Deck 4: Federalism

Question 1

Which of the following metaphors best describes dual federalism?

A) Sponge cake
B) Layer cake
C) Fruit cake
D) Marble cake
E) Pineapple upside down cake

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following prevents states from using their powers to thwart national policy?

A) The supremacy clause
B) The necessary and proper clause
C) The general welfare clause
D) The federalist clause
E) The expressed powers clause

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What preemptive power is rooted in the Constitution that allows Congress to impose national priorities on states through national legislation?

A) The necessary and proper clause
B) The elastic clause
C) The full faith and credit clause
D) The supremacy clause
E) The establishment clause

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Constitution did not give Congress the authority to establish the Internal Revenue Service. Congress did so, however, to implement its power to "lay and collect taxes." This an example of which of the following types of power?

A) Implied
B) Delegated
C) Reserved
D) Expressed
E) Inherent

Question 5

Which of the following metaphors best describes cooperative federalism?

A) Layer cake
B) Sponge cake
C) Fruit cake
D) Marble cake
E) Bundt cake

Question 6

What is the basic premise of federalism?

A) Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses.
B) Two or more governments share power and authority over the same land and people.
C) Supreme political authority remains with the states.
D) The national government has ultimate sovereignty over a country's land and people.
E) State and local governments may not exercise powers of their own that are independent of the national government.

Question 7

The necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution is also known as which one of the following?

A) The supremacy clause
B) The confederal system
C) The commerce clause
D) The unitary system
E) The elastic clause

Question 8

In a federal political system, how is authority distributed?

A) It is always vested in a bicameral legislature.
B) It is divided between the central government and regional or subdivisional governments.
C) It is bestowed upon the central government, with no power being granted to the regional governments.
D) It is concentrated in a unicameral legislature within a strong central government.
E) It is exercised by the national government only insofar as these powers are granted by the states.

Question 9

What is the system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between the national and state governments?

A) Socialism
B) Nationalism
C) States' rights
D) Federalism
E) Confederal system

Question 10

Which of the following is the power to coin money, create naturalization laws, admit new states, and declare war?

A) Implied
B) Inferred
C) Inherent
D) Reserved
E) Enumerated

Question 11

A government program that is funded by the national government but run and managed by state governments is emblematic of which of the following?

A) Dual federalism
B) Cooperative federalism
C) Enumerated powers
D) Reserved powers
E) The supremacy clause

Question 12

What is the constitutional provision that allows federal laws to take precedent over state laws?

A) Commerce clause
B) Supremacy clause
C) Concurrent powers
D) Reserve powers
E) Elastic clause

Question 13

Which of the following systems of government usually has a written constitution and divided authority between the central government and states?

A) Monarchy
B) Unitary system
C) Confederal system
D) Federalism
E) Oligarchy

Question 14

Which of the following classes of powers are not given to the federal government by the Constitution, nor reserved to the states?

A) Concurrent powers
B) Reserved powers
C) Implied powers
D) Enumerated powers
E) Inherent powers

Question 15

The advantages of a federal system of government include which of the following?

A) All Americans gain the benefit of uniform social services policies in every state.
B) The federal government becomes the focal point of political dissatisfaction for most citizens.
C) It is more practical to locate most power in one place.
D) State governments are frequently testing grounds for new governmental initiatives.
E) Smaller political units, such as states and cities, are less likely to be dominated by a single political group.

Question 16

During the time of the Constitutional Convention, why was federalism an appealing compromise?

A) It prevented cities and states from being dominated by a single group or faction.
B) It maintained state traditions while creating a strong national government to handle common problems.
C) It allowed politicians to avoid issues of slavery and women's suffrage.
D) It permitted states to nullify actions of the national government.
E) It made the national government the focal point of dissatisfaction.

Question 17

When examining the Constitution, why are reserved powers not clearly defined?

A) The states had all the power when the Constitution was written because of the Articles of Confederation.
B) The national government was developing a detailed list but preferred to first establish a basic foundation.
C) The majority of power was to be retained by the people with individual rights taking priority over those of the state governments.
D) The issue of slavery prevented a list of specific powers from being drafted by the founders.
E) The founders intended the Supreme Court to evaluate the needs of the states on an ongoing basis.

Question 18

What is the doctrine of dual federalism?

A) The function of government is determined by the people.
B) The federal government has more functions than the state governments.
C) The state governments have more functions than the federal government.
D) The state and federal governments have identical functions.
E) The state and federal governments have separate functions.

Question 19

What clause in the Constitution grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary to execute its enumerated or expressed powers?

A) The elastic or necessary and proper clause
B) The supremacy clause
C) The concurrent clause
D) The reserved powers clause
E) The due process clause

Question 20

Which of the following does the final provision in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, sometimes known as the elastic clause, state?

A) The inherent powers of Congress
B) Five ways that enumerated powers can be carried out
C) That Congress can make laws that are necessary and proper to carry out its enumerated powers
D) That Congress can declare war in situations that can be characterized as demanding flexibility
E) A flexible procedure for immediate removal of the president from office

Question 21

Which of the following political ideologies favors the national government over the state governments?

A) Liberals
B) Conservatives
C) Socialists
D) Federalists
E) Traditionalists

Question 22

What did the Supreme Court do from the 1930s to the mid-1990s?

A) It tended to support expansion of national authority.
B) It considered issues of federalism to be "political questions" beyond the scope of the Court's jurisdiction.
C) It consistently resisted the expansion of national power.
D) It wavered unpredictably on the issue of national authority.
E) It issued decisions that made the division of powers in federalism difficult to ascertain.

Question 23

What are federal mandates?

A) They are rules for operation in the Supreme Court.
B) They are requirements attached to state laws to dispense state grants.
C) They are requirements in federal legislation that force states to comply with federal rules.
D) They are accompanied by federal funding to cover costs of the mandate.
E) They are unconstitutional acts by the states.

Question 24

In the last 200 years, what has Congress utilized to increase the scope of the national government tremendously?

A) The Fifth Amendment
B) The elastic clause combined with its enumerated powers
C) The Tenth Amendment
D) National sovereignty
E) Grants-in-aid

Question 25

Which of the following has the power to coin money?

A) The states
B) Both the states and the federal government
C) The federal government
D) The Supreme Court
E) Both the Supreme Court and the federal government

Question 26

Which of the following is a requirement in federal legislation that forces state and local governments to comply with certain rules?

A) A waiver
B) An earmark
C) A federal mandate
D) A national agenda
E) A leverage package

Question 27

What was the central question in the McCulloch v. Maryland case?

A) Whether or not the executive branch had the power to institute a peacetime draft
B) Whether or not Congress had the power to establish a national bank
C) Whether or not Congress had the power to regulate commerce along major waterways
D) Whether or not the Supreme Court had the power to investigate the executive branch
E) Whether or not it should remove one of its own members from the Court

Question 28

Which of the following are given to state or local governments for specific programs or projects?

A) Block grants
B) Categorical grants
C) Mandates
D) Expressed powers
E) Inherent powers

Question 29

Which of the following chief justices worked to increase the power of the national government and to reduce the power of the states in the early part of the nineteenth century?

A) Warren Burger
B) John Marshall
C) William Rehnquist
D) Roger Taney
E) Earl Warren

Question 30

Which of the following terms describes how state governments and the national government work together to solve the nation's problems?

A) Collaborative
B) Cooperative
C) Distinctive
D) Dual
E) Categorical

Question 31

Which of the following has the power to grant divorces?

A) Both the states and the federal government
B) The Supreme Court
C) The states
D) The federal government
E) Both the federal government and the Supreme Court

Question 32

Which of the following statements regarding the Gibbons v. Ogden case is true?

A) The national government lost the power to regulate intrastate commerce.
B) State governments won the right to control navigation in interstate waters.
C) The power to regulate interstate commerce was determined to be an exclusive national power of the federal government.
D) The ruling provided the national government with decreasing power over economic affairs throughout the land.
E) The Supreme Court found that commerce was defined as the exchange of goods and not navigation or transport of people.

Question 33

Which of the following did the early Supreme Court generally do under Chief Justice John Marshall?

A) It preserved states' rights.
B) It lessened trade powers between the states.
C) It issued conflicting decisions about the balance between national and state power.
D) It remained silent about federalism issues.
E) It increased national power.

Question 34

In the Dred Scott case, what did the Supreme Court decide that Congress had no power to do?

A) Prohibit slavery
B) Create a national bank
C) Control the sale of guns
D) Regulate navigable waterways
E) Issue grants-in-aid

Question 35

Which of the following gives Congress the power to regulate trade among the states?

A) The Bill of Rights
B) The commerce clause
C) The McCulloch v. Maryland decision
D) The necessary and proper clause
E) The Supreme Court

Question 36

When state governments and the national government are seen as separate entities, how is dual federalism best characterized?

A) As a layer cake
B) As a marble cake
C) As a devil's food cake
D) As a cupcake
E) As an angel food cake

Question 37

What is the purpose of block grants or federal aid given to state or local governments?

A) It is to be divided into discrete "blocks" of grants, each limited to $100 million.
B) It is to be spent on a specific policy area decided on by the federal, state, and local governments.
C) It is to be spent in the way the state or local government decides to spend it.
D) It is to be tied to federal mandates that state or local governments must then implement or they will be taxed on the money.
E) It is to be contingent on state/local endorsement of so-called "social" federal legislation.

Question 38

Which of the following political ideologies has traditionally favored state governments over the federal government?

A) Liberals
B) Conservatives
C) Socialists
D) Federalists
E) Traditionalists

Question 39

What does the doctrine of dual federalism maintain?

A) The Supreme Court should resolve conflicts between the authority of the national government and the states.
B) The national government and the states have authority over defined and mutually exclusive policy areas.
C) The national government and the states should share authority equally in all policy areas.
D) The national government should initiate policies and then turn them over to the states for administration.
E) Any law passed by the national government is the supreme law of the land.

Question 40

Which of the following did President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal include?

A) A laissez-faire plan to address unemployment and poverty issues
B) Large-scale emergency antipoverty programs
C) A hands-off approach to regulating labor relations
D) Open competition among businesses to improve the economy
E) Policies that strictly followed the interpretation of commerce in the Constitution

Question 41

Which of the following are liberals often associated with?

A) Dual federalism
B) Cooperative federalism
C) The Bill of Rights
D) The Second Amendment
E) The Constitution

Question 42

Which of the following terms do researchers use to characterize the overall collection of national, state, and local governments in the United States?

A) Federalist system
B) Governmental maze
C) Intergovernmental system
D) Puzzle palace
E) Governmental hierarchy

Question 43

Which of the following is the process of redrawing boundaries for electoral jurisdictions?

A) Reapportionment
B) Realignment
C) Redistributioning
D) Redistricting
E) Redesign

Question 44

What does the complexity of the American federal system encourage?

A) Majoritarian democracy
B) Pluralism
C) A high level of popular participation
D) Government stagnation
E) Conservative reactions by most registered voters

Question 45

A requirement that a state undertake an activity or provide a service that maintains a minimum national standard is called which of the following?

A) Restraint
B) Referendum
C) Initiative
D) Law
E) Mandate

Question 46

Which of the following draws the lines that define congressional districts?

A) State legislatures
B) State governors
C) U.S. senators
D) A state's congressional delegation
E) The House Judiciary Committee

Question 47

What experience as an elected official has been common in the backgrounds of recent presidents?

A) U.S. senator
B) Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
C) State legislator
D) Governor
E) Judge

Question 48

The power of Congress to enact laws by which the national government assumes complete or partial responsibility for a state government function is known as which of the following?

A) New federalism
B) Sanctioning
C) Policy entrepreneurship
D) Preemption
E) Popular sovereignty

Question 49

What is home rule?

A) It is the right of the federal government to protect its own shores against foreign invasion.
B) It is the authority of states to enact federal programs as they wish.
C) It is the right of municipal governments to enact their own legislation in certain administrative areas.
D) It is a person's right to defend his or her property as he or she sees fit.
E) It is a local government's ability to tax those people who shop within that local government's boundaries.

Question 50

Which of the following is a process of preclearance?

A) Obtaining the approval of Congress before passing state laws
B) Seeking advance rulings on constitutionality of legislation from the Supreme Court
C) Asking the governor to sign off on a proposed law before introducing it
D) Submitting redistricting plans to the Justice Department for approval
E) Providing citizens with advance notice of the effect of newly passed laws

Question 51

Foreigners who live in the United States but are not citizens of the United States are known as which of the following?

A) Migrants
B) Third parties
C) Partisans
D) Expatriates
E) Aliens

Question 52

Which of the following is a government unit created to perform particular functions, such as fire protection and water purification and distribution?

A) Municipal government
B) State's taxing authority
C) County government
D) Special district
E) Intergovernmental agency

Question 53

Which of the following are conservatives often associated with?

A) Cooperative federalism
B) Dual federalism
C) The Second Amendment
D) The Bill of Rights
E) The Declaration of Independence

Question 54

Which of the following does the Constitution explicitly recognize?

A) Local governments
B) Foreign governments
C) Judicial governments
D) District governments
E) The national government and state governments

Question 55

In response to the use of national mandates and restraints that have become so dominant, what new theory has developed?

A) Federal cooperative grants
B) Competitive federalism
C) Coercive federalism
D) Faction action
E) Credit in aid

Question 56

Which of the following actions forbids state governments from exercising certain powers?

A) A mandate
B) A restraint
C) An initiative
D) A referendum
E) A bill

Question 57

The process of preclearance is used when states are doing what?

A) Holding a referendum
B) Mandating
C) Employing an initiative
D) Redistricting
E) Voting

Question 58

How likely are voters to participate in state and local elections compared with national elections?

A) Less likely
B) More likely
C) Equally likely
D) No clear pattern
E) More likely if the issues are known and made clear to voters in advance

Question 59

According to the text, why did political liberals fear stronger states' rights?

A) They resulted in higher taxes.
B) They supported the principle of cooperative federalism.
C) They allowed inequality and supported racism.
D) They were unconstitutional.
E) They focused too strongly on representing urban dwellers.

Question 60

According to the text, which of the following is the problem with establishing a democracy in Iraq?

A) There is no meaningful Iraqi identity.
B) There are still so many supporters of Saddam Hussein.
C) Voters rejected democracy when they adopted the current Iraqi constitution.
D) It is impossible to have a voting system.
E) There are too many international boundaries that are unresolved.

Question 61

Compare an intergovernmental system with a federalist system, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Question 62

Decisions of the Supreme Court have had a major impact on the relationship between state governments and the national government. Discuss the constitutional effects of McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden.

Question 63

Compare and contrast dual federalism and cooperative federalism.

Question 64

Overall, to what extent does the Constitution lay out the relationship between the federal and state governments?

Question 65

In your opinion, what is the most significant disadvantage of federalism? Has this disadvantage become more important in modern times? Why or why not?

Question 66

Which of the following has the national government come to rely on to shape state policies?

A) Presidential powers
B) Legislative powers
C) Regulatory powers
D) Judicial powers
E) Informal powers

Question 67

Compare the relationship of the federal and state governments during the era of dual federalism with the cooperative federalism that emerged during the 1930s. Provide examples to illustrate your answer.

Question 68

Discuss the concept of preclearance, including the impact of the Shelby County v. Holder decision.

Question 69

Discuss the basic arguments for and against Congress's use of preemption, take a stance on this issue, and provide three examples.

Question 70

Explain how the Supreme Court's decisions in the 1990s and the first decade of the twenty-first century represented a departure from its traditional approach to resolving issues of state power.

Question 71

Discuss the different types of grants-in-aid and how the use of such grants has evolved over time.

Question 72

Lay out the basic arguments for and against a federal system of government and take a stance on this

Question 73

Explain what preemption means, and identify recent trends in its use and the issues that have been addressed.

Question 74

Foreigners who come to the United States seeking asylum are known as which of the following?

A) Expatriates
B) Refugees
C) Third parties
D) Trespassers
E) Migrant workers

Question 75

Which of the following protects the powers of the states from an aggressive national government?

A) Dual federalism
B) Concurrent powers
C) Coercive federalism
D) Cooperative federalism
E) Inherent powers

Question 76

Compare the attitudes of conservatives and liberals regarding states' rights.

Question 77

Explain the concept of dual federalism and its essential premises.

Question 78

Identify the key elements of cooperative federalism. Explain how it could be used to solve a problem facing society today.

Question 79

Which of the following cultivates the existence of diverse interests in the United States?

A) Dual federalism
B) Mandates
C) Majoritarianism
D) Pluralism
E) Cooperative federalism

Question 80

According to the text, one could see the rise of coercive federalism as simply shifting the pluralist struggle in which of the following directions?

A) State capitals to Washington, D.C.
B) Washington, D.C. to the states
C) State capitals to town halls
D) Town halls to state capitals
E) Town halls to Washington, D.C.