Unparalleled

The notion of checks and balances is meant to _____.

complement the concept of separation of powers

Following the French and Indian War, Britain for the first time imposed what on the colonies?

the implementation of heavy taxation