Deck 2: Constitutional Foundations

Question 1

In United States v.Eichman,the Supreme Court struck down a statute that prohibited __________.

A)student protests
B)leafleting on private property
C)flag burning
D)school prayer

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is a drawback of divided government?

A)It leads to a significant decrease in governmental performance.
B)It makes it difficult for voters to hold anyone or any party accountable.
C)It makes Congress unable to check the power of the president.
D)It leads to lower trust in government.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is the name given to the law that would govern human beings before governments existed?

A)original law
B)Biblical law
C)natural law
D)universal law

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In Brown v.Board of Education,the Supreme Court decided that segregation by race violated which of the following?

A)due process clause
B)equal protection clause
C)full faith and credit clause
D)necessary and proper clause

Question 5

In The Federalist No.51,James Madison explained how the Constitution both __________ and __________ powers.

A)centralizes;devolves
B)democratizes;grants
C)grants;limits
D)creates;eliminates

Question 6

Which article provides that the Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land?

A)Article II
B)Article VII
C)Article V
D)Article VI

Question 7

Since 1789,how many times has the House of Representatives impeached a president?

A)zero
B)two
C)five
D)ten

Question 8

Why did the Framers adopt the separation of powers system?

A)to prevent autocracy
B)to promote efficiency
C)to promote democratic rule
D)to ensure flexibility in the governing system

Question 9

The U.S.Constitution was adopted in response to the weaknesses of the Articles of __________.

A)Unity
B)Revolution
C)America
D)Confederation

Question 10

On what date did the Framers meet and sign their names to the Constitution?

A)September 17,1787
B)April 15,1787
C)July 4,1787
D)October 19,1787

Question 11

A(n)__________ is a type of government in which one person with unlimited power rules.

A)autocracy
B)republic
C)unified government
D)oligarchy

Question 12

James Madison sought to prevent the tyranny of the __________ by distributing governmental authority among several branches.

A)minority
B)wealthy
C)majority
D)king

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of an executive order?

A)President Obama's order raising the minimum wage of federal contractors
B)President Obama's proposal to reform health care policy
C)President Bush's order to send troops to Afghanistan
D)President Nixon's order to hold back funding for the Clean Water Act

Question 14

What is the purpose of Constitution Day?

A)to analyze the Constitution for possible future amendments
B)to encourage other countries to adopt written constitutions
C)to educate Americans about their rights and responsibilities under the Constitution
D)to celebrate America's Declaration of Independence from Great Britain

Question 15

Which of the following generally favored a strong national government and supported the proposed U.S.Constitution?

A)Tories
B)Whigs
C)Federalists
D)Constitutionalists

Question 16

When did Congress begin investigating the actions of the George W.Bush administration?

A)in 2001,as soon as Bush took office
B)in 2003,following the start of the Iraq war
C)in 2006,when Democrats regained control of Congress
D)in 2008,during the financial crisis

Question 17

How many constitutional amendments have been proposed since its ratification?

A)10
B)17
C)27
D)31

Question 18

The Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v.Madison hinged on an interpretation of __________.

A)the Court's original jurisdiction in Article III
B)the commerce clause in Article I
C)the necessary and proper clause in Article I
D)the privileges and immunities clause in Article IV

Question 19

Which constitutional amendment allowed voting by all qualified citizens aged 18 or older?

A)Twenty-Sixth
B)Fifteenth
C)Twentieth
D)Nineteenth

Question 20

Which of the following philosophers greatly influenced James Madison's beliefs regarding the nature of liberty?

A)John Dewey
B)John Locke
C)Martin Heidegger
D)Michel Foucault

Question 21

Under the Constitution,the president is elected by which of the following?

A)Congressional College
B)Electoral College
C)Presidential College
D)State College

Question 22

Which of the following carries the full force of law and does not require congressional approval,although it is subject to legal challenge?

A)constitutional elaboration
B)executive order
C)impoundment
D)executive privilege

Question 23

Which of the following allows Congress to create legislation to make needed changes without amending the Constitution?

A)congressional elaboration
B)executive privilege
C)impoundment
D)executive order

Question 24

Which of the following describes the power of the president to keep communications confidential?

A)constitutional restriction
B)impoundment
C)separation of powers
D)executive privilege

Question 25

Because the Framers knew that people are not angels,they created a Constitution giving the government which type of authority?

A)legitimate
B)limited
C)implied
D)defined

Question 26

Governance in which one political party holds the presidency and the other controls one or both houses of Congress is known as __________.

A)divided government
B)checks and balances
C)autocracy
D)separation of powers

Question 27

Executive privilege is often used in matters related to __________.

A)national security
B)private property rights
C)interstate commerce
D)federal contracting

Question 28

Recent debate over the Second Amendment involves which of the following issues?

A)the right to bear arms
B)the right to a minimum wage
C)the right to own property
D)the right to travel from state to state

Question 29

How has the development of new communication technologies affected the system of checks and balances?

A)They have added to the powers of the president.
B)They have decreased the power of the judiciary.
C)They have decreased the power of interest groups.
D)They have increased the power of political parties.

Question 30

According to the Pew Research Center,what percentage of Americans feel that the government has too much control over their daily lives?

A)15 percent
B)25 percent
C)65 percent
D)80 percent

Question 31

On what basis did the Supreme Court uphold the portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires Americans to purchase health insurance?

A)on the basis of Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce
B)on the basis of Congress's taxing authority
C)on the basis of the supremacy clause
D)on the basis of the equal protection clause

Question 32

In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

A)1788
B)1789
C)1791
D)1798

Question 33

Governance in which one party controls both the White House and both houses of Congress is referred to as what?

A)unified government
B)checks and balances
C)divided government
D)autocracy

Question 34

Which of the following specifies the procedure for amending the Constitution?

A)Article I
B)Article III
C)Article V
D)Article VI

Question 35

What is the principle that each branch of the federal government has the means to thwart or influence actions by other branches of government?

A)checks and balances
B)balances and powers
C)checks and freedoms
D)freedom and power

Question 36

Which of the following is true of judicial review?

A)The United States is the only country in which judicial review is legal.
B)It has been used only twice in U.S.history.
C)It has given the president significant power over the judiciary in the United States.
D)It originated in the United States and has been adopted by many other countries.

Question 37

James Madison stated that the accumulation of all powers-legislative,executive,and judiciary-in the same hands is the definition of which of the following?

A)democracy
B)tyranny
C)centralization
D)majority

Question 38

As described in,The Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances,the legislative branch is in charge of which of the following?

A)vetoing laws
B)pardoning those convicted of federal crimes
C)nominating federal judges
D)approving the federal budget

Question 39

Which of the following is a major reason the U.S.Constitution has endured for 225 years?

A)due to the power it concentrates in the chief executive
B)due to the face that it created an independent judiciary
C)due to the public's widespread acceptance of the Constitution
D)due to the fact that it gives most power to the states

Question 40

What was the most important means the Framers used to make sure government officials would observe the constitutional limits on their powers?

A)partisanship
B)the Electoral College
C)unified government
D)free and fair elections

Question 41

How did the process of proposing the Equal Rights Amendment resemble that of the Nineteenth Amendment?

A)The same arguments were used against both.
B)Both amendments passed Congress but failed to be ratified.
C)The same cluster of southern states opposed ratification of both amendments.
D)In both cases,women favored the amendments,but men were strongly opposed.

Question 42

How did the Federalists react when they were defeated by Thomas Jefferson in 1800?

A)They proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would weaken Jefferson's role.
B)They tried to retain power through the judiciary by packing it with their appointees.
C)They were not concerned,as they still had control of both houses of Congress.
D)They applied to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus to prevent Jefferson from being inaugurated.

Question 43

Although the public accepts and reveres the Constitution,many U.S.citizens do not know what is in it.

Question 44

What difficulty is posed by the method of proposing constitutional amendments through a constitutional convention?

A)It allows no input from the states.
B)It is unclear whether such a convention would be limited to a specific subject.
C)It limits the president's involvement in the amendment process.
D)It does not provide a time table for when the convention must convene.

Question 45

Which of the following is true of efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning?

A)These efforts have been repeatedly rejected by the Supreme Court.
B)Most Americans do not support efforts to ban flag burning.
C)These efforts have never gotten past the proposal stage.
D)These efforts have been repeatedly rejected by Congress.

Question 46

Generally,the Electoral College does not function the way the Framers intended.

Question 47

The cases of District of Columbia v.Heller (2008)and McDonald v.Chicago (2010)revolved around the __________ Amendment.

A)Second
B)Fifth
C)First
D)Fourteenth

Question 48

When does divided government frequently occur?

A)when special-interest groups achieve more influence in Congress
B)when the president's party loses congressional seats in the midterm elections
C)when the president's party gains congressional seats in the midterm elections
D)when it is time to appoint new Supreme Court justices

Question 49

When the Constitution was adopted,it granted judges the power of judicial review.

Question 50

Although not mentioned in the Constitution,the Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution,in Griswold v.Connecticut (1965),to protect which of the following rights?

A)right to privacy
B)right to bear arms
C)right to free speech
D)right to make contracts

Question 51

Which of the following is one reason for the popularity of proposing amendments to the Constitution?

A)Americans feel strongly that the equal protection clause is insufficient for prohibiting all forms of discrimination.
B)Groups frustrated by their inability to get things done in Congress hope to bypass it.
C)People get impatient while waiting for their case to get to the Supreme Court,so they try to bypass it.
D)Special-interest groups try to get around current amendments by proposing new ones.

Question 52

Prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment,how were senators selected?

A)by direct election
B)by the president
C)by state governors
D)by state legislators

Question 53

When government is divided rather than unified,which of the following is true?

A)Not much important legislation is passed.
B)Just as much important legislation is passed.
C)Far more important legislation is passed.
D)Legislation comes to a standstill.

Question 54

Although the Federalists were influential in getting the Constitution ratified,they never had any actual control over the national government.

Question 55

In spite of changes in technology,today's system of checks and balances operates approximately the same way it did when it was created.

Question 56

When the Democratic and Republican parties become splintered,the influence of which of the following can be increased?

A)the Supreme Court
B)the president
C)third-party candidates
D)special-interest groups

Question 57

The Supreme Court's ruling in United States v.Eichman was based on the __________ Amendment.

A)Fifth
B)Second
C)Fourteenth
D)First

Question 58

Recent political science research indicates that a divided system of government leads to which of the following when compared to other systems of government?

A)a stronger economy
B)more political corruption
C)more protests
D)better performance

Question 59

Which of the following is a method of ratification for a constitutional amendment?

A)by three-fourths of the state legislatures
B)by three-fourths of the state governors
C)by three-fourths of voting-age citizens
D)by half of the state legislatures

Question 60

If one political party controls Congress or one of its chambers and the other party controls the White House,which of the following is intensified?

A)autocracy
B)influence of the Electoral College
C)partisanship
D)power of the president

Question 61

Part of the debate over health care reform centered on congressional authority under the __________ clause of the Constitution.

Question 62

A(n)__________ is a type of government in which one person with unlimited power rules.

Question 63

The main weakness of the Articles of Confederation was the lack of a strong national government.

Question 64

The __________ Amendment protects the right to bear arms.

Question 65

The Constitution defines the procedure of impeachment in great detail and spells out which actions of a president are impeachable.

Question 66

The adaptive approach to constitutional interpretation makes the Supreme Court a more powerful institution in the U.S.government.

Question 67

The president has no formal authority over constitutional amendments.

Question 68

The Constitution has been amended __________ times.

Question 69

The cases of District of Columbia v.Heller (2008)and McDonald v.Chicago (2010)revolved around the __________ Amendment.

Question 70

Article III of the Constitution permits Congress to establish lower national courts.

Question 71

Most constitutional amendments were ratified within two years of being proposed.

Question 72

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the __________.

Question 73

The U.S.Constitution is the oldest,and one of the shortest,written constitutions in the world.

Question 74

Article I describes the powers of the president.

Question 75

In 2014,the Idaho state legislature passed a bill making it legal to carry a concealed weapon on a college campus.

Question 76

Partisanship is a strong allegiance to one's own political party,often leading to unwillingness to compromise.

Question 77

In interpreting the U.S.Constitution,an originalist would likely draw on the writings and speeches of the Framers.

Question 78

In the debate about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its authority under Article I of the Constitution.

Question 79

As described in ,Four Methods of Amending the Constitution,the Constitution can be amended by a two-thirds majority vote by the states.

Question 80

The __________ of powers is a key feature of the government established by the Constitution.