Deck 3: Federalism

Question 1

Nations that adopt a federal arrangement are most likely to have

A) diverse ethnic or language groups.
B) multiparty systems.
C) strong executives.
D) no history of feudalism.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

________ powers exist when both the state and national governments share authority in certain domains.

A) Implied
B) Reserved
C) Expressed
D) Concurrent

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The full faith and credit clause of the Constitution requires the

A) federal government to accept a state's outstanding debt at the time of ratification.
B) states to honor each other's public acts and legal decisions.
C) states, but not the federal government, to run a balanced budget.
D) federal government, but not the states, to run a balanced budget.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The ability to charter banks is an example of a ________ power.

A) reserved
B) concurrent
C) state
D) police

Question 5

The ________ clause in the U.S. Constitution affirms that national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land.

A) full faith and credit
B) necessary and proper
C) supremacy
D) establishment

Question 6

The purpose of the Tenth Amendment is to

A) ensure that each state constitution offers the same number of individual rights provided by the federal Constitution.
B) limit the powers of the federal government by reserving certain powers to the states and to the people.
C) grant citizens of each state access to the federal court system.
D) protect freedom of speech.

Question 7

Which Supreme Court decision partially struck down the Defense of Marriage Act?

A) McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission
B) National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
C) Windsor v. United States
D) Bush v. Gore

Question 8

Which amendment preserves a strong role for the states in the American federal republic?

A) First
B) Fifth
C) Ninth
D) Tenth

Question 9

The Constitution stipulates which of the following about relationships between states?

A) No state may ever enter into a compact or agreement with another state.
B) No state shall enter into a compact or agreement with another state without the approval of Congress.
C) No state shall enter into a compact or agreement with another state without the approval of the Supreme Court.
D) No State shall enter into a compact or agreement with another state without the approval of the governors of the remaining states.

Question 10

The United States, Canada, and Switzerland are all ________ systems of government, while France is a ________ system of government.

A) unitary; federal
B) federal; unitary
C) totalitarian; federal
D) oligarchic; federal

Question 11

The specific powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution are called the ________ powers.

A) implied
B) expressed
C) sovereign
D) executive

Question 12

The privileges and immunities clause of Article IV is also referred to as the ________ clause.

A) federalism
B) vesting
C) comity
D) dual sovereignty

Question 13

State laws banning interracial marriage were struck down by the Supreme Court in ________.

A) 1790
B) 1816
C) 1938
D) 1967

Question 14

A state government's authority to regulate the safety, health, and morals of its citizens is called the ________ power.

A) police
B) reserved
C) concurrent
D) implied

Question 15

Why did local governments become administratively important in the early years of the Republic?

A) The Constitution instructed them to implement all federal laws.
B) The Constitution instructed them to implement all state laws.
C) States lacked the power to implement and enforce laws and relied, therefore, on local governments.
D) The Supreme Court ruled that only local governments had the authority to implement laws under the Constitution.

Question 16

Which powers, derived from the Tenth Amendment, are neither delegated to the national government nor denied to the states?

A) concurrent
B) expressed
C) police
D) reserved

Question 17

Federalism is best defined as a system of government

A) where member nations meet in a multinational conference.
B) in which power is divided between a national government and lower-level governments.
C) in which the national government is funded through direct taxation of local governments.
D) in which authority is divided into separate branches and each individual branch is given some power over the other branches.

Question 18

In a federal system, governmental responsibilities are

A) under the complete authority of the federal government.
B) under the complete authority of state governments.
C) under the complete authority of local governments.
D) shared by both state and federal governments.

Question 19

The Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) was significant because it

A) allowed state governments to limit marriage to one man and one woman.
B) struck down state laws that made sodomy a crime.
C) required that all states offer marriage licenses to two people of the same sex.
D) declared the full faith and credit clause unconstitutional.

Question 20

What is it called when a state grants a city the ability to govern its own local affairs?

A) home rule
B) dual federalism
C) separation of powers
D) city governance

Question 21

Which clause is the source of implied powers under the U.S. Constitution?

A) full faith and credit
B) comity
C) necessary and proper
D) commerce

Question 22

Which level of government writes the majority of criminal laws?

A) national government
B) state governments
C) local governments
D) special judicial districts

Question 23

Which constitutional provision was most important in determining the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)?

A) First Amendment
B) Fourteenth Amendment
C) full faith and credit clause
D) supremacy clause

Question 24

The era of dual federalism was from the ________ until ________.

A) Founding; the end of the Civil War
B) Founding; the New Deal
C) Civil War; World War II
D) New Deal; the 1960s

Question 25

The best example of a concurrent power under the U.S. Constitution is the power to

A) declare war.
B) coin money.
C) regulate commercial activity.
D) tax imports and exports.

Question 26

The main function of the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV is that it

A) prevents states from discriminating against nonresidents.
B) compels each state to recognize the laws of other states.
C) requires all states to provide a uniform standard of benefits and entitlement.
D) prevents states from coining their own money.

Question 27

When Alaska passed a law in the 1970s that gave state residents preference over nonresidents in obtaining work on oil pipelines, this law violated the ________ clause.

A) interstate commerce
B) full faith and credit
C) privileges and immunities
D) necessary and proper

Question 28

Which of the following has been an important contractual topic between states?

A) the distribution of river water
B) state passport requirements
C) highway regulations
D) coining money

Question 29

The goal of the National Popular Vote compact is to

A) subject all federal laws to a national referendum.
B) require Supreme Court justices to win an election in all 50 states.
C) make the popular vote, not the electoral college results, the criterion for selecting the president.
D) allow citizens to vote directly on amendments to the Constitution.

Question 30

The ________ and the ________ clauses of the U.S. Constitution involve the relationships between and among the various states.

A) full faith and credit; privileges and immunities
B) full faith and credit; federalism
C) privileges and immunities; federalism
D) establishment; privileges and immunities

Question 31

The ________ clause in the U.S. Constitution was central in the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage.

A) full faith and credit
B) necessary and proper
C) privileges and immunities
D) establishment

Question 32

Which of the following is the best example of a unitary system of government?

A) The federal government sets detailed educational guidelines that all local governments must implement.
B) The federal government establishes general guidelines for schools, but leaves most specific policy decisions up to local school boards.
C) The federal government provides parents with vouchers for private schools, and local governments have no role to play in education policy.
D) The federal government provides no funding for schools and leaves education policy entirely up to state legislatures and local school boards.

Question 33

Which of the following statements best describes state-level same-sex marriage laws prior to 2015?

A) No state government had ever allowed same-sex couples to be legally married.
B) No state government had ever passed a law prohibiting same-sex couples from being legally married.
C) Thirteen states had passed laws prohibiting same-sex couples from being legally married.
D) Every state but one-Texas-allowed same-sex couples to be legally married.

Question 34

Which of the following statements best describes the history of American federalism?

A) There has always been a clear allocation of responsibilities between the states and the federal government.
B) Since the Founding, there has been considerable debate about the allocation of responsibilities between the states and the federal government.
C) Debates over the responsibilities allocated to the states and to the federal government ended with the Civil War.
D) Debates over the responsibilities allocated to the states and to the federal government ended immediately after the Great Depression.

Question 35

The fact that state governments are required to enforce restraining orders placed on stalkers and batterers in other states is a result of the

A) Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
B) full faith and credit clause of the Constitution.
C) supremacy clause of the Constitution.
D) Supreme Court's decision in Loving v. Virginia.

Question 36

Advocates of limiting the powers of the national government justify their position by pointing to the ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

A) commerce clause
B) necessary and proper clause
C) Tenth Amendment
D) due process clause

Question 37

Prior to the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, ________ states recognized same-sex marriage.

A) 0
B) 5
C) 17
D) 37

Question 38

The power of Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Native American tribes is found in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.

A) Article I
B) the preamble
C) the First Amendment
D) the Tenth Amendment

Question 39

Which of the following statements is true about the Defense of Marriage Act?

A) The act stipulates that the federal government will not recognize same-sex marriage.
B) The members of Congress who voted for it wanted to express their support for same-sex marriage.
C) The act stipulates that the federal government will recognize same-sex marriage.
D) The act stipulates that states have to recognize same-sex marriage from other states.

Question 40

The constitutional idea of states' rights was strongest during which historical period?

A) the years immediately preceding the Civil War
B) Reconstruction
C) the Great Depression
D) the 1960s

Question 41

Why was United States v. Lopez (1995) important?

A) It was the first time since the New Deal that the Supreme Court limited the power of Congress as outlined under the commerce clause.
B) It was the first time that the Court had used the Tenth Amendment to limit the power of Congress.
C) The Court found the line-item veto unconstitutional.
D) The Court gave a broad interpretation of the commerce clause that expanded the power of the federal government over the states.

Question 42

Who articulated the doctrine of nullification before the Civil War?

A) Andrew Jackson
B) John C. Calhoun
C) John Marshall
D) Strom Thurmond

Question 43

Who wrote the Supreme Court opinions in both McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)?

A) Alexander Hamilton
B) James Madison
C) John Marshall
D) Roger Taney

Question 44

Which clause of the U.S. Constitution has been important in allowing the growth of national power?

A) commerce clause
B) full faith and credit clause
C) comity clause
D) Tenth Amendment

Question 45

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) was important because it

A) developed the concept of judicial review.
B) developed the concept of dual citizenship.
C) established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce.
D) determined that the forced relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes to Oklahoma was unconstitutional.

Question 46

During the era of dual federalism, the primary goal of the federal government's domestic policies was to

A) promote competition between the states.
B) promote the development of commercial activity between and among the states.
C) protect citizens from the abuses of state governments.
D) keep the states from going to war with each other.

Question 47

Under the traditional system of American federalism, most of the fundamental governing in the United States was done by________.

A) state governments
B) the federal government
C) local governments
D) the courts

Question 48

During most of the nineteenth century, Congress primarily used its powers to ________ interstate commerce.

A) regulate and reduce
B) facilitate and enhance
C) hamper
D) prohibit

Question 49

Almost 40 percent of all federal criminal statutes passed after the Civil War were enacted between ________.

A) 1890 and 1901
B) 1917 and 1931
C) 1941 and 1949
D) 1970 and 1998

Question 50

Which of the following Supreme Court cases limited federal power?

A) United States v. Lopez and Printz v. United States
B) Gibbons v. Ogden and McCulloch v. Maryland
C) Gibbons v. Ogden and Brown v. Board of Education
D) McCulloch v. Maryland and Brown v. Board of Education

Question 51

"Commerce among the several states" was first defined in

A) Printz v. United States.
B) Marbury v. Madison.
C) McCulloch v. Maryland.
D) Gibbons v. Ogden.

Question 52

A major reason that the slogan "states' rights" became tarnished in the 1950s and 1960s was that it had been used by

A) southern opponents of the civil rights movement to support Jim Crow laws.
B) religious organizations to increase federal spending on faith-based initiatives.
C) antiwar activists to protest the war in Vietnam.
D) supporters of the civil rights movement to oppose racial segregation.

Question 53

What was one effect of dual federalism during the early Republic?

A) The national government was spared the task of making difficult policy decisions, such as the regulation of slavery, because the states did it themselves for the most part.
B) The national government was unable to raise sufficient amounts of money through taxes and tariffs.
C) The number of federal criminal laws expanded rapidly, while state criminal laws decreased.
D) The strength and size of the military grew dramatically.

Question 54

How did dual federalism help to establish a "commercial republic"?

A) The federal government passed laws forbidding any regulation of capitalism.
B) The function of the federal government was to promote and assist commerce.
C) The federal government was originally designed to regulate and control the marketplace.
D) The federal government sold many natural resources from publicly owned lands.

Question 55

Which of the following economic policies did the national government implement during the nineteenth century?

A) chartering a national bank
B) regulating the health and safety of the workplace
C) limiting businesses' use of child labor
D) preventing the production of impure goods

Question 56

In ________, the Supreme Court reinterpreted the commerce clause, changing it from a check on national power to a source of national power.

A) 1865
B) 1915
C) 1937
D) 1973

Question 57

Attempts by Congress to regulate child labor and factory conditions in local workplaces were struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in the late nineteenth century because regulating local workplaces was

A) perceived to violate the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution.
B) perceived to violate the comity clause of the Constitution.
C) was beyond the scope of interstate commerce at the time and was therefore perceived to be an unconstitutional exercise of power by the federal government.
D) perceived to violate the strongly held value of regulated federalism.

Question 58

By 1932, ________ percent of the labor force in the United States was unemployed.

A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 25

Question 59

The Southern Manifesto

A) was written before the Civil War.
B) was written by southern officials who declared that their states were not bound by Supreme Court decisions outlawing racial segregation.
C) argued in favor of national government power.
D) invalidated the Tenth Amendment.

Question 60

What was the overall importance of McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

A) The Court interpreted the delegated powers of Congress broadly, creating the potential for increased national powers.
B) The Court gave a very restricted definition of Congress's delegated powers, in keeping with the era of dual federalism.
C) The Court announced that dual federalism did not conform to the framers' design.
D) The Court declared that the National Bank was unconstitutional.

Question 61

Congressional grants paid for ________ percent of the development of an interstate highway system after World War II.

A) 25
B) 50
C) 90
D) 100

Question 62

The principle of ________ gives the federal government the power to override any state or local law in one particular area of policy.

A) cooperative federalism
B) grant-in-aid
C) preemption
D) home rule

Question 63

Which type of grant requires state and local governments to submit proposals to the federal government and compete for funding?

A) Pell
B) formula
C) project
D) federal

Question 64

A federal grant to states to assist in the building of new public schools is an example of a ________ grant.

A) categorical
B) formula
C) block
D) general revenue

Question 65

The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution ensured that slavery would be

A) outlawed by permanently banning the "migration or importation" of slaves to the United States.
B) outlawed by declaring all slave owners to be "fugitives" under federal law.
C) outlawed by preventing newly admitted states from legalizing slavery.
D) protected by obligating free states to return runaway slaves to the state from which they escaped.

Question 66

Which of the following statements best summarizes President Herbert Hoover's views on federal action during the Great Depression?

A) It was the federal government's responsibility to alleviate the misery caused by the depression and Congress should finance public works projects to put people back to work.
B) The federal government was directly responsible for causing the Great Depression and should therefore pay reparations to state governments.
C) State governments were directly responsible for causing the Great Depression and should therefore pay reparations to the federal government.
D) The federal government could do little to alleviate the misery caused by the depression and state and local governments should be responsible for responding to the crisis.

Question 67

The structure of American federalism

A) contributed to the longevity of the U.S. government by allowing many divisive policy decisions throughout American history to be made by states.
B) has contributed to the longevity of the U.S. government by forcing every state to develop in exactly the same way.
C) caused the Civil War to be fought decades before it would have been under a unitary system.
D) has had almost no effect on the stability and functioning of the U.S. government.

Question 68

Which event was most influential in the rise of a more active national government?

A) War of 1812
B) Civil War
C) Great Depression
D) Cold War

Question 69

________ is evidenced when national officials fund a project that is actually implemented by state governments.

A) Dual federalism
B) National supremacy
C) Cooperative federalism
D) Home rule

Question 70

Which statement best describes American federalism since the 1930s?

A) Although the federal government has grown significantly more powerful since the 1930s, the basic framework of American federalism has not been altered and state governments remain important.
B) Although the state governments have grown significantly more powerful since the 1930s, the basic framework of American federalism has not been altered and the federal government remains important.
C) The growing power of the federal government since the 1930s has fundamentally altered American federalism by rendering state governments obsolete.
D) The growing power of state governments since the 1930s has fundamentally altered American federalism by rendering the federal government obsolete.

Question 71

________ compels state governments to obey costly federal regulations, but does not reimburse those costs.

A) A grant-in-aid
B) An unfunded mandate
C) A block grant
D) General revenue sharing

Question 72

Block grants are designed to

A) fund urban improvements on a specific city block.
B) give the states considerable discretion in how money from the federal government should be spent.
C) fund capital improvements in schools.
D) impose strict limits on how state governments can spend money from the federal government.

Question 73

Unfunded mandates are unpopular among those who want to

A) reduce the power of the federal government.
B) increase the scope of federal regulations.
C) exercise a strong principle of preemption.
D) eliminate the principle of home rule.

Question 74

Which president introduced and presided over the New Deal?

A) Herbert Hoover
B) Franklin Roosevelt
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) Lyndon Johnson

Question 75

The number of categorical grants in the United States increased dramatically during the ________.

A) Progressive Era
B) 1950s
C) 1960s
D) 1980s

Question 76

In a decision on the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court ruled that

A) state governments could decline to expand Medicaid coverage without losing their existing Medicaid funds from the federal government.
B) the federal government could take away a state's Medicaid funds if it refused to expand Medicaid coverage.
C) the federal government had no constitutional authority to spend its tax revenue on health care programs like Medicaid.
D) state governments could not refuse to expand Medicaid coverage because of the supremacy clause of the Constitution.

Question 77

An example of ________ federalism is when federal officials establish environmental standards that every state must follow.

A) cooperative
B) dual
C) regulated
D) "marble cake"

Question 78

An example of ________ is when federal officials force state officials to implement more stringent water pollution regulations.

A) home rule
B) preemption
C) police power
D) the doctrine of states' rights

Question 79

Which statement best describes the Supreme Court's decisions about federalism during the 1990s?

A) The Court granted the national government more power over the states.
B) The Court limited the power of the national government over the state governments.
C) The Court declined to hear federalism cases, arguing that they are political questions.
D) The Court dramatically limited the ability of states to sue the national government in federal courts.

Question 80

"Marble cake federalism" is associated with the

A) increasing political power of local governments over the last two decades.
B) pattern of intergovernmental cooperation that has blurred the lines between the states and the national governments.
C) practice of federal officials bribing their state counterparts with various gifts in order to convince them to follow national standards.
D) confusion that emerged during the 1960s about which layer of government is actually responsible for regulating the national economy.