Deck 41: (AP) Us Government: Constitution

Question 1

Early nationalists supported __________. Localists supported __________.

A)Washington; Adams
B)Jefferson; Hamilton
C)Trading with France; trading with England
D)A conservative agenda; a liberal agenda

Answer 1

A conservative agenda; a liberal agenda

Question 2

Federalism maintains the idea that our two major forms of government are both what?

A)Equal
B)Checked and balanced
C)Sovereign
D)Elected

Answer 2

Elected

Question 3

What was federalism meant to do in the early days of the republic?

A)Encourage eligible voters to vote
B)Protect the liberties of the nation
C)Allow local governments to flourish and become strong
D)Strengthen the power of the national capital

Answer 3

Protect the liberties of the nation

Question 4

What caused major shifts in the scope of federalism?

A)Conflicts rose between republics and totalitarian nations.
B)States failed to protect civil rights.
C)Capitalist economies failed to avoid major collapses.
D)All of the above

Question 5

Why did early leaders like Madison fear "factions"?

A)They believed factions would take control of regions and block minority groups.
B)They believed factions would split the country into party groups.
C)They believed factions would have too much influence upon national leaders.
D)They believed factions would stop the ratification of the Constitution.

Question 6

How are the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments similar?

A)All protect the rights of property holders
B)All extended voting rights to various groups who had been previously denied those rights.
C)All expanded the rights of African Americans
D)All were ratified during the Civil War period.

Question 7

How did the founders want to limit legislative powers?

A)By allowing only the House would create tax legislation.
B)By giving the executive the power to increase or decrease taxes
C)By not letting them remove certain rights in normal times
D)By giving the executive the power to create independent agencies

Question 8

Which of the following was written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in order to convince the states to ratify the Constitution?

A)Common Sense
B)The Great Awakening
C)The Jungle
D)The Federalist Papers

Question 9

Which of the following terms describes the system that was built into the U.S. Constitution in which the three branches of the government (executive, judicial, and legislative) have separate but equal powers that are limited and fully dependent upon each other?

A)Bicameral legislature
B)Unicameral legislature
C)Checks and balances
D)Delegated powers

Question 10

Which of the following does the term "New Federalism" refer to?

A)The growing power of the federal government over local and municipal governments
B)The growing influence of iron triangles on the federal budget
C)The conservative movement designed to return more power and control of money to the states
D)Increased government spending in education

Question 11

The following concepts are mentioned in the Preamble to the Constitution: I. Establish Justice
II) Secure the blessing of education
III) Provide for the common defense
IV) Promote the general welfare
True or false?

A)True
B)False

Question 12

What is the idea that the Constitution was created by the states and so the states could, therefore, dissolve the Constitution at their will?

A)Spoils system
B)Ordinance of Nullification
C)Compact Theory
D)Tariff of Abominations

Question 13

Of the following powers, which one is designated only to the national government?

A)The power to make and enforce laws
B)The power to regulate commerce with foreign nations
C)The power to levy taxes
D)The power to create and maintain a judicial system

Question 14

What does the 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution establish?

A)It lowered the voting age to 18.
B)It changed the method by which Congress can raise its members' salaries.
C)It repealed prohibition.
D)It limited presidents to serving two terms.

Question 15

"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Which amendment of the United States Constitution is this from?

A)2nd Amendment
B)4th Amendment
C)5th Amendment
D)6th Amendment

Question 16

Of the following, who has the responsibility, according to the Constitution, to create additional federal courts and assign the number of judges who will preside in them?

A)The president
B)The secretary of the Department of Justice
C)The Congress
D)The attorney general

Question 17

Under the Articles of Confederation, where does the bulk of the power rest?

A)State legislatures
B)The president
C)Congress
D)The Senate

Question 18

The term "establishment clause" refers which portion of the United States Constitution?

A)Women's right to vote
B)The right to bear arms
C)No person shall be forced to testify against herself or himself
D)Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion

Question 19

What is it called when two or more governments share power over the same area and people?

A)Federalism
B)Democracy
C)Republicanism
D)Separation of Powers
E)Checks and Balances

Question 20

Under which model of federalism do national and regional governments remain supreme within their own set of duties?

A)Cooperative federalism
B)Dual federalism
C)Polity federalism
D)Legitimizing federalism
E)Lame federalism

Question 21

Under which model of federalism do governmental responsibilities and duties get blurred among the various levels of government?

A)Cooperative federalism
B)Dual federalism
C)Polity federalism
D)Legitimizing federalism
E)Lame federalism

Question 22

Which clause of the Constitution is most important in understanding federalism in the United States?

A)The Free Exercise Clause
B)The Three-Fifths Clause
C)The Santa Clause
D)The Equal Protection Clause
E)The Supremacy Clause

Question 23

Why was the Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) important?

A)It was the first case to establish the principle of judicial review.
B)It was the last time Maryland was represented in the Supreme Court.
C)It clearly declared the supremacy of the federal government over the states.
D)It declared "separate but equal" unconstitutional.
E)It granted the right to anyone to marry whomever they wish.

Question 24

What is the Elastic Clause of the Constitution?

A)It says that Congress may pass any laws that are "necessary and proper" in fulfilling its stated duties.
B)It explains that the division of powers between the executive and legislative branches can be changed as the country changes.
C)It states that neither the federal government nor the states have ultimate authority.
D)It delineates the powers of cities.
E)It describes what cases the courts can and cannot hear.

Question 25

Why was the Supreme Court case Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) important?

A)It instituted the "separate but equal" doctrine.
B)It stated that the Ninth Amendment rendered the Supremacy Clause null and void.
C)It allowed anyone to marry whomever they wish.
D)The Commerce Clause was defined very broadly.
E)It was the first case to establish the principle of judicial review.

Question 26

Which of the following was not a major event that led to the federal government gaining more power over the states?

A)The Civil War
B)The New Deal
C)McCulloch v. Maryland
D)The Civil Rights Movement
E)The Reagan administration

Question 27

Why was the Civil Rights Movement important to the development of federalism in the United States?

A)The states retained the power over whether to enforce federal decisions.
B)The movement was so popular that it brought the nation closer together than it ever had been before.
C)The federal government had to force the states to abide by the new laws and court rulings that came out of the movement.
D)Through the changes brought about, the municipalities (cities and towns) gained as much power as did the states.
E)It led to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was responsible for a massive expansion in the federal government.

Question 28

Which level of government establishes the minimum drinking age in the United States?

A)Federal government
B)State government
C)Municipal government
D)County government
E)There is no minimum drinking age in the US.

Question 29

What does the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution declare?

A)Whenever one state gets in trouble with the banks, all the other states have to bail it out.
B)Each state must recognize the public records, acts, and licenses of all the other states.
C)No religious perspective can be preferred over another in government policies.
D)The government must give credit where credit is due.
E)The currency of one state must be accepted in other states.

Question 30

If California and Oregon have a conflict over water usage, how does the matter get settled?

A)The two states go to war and the winner decides how the water gets used.
B)A neutral state, such as Oklahoma, makes a binding decision that California and Oregon have to accept.
C)Past water usage records are examined and each state is granted their average usage over the last decade.
D)The federal government decides.
E)Switzerland, due to its reputation for neutrality, issues a binding resolution.

Question 31

When the law-writing, law-enforcing, and law-judging functions of government are practiced by different parts of the government, it is called:

A)Separation of powers
B)Checks and balances
C)Federalism
D)Republicanism
E)Democracy

Question 32

Article I of the Constitution spells out the requirements and responsibilities of which branch of government?

A)The presidency
B)Congress
C)The judiciary branch
D)The bureaucracy
E)The military

Question 33

Article II of the Constitution spells out the requirements and responsibilities of which branch of government?

A)The presidency
B)Congress
C)The judiciary
D)The bureaucracy
E)The military

Question 34

Article III of the Constitution spells out the requirements and responsibilities of which part of the government?

A)The presidency
B)Congress
C)The judiciary
D)The bureaucracy
E)The military

Question 35

President Grande wants to pass a law forcing everyone to have a poster of him hanging in their bedrooms. Can he pass this law?

A)Yes. President Grande is the president and he can do whatever he wants.
B)Yes. The courts would force it to be passed because it is the patriotic duty of all citizens.
C)Maybe. If the Congress passes the law, then President Grande can sign it.
D)No. The courts would declare the law unconstitutional.
E)No. There would be no way to enforce it.

Question 36

Justice Feelgood wants a law passed that makes it legal for anyone over the age of 18 to smoke marijuana. If he convinces his colleagues on the Supreme Court, can he pass this law?

A)No. Laws can only be passed by Congress and the Supreme Court; under no circumstance can the Supreme Court make a decision on this sort of thing.
B)No. Laws can only be passed by Congress. The Supreme Court, however, can issue a "ruling" ordering Congress to pass this law or the executive branch to not enforce any restrictions on adult marijuana use.
C)Yes. The Supreme Court is supreme and can do whatever it wants.
D)Yes. Since marijuana use is an issue handled by the court system, the Supreme Court has the authority to make laws about it.
E)This is a ridiculous question because no Supreme Court justice would ever want it to be legal for adults to smoke marijuana.

Question 37

According to the Constitution, who is responsible every year for writing the budget?

A)The Federal Reserve Board
B)The Department of the Treasury
C)The President of the United States
D)Congress
E)The Supreme Court

Question 38

What formal role does the President of the United States have in amending the Constitution?

A)The president must propose any amendment to the Constitution.
B)After Congress passes an amendment by a 2/3 majority, the president must ratify it.
C)The president can call a national convention to propose an amendment
D)The president must write the text of any amendment before Congress can ratify it.
E)None

Question 39

Who is ultimately in charge of the US military?

A)Congress
B)The president
C)The generals
D)The bureaucracy
E)The Supreme Court

Question 40

In Federalist Paper #51, James Madison wrote, "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.…If men were angels, no government would be necessary. You must…enable the government…to control itself." In this passage, what was Madison proposing?

A)Separation of powers
B)Federalism
C)Writ of habeas corpus
D)Republicanism
E)Confederated identity theory

Question 41

What is the relationship between "separation of powers" and "checks and balances"?

A)They are the same thing.
B)The concept of checks and balances is technically a violation of the separation of powers.
C)The two concepts are completely unrelated.
D)Separation of powers is more important than checks and balances.
E)They're married.

Question 42

Which of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention is commonly known as "The Father of the US Constitution"?

A)George Washington
B)Thomas Jefferson
C)James Madison
D)George Mason
E)John C. Calhoun

Question 43

Which of the following individuals was an author of the Federalist Papers?

A)George Washington
B)Patrick Henry
C)Alexander Hamilton
D)John Adams
E)Samuel Adams

Question 44

Which of the following individuals opposed ratifying the US Constitution?

A)Patrick Henry
B)John Adams
C)James Madison
D)George Washington
E)John Jay

Question 45

About half of the states did not plan on sending any delegates to the Constitutional Convention. What happened to frighten states into sending delegates?

A)The Boston Tea Party
B)The Battle of Lexington and Concord
C)The Federalist Papers
D)The Gettysburg Address
E)Shays' Rebellion

Question 46

Which of the following was not a reason commonly given by Federalists for why the Articles of Confederation needed to be strengthened or replaced?

A)The central government could not force the states to send it tax revenue.
B)Small states had the ability to "veto" proposed laws, even if the majority of the states wanted them.
C)The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the Continental Congress.
D)The states were not able to coordinate well in making decisions that affected each other.
E)If one state was attacked by another country (such as England), none of the other states were obligated to help that state defend itself.

Question 47

Political philosopher John Locke is said to have had the most influence over which of the following important US documents?

A)The Emancipation Proclamation
B)The Monroe Doctrine
C)The Articles of Confederation
D)The Declaration of Independence
E)The Federalist Papers

Question 48

What was the Boston Tea Party?

A)A mob of colonists in Massachusetts who boarded ships emptied chests of tea into the harbor to complain about a tea tax.
B)A gathering of political elite to discuss concepts of liberty and equality while under the rule of Great Britain.
C)The celebration of the Boston football team's victory over their arch-rival New York.
D)The first meeting of the Continental Congress.
E)The political convention that nominated George Washington to be the first President of the United States.

Question 49

What did the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention propose?

A)Representation in the new Congress should be proportional according to the population of each state.
B)Each state should be equally represented in the new Congress so that states with fewer people would have as much say as states with more people.
C)Create two houses of Congress. The House of Representatives would represent states according to population and the Senate would have each state be represented equally regardless of population.
D)The nation's capital should be located on the border of Virginia and Maryland.
E)Any future President of the United States could only come from Virginia.

Question 50

What was the "three-fifths compromise"?

A)The compromise over how many Senators each state would get.
B)The compromise that, for purposes of representation and taxation, made each "non-free person" (i.e. slave) count as three-fifths of a person.
C)The compromise between Hamilton and Madison that Hamilton would get to write three-fifths of the Federalist Papers.
D)The compromise on the number of soldiers each state would provide for the US military.
E)The compromise over the number of Senators required to overturn a presidential veto.

Question 51

What is one thing the Federalists promised to do soon after the Constitution was ratified in order to get people to support it?

A)Have Senators serve in office for life terms.
B)Have George Washington serve as the first President under the new Constitution.
C)Create political parties to ensure that the people would have choices in their elections.
D)Create a Bill of Rights.
E)Separate the Congress into a House of Representatives and a Senate.

Question 52

In what year was the Declaration of Independence signed?

A)1772
B)1774
C)1776
D)1787
E)1788

Question 53

In what year was the Constitution of the United States ratified?

A)1772
B)1774
C)1776
D)1787
E)1788

Question 54

Which of the following is not agreed upon by almost everyone to be a necessary feature of a democracy?

A)Political equality
B)Majority rule
C)Citizen participation
D)Government responsiveness to the people
E)Universal healthcare

Question 55

The word democracy comes from a Greek word meaning _______________.

A)Rule by the few elites
B)Rule by a single person
C)Rule by the people
D)Rule by the most attractive
E)Rule by the smartest

Question 56

Pluralist theory argues that the best way of understanding democracy in the United States is to view it as:

A)As many people participating directly in government as possible.
B)Interest groups competing with each other to control the government.
C)Making sure there is a plurality of votes before any law can be passed.
D)Giving each of the many political parties a say in how the country is governed.
E)Thinking about many different ways of doing things before making a decision on the best course of action.

Question 57

What is the reason most experts do not believe that participatory or direct democracy is a good idea for the United States as a whole?

A)Citizens of the United States are too stupid to make decisions for themselves.
B)Only people with law degrees should be able to make decisions regarding the laws that get passed.
C)Most citizens don't care enough to pay attention.
D)Most citizens in the United States are too rich and highly educated to lower themselves to the level of being involved with politics.
E)There are too many people and too many issues in the United States for the citizens to be directly involved in all of them.

Question 58

In the United States, when it is said that "all people are equal in the eyes of the government," that generally means:

A)All citizens have political equality through the ability to cast a vote.
B)All citizens earn the same income.
C)All citizens have the same educational opportunities and the same chance to succeed in life.
D)All citizens participate equally in government.
E)There are no social classes, so all citizens are treated the same.

Question 59

Which of the following was not a view held by John Locke?

A)Laws should be passed by a legislative body composed of representatives elected by the people.
B)If the government fails to protect the rights and liberties of the people, then the people have the right to overthrow the government.
C)Governments should be responsible for making sure that all citizens have enough money to live comfortably.
D)There should be regular elections to ensure that representatives follow the will of the people.
E)There should be separate branches of government to make sure no one branch has too much power.

Question 60

Elite or Class Theory believes that:

A)Power in the United States is mostly held by the wealthy.
B)Power in the United States is mostly held by the highly educated.
C)Power in the United States is mostly held by the most attractive people.
D)Power in the United States is mostly held by the lower class who votes in large numbers.
E)Power in the United States is mostly held by citizens of other countries through the United Nations.

Question 61

Which of the following is not a major principle of procedural democratic theory?

A)Universal participation
B)Minority rights
C)Political equality
D)Majority rule
E)Government responsiveness to public opinion

Question 62

What is the main idea of substantive democratic theory?

A)The will of the majority should always determine what laws get passed.
B)Democracy cannot be effective unless all citizens participate equally in the political process.
C)Democracy is not legitimate unless the government can be overthrown.
D)Certain democratic principles must be incorporated into government policies.
E)The substance of democracy involves electing representatives.

Question 63

Senator Knowsome proposed a constitutional amendment that says that only college graduates should be allowed to vote. Which of the following theories of democracy might accept this proposed amendment?

A)Procedural democratic theory
B)Substantive democratic theory
C)Elite theory
D)Pluralist theory
E)Majoritarian democratic theory

Question 64

Justice Law some and Justice Feelgood are having an argument about whether the Supreme Court should uphold a school district's rule mandating that all students wear a uniform. Justice Feelgood is concerned that the dress code violates the students' freedom of expression. To which of the following theories of democracy is Justice Feel good appealing?

A)Procedural democratic theory
B)Substantive democratic theory
C)Elite theory
D)Pluralist theory
E)Majoritarian democratic theory

Question 65

In 2003, movie star Arnold Swarzenegger, was elected governor of California, running against 134 other candidates, with 49% of the vote. Which of the following democratic theories would not object to this election result?

A)Procedural democratic theory
B)Representative democratic theory
C)Elite theory
D)Pluralist theory
E)Majoritarian democratic theory

Question 66

What did Federalism originally mean?

A)Individual layers of government could have unique forms of rights
B)The national government would protect the minimum rights of the states.
C)State and national governments would protect similar rights.
D)State governments would have relatively equal sets of rights.

Question 67

Why was Common Sense, a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776, so significant?

A)Thomas Paine was a high-ranking British officer who actually supported independence.
B)It outlined the reasons that independence from Great Britain was a logical step.
C)It outlined the reasons that the colonists should not separate from Great Britain.
D)It called for removing the Native American threat from the colonies.

Question 68

What does the US Constitution say about political parties?

A)It establishes a national party structure.
B)It encourages the establishment of parties, but does not require it.
C)It created the Democratic and Republican Parties.
D)It doesn't say anything about them.
E)It says political parties must operate at the state level.

Question 69

What does James Madison say about removing the causes of factions in Federalist #10?

A)It is the only way to maintain order.
B)Preventing factions would be worse than letting them form.
C)A basic separation of powers framework is best suited to prevent factions.
D)The best way to remove the cause of factions is to create an extended union.
E)Factions were a good thing, so it would be wrong to remove the causes of them.

Question 70

As James Madison uses the term in Federalist #10, what is a faction?

A)An interest group that seeks to harm individuals or the country as a whole.
B)An interest group that splits off from a larger interest group.
C)It is the same thing as a political party.
D)Members of Congress who are of a different political party than the President.
E)The result of members of the Cabinet disagreeing with each other on policy.