Deck 3: Federalism: States and Nation

Question 1

__________ grants typically allocate federal dollars but clearly specify the category of activity for which the money has to be spent.

A) Block
B) Categorical
C) Commerce
D) Federal
E) Unified

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The United States includes 50 states and approximately how many county governments?

A) 1,000
B) 3,000
C) 4,000
D) 5,000
E) 5,200

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What are the two types of powers given to the governments under the U.S. Constitution?

A) enumerated; reserved
B) enumerated; suggested
C) implied; explicit
D) suggested; explicit
E) suggested; implied

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The United States Interstate Highway system is a good example of the benefits of __________.

A) anti-federalism
B) centralized authority over the masses
C) state power
D) federalism
E) local decision-making

Question 5

In a __________ system, local and regional governments derive authority from the national government.

A) unitary
B) bi-cameral
C) confederate
D) constitutional
E) federal

Question 6

A __________ grant is a large grant to a state by the federal government with only general spending guidelines.

A) block
B) business
C) commerce
D) credit
E) federal

Question 7

In Wickard v. Filburn, the Supreme Court held that Congress can regulate economic activities even if such activities are only indirectly related to __________ commerce.

A) agricultural
B) domestic
C) international
D) interstate
E) local

Question 8

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution establishes that federal law is __________ in conflicts between federal and state law.

A) irrelevant
B) persuasive authority
C) secondary
D) supreme
E) insignificant

Question 9

Which of the following acts was overruled by the Rehnquist Court in an effort to decrease national government?

A) No Child Left Behind
B) Real ID Act
C) Brady Act
D) Affordable Care Act
E) Americans with Disabilities Act

Question 10

In Wickard v. Filburn, the Supreme Court held that Congress has the power to regulate __________ activities even if such activities are only indirectly related to interstate commerce.

A) economic
B) educational
C) holiday
D) interstate
E) local

Question 11

The Framers adopted a federal system of government partly because it __________ government power.

A) centralizes
B) further fragments
C) squashes
D) regulates
E) enhances

Question 12

The __________ Amendment says that says that those powers not given to the federal government and not prohibited to the states by the Constitution are reserved for the states and the people.

A) First
B) Eighth
C) Tenth
D) Eleventh
E) Fourteenth

Question 13

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Republican party led the __________ "revolution," which demanded that the national government return administrative authority to state governments.

A) contract
B) devolution
C) evolution
D) silent
E) white

Question 14

In a __________, the constituent states get together for certain common purposes but retain ultimate individual authority and can veto major central governmental actions.

A) federation
B) totalitarian state
C) confederation
D) unitary state
E) union

Question 15

Which clause in the Constitution ensures that judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in another?

A) Commerce
B) Dormant Commerce
C) Due Process
D) Equal Protection
E) Full Faith and Credit

Question 16

Republicans' 1994 Contract with America prevented Congress from passing costly federal programs without a debate about how to __________ them.

A) expense
B) repay
C) fund
D) support
E) refurbish

Question 17

Under the system created by the Framers, the national and state governments share power and derive their authority from which written document __________?

A) the Bill of Rights
B) the Constitution
C) the Articles of Confederation
D) the various state constitutions
E) the Declaration of Independence

Question 18

Which clause of the U.S. Constitution did the Supreme Court interpret in McCulloch v. Maryland?

A) Commerce
B) Dormant commerce
C) Due process
D) Equal protection
E) Necessary and proper

Question 19

__________ powers are shared by the federal and state governments.

A) Concurrent
B) Constitutional
C) Federal
D) Libertarian
E) Unified

Question 20

What was the first major Supreme Court decision to define the relationship between the federal and state governments?

A) Barron v. Baltimore
B) Dred Scott v. Sanford
C) Gibbons v. Ogden
D) McCulloch v. Maryland
E) US v. Lopez

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of fiscal federalism?

A) a blue ribbon task force on education
B) gas mileage requirements
C) grants-in-aid
D) minimum wage legislation
E) No Child Left Behind Act

Question 22

Jefferson and Madison secretly authored the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which declared that the states did not have to obey __________ national laws and left it to the states to decide what was unconstitutional.

A) unconstitutional
B) constitutional
C) progressive
D) misguided
E) untested

Question 23

Which of the following best exemplifies the intentions of devolution in the 1990s?

A) New Deal legislation
B) No Child Left Behind Act
C) welfare
D) Troubled Asset Recovery Program
E) Violence Against Women Act

Question 24

Nullification was particularly prominent during which era in American history?

A) the colonial era
B) the Revolutionary War
C) pre-Civil War
D) Reconstruction
E) the Great Depression

Question 25

Which of the following is an enumerated power of the national government?

A) criminal law
B) contract law
C) marriage and divorce
D) control over money supply
E) social welfare activities

Question 26

New federalism favors which type of government grant?

A) block grants
B) business grants
C) categorical grants
D) programmatic requests
E) unfunded mandates

Question 27

What are those powers under the Reservation clause?

A) powers specifically delegated to the national government by the Constitution
B) powers specifically delegated to state governments by the Constitution
C) powers not specifically delegated to the national government by the Constitution
D) powers not specifically delegated to state governments by the Constitution
E) powers specifically delegated to both the state and national government

Question 28

During the __________, national power was significantly expanded.

A) Revolutionary War
B) Civil War
C) World War I
D) World War II
E) Vietnam War

Question 29

On which of the following clauses did President Obama and Democratic leaders base the Affordable Care Act?

A) commerce
B) due process
C) equal protection
D) full faith and credit
E) privileges and immunities

Question 30

Which type of federalism is characterized by a system of separate but equally powerful state and national governments?

A) combined
B) cooperative
C) dual
D) progressive
E) pure

Question 31

World War II involved a total __________ mobilization to fight Germany and Japan. Not surprisingly, directing that mobilization, as well as collecting taxes to support it, planning for production of war materials, and bringing on board the employees to accomplish all of this, was centered in Washington, D.C., not in the states.

A) businesses
B) economic and military
C) economic
D) military
E) workforce

Question 32

The preemption of state and local laws is based on which clause of the U.S. Constitution?

A) Commerce
B) Due Process
C) Equal Protection
D) Full Faith and Credit
E) Supremacy

Question 33

The No Child Left Behind Act is an example of a(n) __________.

A) block grant
B) business grant
C) categorical grant
D) programmatic request
E) unfunded mandate

Question 34

Before the ratification of the Constitution, the United States was organized as ___________.

A) colonies
B) a confederation
C) a monarchy
D) an oligarchy
E) a conglomerate

Question 35

What is a mandate?

A) An order from the federal government requiring the states to take a certain action.
B) An order from a state government requiring a federal action.
C) An order from the federal government prohibiting the states to take a certain action.
D) An order from a state government prohibiting a federal action.
E) An order requiring joint state and federal action.

Question 36

The Defense of Marriage Act potentially violates which clause of the Constitution?

A) Commerce
B) Supremacy Clause
C) Due Process
D) Equal Protection
E) Full Faith and Credit

Question 37

One benefit of the federal system is the ability of the states to operate as __________ for new ideas.

A) classrooms
B) churches
C) courts
D) cradles
E) laboratories

Question 38

Which of the following grants has provisions requiring state and local governments to follow certain policies to obtain funds?

A) block
B) federal
C) progressive
D) conditional
E) experimental

Question 39

In a __________, the central government has all the power and can change its constituent units or tell them what to do.

A) confederation
B) polity
C) federal system
D) totalitarian
E) unitary system

Question 40

According to the text, which of the following is a confederation?

A) Arab League
B) China
C) Great Britain
D) United Nations
E) United States

Question 41

Which part of the Constitution contains limitations on state powers?

A) Article I, Section 2
B) Article I, Section 10
C) Article IV, Section 1
D) Article IV, Section 3
E) Article VI

Question 42

Which statement best describes the decision in Wickard v. Filburn?

A) Congress can regulate any activity that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
B) Congress can only regulate commercial activity that actually reaches over state lines.
C) States can regulate any product that crosses state lines.
D) Congress can regulate activity that has a minimal impact on interstate commerce.
E) States can regulate any activity that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce.

Question 43

The 1960s and 1970s were a time that best exemplifies which type of federalism?

A) dual
B) combined
C) competitive
D) cooperative
E) progressive

Question 44

Which of the following is a power of the federal government?

A) admitting new states
B) coining money
C) creating banks
D) establishing federal courts
E) levying taxes

Question 45

Which of the following cases involved the commerce clause?

A) McCulloch v. Maryland
B) Wickard v. Filburn
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Marbury v. Madison
E) Tinker v. Des Moines

Question 46

What was the dominant form of federalism in the 1960s?

A) dual
B) combined
C) competitive
D) cooperative
E) progressive

Question 47

The economic crisis that began in 2008, sometimes called the Great Recession (much like the Great Depression), generated an expanded role for the national government relative to __________ in economic affairs.

A) other countries
B) the United Nations
C) the states
D) the cities
E) supranational organizations such as NATO and SEATO

Question 48

In a unitary system of government, the state and local governments derive their powers from a centralized national government.

Question 49

Which of the following is an example of a categorical grant?

A) Funds provided by Congress to the states for education generally.
B) Funds provided by Congress to the states for substance abuse prevention.
C) Funds provided by Congress to the states for transportation infrastructure.
D) Funds provided by Congress to the states to enhance science instruction in a low-income area.
E) Funds provided by Congress to the states to promote the physical health of citizens.

Question 50

Which is an example of a federal mandate?

A) Congress passes a law requiring all nuclear power plants to revise and strengthen their safety protocols.
B) Congress passes a law requiring all states to adopt a sex offender registry system categorizing offenders based on conviction, not future threat.
C) The Environmental Protection Agency sends money to Louisiana to help with cleanup from the gulf oil spill.
D) The Nevada legislature passes a law requiring all public school teachers to spend twenty hours per week preparing students for the state achievement test.
E) The Supreme Court upholds a federal law requiring all citizens to wear a seatbelt while operating a motor vehicle.

Question 51

Which of the following is the best definition of federalism?

A) A constitutional arrangement by which power is distributed between a central government and state governments.
B) A constitutional arrangement by which sovereign states create a limited central government.
C) A constitutional arrangement concentrating power in a central government.
D) A loose association of states constitutionally created by a strong central government.
E) A loose association of states with mutually recognized compacts but no central government.

Question 52

Proponents of the "devolution revolution" argue that:

A) The authority of the military should be expanded.
B) The authority of state governments should be expanded.
C) The authority of the federal government should be expanded.
D) The authority of the president should be expanded.
E) The authority of Congress should be expanded.

Question 53

Which of the following constitutional clauses was used by the Supreme Court to apply civil liberties as protection for citizens at the state level?

A) due process
B) commerce
C) full faith and credit
D) equal protection
E) privileges and immunities

Question 54

The idea that a contract formed in one state must be honored in another state is an example of which of the following?

A) an unfunded mandate
B) the nationalist position
C) horizontal federalism
D) due process
E) fiscal federalism

Question 55

The power of both the state and federal governments to levy taxes is an example of __________ federalism.

A) layer cake
B) marble cake
C) pineapple upside down cake
D) cupcake
E) pancake

Question 56

The United States has always had a federal system of government.

Question 57

Under current federal law, Ohio would not have to give "full faith and credit" to which of the following?

A) An adoption from Michigan
B) A divorce from Canada
C) An opposite sex marriage from Massachusetts
D) A same sex marriage from Iowa because same-sex marriage is illegal in Ohio.
E) A marriage between two cousins from Nebraska because marriages between first cousins are illegal in Ohio.

Question 58

Which of the following is a concurrent power?

A) control over the money supply
B) social welfare activities
C) criminal law
D) power to tax
E) contract law

Question 59

The power to regulate immigration is best described as a(n) __________ power.

A) concurrent
B) enumerated
C) implied
D) limited
E) reserved

Question 60

Which of the following is a power specifically denied the states by the Constitution?

A) conducting elections
B) establishing local governments
C) maintaining a militia
D) providing for public health, safety, and morals
E) regulating interstate commerce

Question 61

Since 1990, the Supreme Court has consistently expanded the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

Question 62

The Supremacy Clause establishes that state laws will prevail over conflicting federal laws.

Question 63

Devolution was particularly strong during the 1990s.

Question 64

Any power not specifically delegated to the states by the Constitution is reserved to the national government.

Question 65

Proponents of states' rights believe that the Constitution strictly limited the national government and established broad autonomy for the states.

Question 66

Dual federalism is an interpretation of federalism in which the states and the national government separate jurisdictions and responsibilities.

Question 67

__________ is a system under which significant government powers are divided between the central government and smaller units, such as states or provinces.

Question 68

Lyndon Johnson's __________ program aimed to alleviate poverty and empower the poor and racial minorities.

Question 69

The Constitution gives states the power to issue state coinage in addition to the coinage issued by the federal government.

Question 70

Federalism encourages the states to create local solutions to national problems.

Question 71

__________ federalism is defined as a flexible relationship between the national and state government in which both work together on a variety of issues and programs.

Question 72

General revenue sharing distributed money to the states with no federal controls.

Question 73

Federal mandates are direct judicial orders requiring state governments to comply with the Constitution.

Question 74

The __________ specifies that any power not specifically delegated to the national government is reserved to the states or the people.

Question 75

The National Labor Relations Act was upheld by the Supreme Court in its effort to act as a centralizing force in supporting the New Deal.

Question 76

__________ gives Congress the authority to exercise its enumerated powers.

Question 77

McCulloch v. Maryland provided crucial legal justification for the expansion of federal power.

Question 78

Some of the elements of federalism go back in history at least as far as the Union of Utrecht in the __________ in 1579.

Question 79

All of the powers of the federal government are expressly enumerated in the Constitution.

Question 80

__________ occurs when a national law or regulation takes precedence over a conflicting state or local law or regulation.