American Government 100



American Government 100 Part I

Patterson, pgs. 65-80, AG4-15

Woll, pgs. 66-71

Federalism

True or False Questions

1. In spite of the controversy generated by the 2010 health care reform act, the majority of Republicans supported it because of the program’s popularity. True or False

2. Americans possess what amounts to dual citizenship: they are citizens both of the United States and of the state where they reside. True or False

3. Throughout the nation’s history, federalism has been a unifying force, minimizing conflict and while bringing together the two major parties. True or False

4. Federalism had a clear basis in political theory that was applied by the Founders at the Constitutional Convention when designing the American political system. True or False

5. Most of the Western democracies of the world do not provide health care for all their citizens. True or False

6. Under a system of confederation, the central government could compel people to pay taxes. True or False

7. In spite of the fact that sovereignty in a federal system rests with both the national and state governments, states must still get the approval of the national government to do anything. True or False

8. A unitary system vests sovereignty solely in the national government whereby local and regional governments do not have such power. True or False

9. States are dominant in a confederacy but are prevented from abolishing the central government if they disagree with the latter’s behavior. True or False

10. Most countries continue to have unitary governmental systems whereby sovereignty vests solely in the national government. True or False

11. The Articles of Confederation proved that a government which governs least is government which governs best, argues Patterson. True or False

12. Theorists such as Locke and Montesquieu did not propose a division of power between national and local authorities as a means of protecting liberty, a system applied in the United States. True or False

13. Madison argued that whether a government serves the common good is a function not of its size but of the range of interests that share political power. True or False

14. Based on the Constitution, the president was assigned sole responsibility for declaring war to assure a quick and ready response to both external and internal threats to the country’s security. True or False

15. For all of its flaws, one of the positive aspects of the Articles of Confederation was its flexibility, readily adaptive to change. True or False

16. The Constitution delineates the dividing line between interstate commerce and intrastate commerce. True or False

17. Hamilton and his supporters claimed that because the federal government had constitutional authority to regulate currency, it had the “implied power” to establish a national bank. True or False

18. In the McCulloch decision, Chief Justice Marshall argued that the states had the power to tax any institution created by the federal government based on reserved powers. True or False

19. John Marshall’s opinions served to establish the United States as a nation by expanding the central government’s powers over the states, compelling the latter to obey the former’s laws. True or False

20. In 1832, South Carolina declared a federal tariff law “null and void,” with the issue being resolved only after Congress amended it to soften the impact on the South. True or False

21. The Dred Scott decision had little impact on the election of 1860, allowing the two major parties to decide the presidency without controversy. True or False

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the Supreme Court’s ruling in support of the healthcare mandate, Chief Roberts argued that: a) Congress has the power to require people to purchase healthcare, b) the mandate does not coerce anyone into purchasing healthcare, c) Congress’s power to tax allowed for the mandate since this was a tax, d) though not mentioned in the Constitution, healthcare is now an essential condition to assure a quality of life.

2. What two states refused to pay tax revenue to the central government between 1781 and 1786? a) New York and Vermont, b) Georgia and North Carolina, c) Rhode Island and Virginia, d) Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

3. Having supreme and final authority: a) legitimacy, b) control, c) sovereignty, d) independence.

4. The Constitution's division of governing authority between two levels, where sovereignty rests with both the national government and state governments is referred to as: a) federalism, b) checks and balances, c) separation of powers, d) enumerated powers.

5. A confederacy is a system of government where: a) the authority of the central government stems from the people, b) the states retain their sovereignty, c) the central government can redefine the states' role, d) the people are autonomous.

6. Which of the following is a concurrent power? a) registration and voting, b) national defense, c) interstate commerce, d) law enforcement.

7. What was a view of the Anti-federalists? a) centralized authority was a more efficient use of governmental power, b) a unitary system is the ideal political system, c) a distant national government could never serve the people's interests as well as the states could, d) government is best that is furthest away from the people.

8. Montesquieu concluded that a: a) small republic is more likely than a large one to serve the people’s interests, b) small republic would enhance the central leader’s powers and corrupt the government, c) large republic would increase the chances that democracy would survive compared to small one, d) large republic is more prone to war compared to a small one; therefore, the larger the country, the less likelihood that democracy would survive.

9. According to Madison (from Federalist No. 10.), the problem with a small republic a) results from its lacking adequate resources to support a growing population, b) involves political leaders who tend to be parochial rather than flexible, c) is the fact that a dominant faction can more easily gain power, d) is its inability to stabilize its borders from outside threats that are more powerful.

10. In Federalist No. 10, Madison contended that: a) the greater the size of a political system, the higher the probability that the government will be corrupt, b) the more people that comprise the state will result in greater internal turmoil and conflict, limiting the efficiency of government, c) interest groups are better curtailed in a smaller republic since there are fewer of them, making it easier to monitor interest group actions, d) a large republic is less likely to have an all-powerful faction (interest group), forcing factions to compromise with other groups to achieve their ends.

11. Article 1, Sec. 8, of the Constitution grants the Congress seventeen enumerated powers, sometimes referred to as a) expressed) powers, b) unilateral powers, c) articulated powers, d) enunciated powers.

12. Article VI of the Constitution provides that the laws of the United States shall be the: a) concurrent powers of the land, b) equal authority of the land, c) supreme law of the land, d) salvation of the land.

13. Sometimes referred to as the elastic clause, what area of the Constitution could lead to an expansive national government? a) the due process clause, b) the "necessary and proper" clause, c) the equal protection clause, d) the privileges and immunities clause.

14. Powers that are not listed in the Constitution but are a direct consequence of the enumerated powers: a) explicit powers, b) reserved powers, c) implied powers, d) expressed powers.

15. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States.” a) expressed powers stemming from the Ninth Amendment, b) implied powers stemming from the Sixth Article, c) enumerated powers stemming from Article I, Section Nine, d) reserved powers stemming from the Tenth Amendment.

16. When the First Bank of the United States was proposed by Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson: a) supported its creation believing that it was allowed based on the economic addressed in the enumerated powers, b) opposed it, believing that the Constitution did not authorize it, c) ignored the issue altogether because of his preoccupation with foreign policy, d) concluded that George Washington would reject it and therefore stayed clear of the politics involved.

17. How did Marshall decide the McCulloch case? a) using the due process clause, he argued that the power to tax is the power to destroy, b) embracing the full faith and credit clause, he said that it allows the federal government to do whatever is necessary to achieve its mandate, c) he based his arguments on the theory of implied powers and the fact that a valid national law prevails over conflicting state law, d) he felt that the national government had violated its authority, ruling that the incorporated bank must be destroyed.

18. In the following landmark Supreme Court decision of 1824, it rejected a New York law granting one of its residents a monopoly on a ferry that operated between New York and New Jersey, asserting that Congress’s commerce power was not limited to trade between the states, but to all aspects of that trade, including the transportation of goods: a) Robin v. Krenshaw, b) Davenport v. Smith, c) Jackson v. McBeth Ferry Co., d) Gibbons v. Ogden.

19. John C. Calhoun argued that the Constitution had created a government of states ... not a government of individuals, which led to his famed doctrine of: a) interposition, b) nationalism, c) codification, d) nullification.

20. In suing for his freedom, what argument did Dred Scott present to the Taney-led Supreme Court in 1857? a) using the Missouri Compromise which made slavery illegal in free states and territories, b) using natural rights theory which argues that people can never be slaves, c) using a little-known commerce law regarding trade and its shipment, d) pleading with justices sense of justice and compassion that slavery was incompatible with the Bill of Rights.

21. What arguments did the Taney Court apply to reject Dred Scott’s lawsuit? a) The issue was a states’ rights concern and not a federal one; therefore, the case was sent to a lower court, b) It invalidated the Missouri Compromise, claiming that slaves were property, barred from citizenship and therefore could not sue for their freedom, c) Federal law trumps state law; therefore, Dred Scott was immediately freed, d) Realizing that the case was controversial, Taney argued Article Four’s “full faith and credit” clause was violated and therefore Scott had to be incarcerated until he could be sold at auction.

Fill-in Questions

1. What is meant by the American political system being a federal system?

a) _______________ authority is divided between a national government and state governments.

b) Each government is assumed to derive its powers directly from the _______ and therefore to have ____________ (final authority) over the responsibilities assigned to it.

c) The federal system consists of states and nation, separate yet ____________.

2. What were the defects in the Articles of Confederation?

a) : the national government had neither the power to ____ nor

b) the power to _________ _________ among the states.

c) the national government lacked the financial means to maintain an _____ or _____.

d) the national government could neither promote the general ________ nor prevent

______ _____ between the states.

3. Article 1, Section 10, prohibits the states from:

a) making _________ with other nations,

b) raising _______,

c) waging ____,

d) printing ______, or

e) entering into ___________ agreements with other _______ without the approval of _________.

Madison, Federalist 39

Woll, pgs. 66-71

1. In Federalist 39 Madison said that the incorporation of the Constitution required agreement among the states; therefore, it was a federal not a national act. True or False

2. The powers of the national government, argued Madison, are national not federal because they allow the national government to act directly upon the people. True or False

3. Madison defines a republican form of government as "a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from ...the _______, and is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure for a ________ period, or during _____ _________.

4. Though he argued for limited terms for the legislative and executive officials, Madison said that members of the judiciary should receive: a) 6 year terms, b) 10 year terms, c) 12 year terms, d) lifetime terms

5. According to Madison (Federalist 39), the Senate derives its authority indirectly from the people. True or False

6. The President is impeachable at any time during his continuance in office. True or False

7. Ratification of the Constitution would occur by a) deputies elected for that purpose, representing the states, b) already elected state legislators, representing the national government, c) members of Congress, d) the people would vote directly, representing a national principle.

8. The act of establishing the Constitution, according to Madison in Federalist 39, would be a national, not a federal act. True or False

9. The House of Representatives represents a national, not a federal principle according to Madison. True or False

10. With regards to its role, the federal government is a national operation according to Madison. True or False

11. If there is a dispute between the federal and the state governments over jurisdiction, argued Madison, what would resolve the dispute? a) a tribunal, b) the Congress, c) the military, d) the states,

12. The amending process includes both federal and national principles according to Madison. True or False

Answers

Patterson, pgs. 65-80

True or False Questions

1. False

3. True

5. False

7. False

9. False

11. False

13. True

15. False

17. True

19. True

21. False

Multiple Choice Questions

1. c

3. c

5. b

7. c

9. c

11. a

13. b

15. d

17. c

19. d

21. b

Fill-in Questions

1. a) Constitution, b) people, sovereignty, c) indivisible

3. a) treaties, b) armies, c) war, d) money, e) commercial, states,

Woll, pgs. 66-71

1. True

3. people, limited, good behavior

5. True

7. a

9. True

11. a

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download