Chapter 3: Constitutions

Question 1

Chapter 3: Constitutions Objectives

Answer 1

1. Describe the role of state constitutions.
2. Explain the significance of colonial charters and bicameral legislatures in the first generation of state constitutions.
3. Identify the ways state constitutions can be formally changed.
4. Identify informal means of changing constitutions.
5. Describe how and why state constitutions vary from state to state.
6. Relate the ways local governments may be subject to governing documents such as constitutions.

Question 2

Appropriations bills

Answer 2

Laws passed by legislatures authorizing the transfer of money to the executive branch.

Question 3

Ballot initiatives

Answer 3

Processes through which voters directly convey instructions to the legislature, approve a law, or amend the constitution.

Question 4

Bicameral legislatures

Answer 4

Legislatures made up of two chambers, typically a house of representatives, or assembly, and a senate.

Question 5

Colonial charters

Answer 5

Legal documents drawn up by the British Crown that spelled out how the colonies were to be governed.

Question 6

Constitutional amendments

Answer 6

Proposals to change a constitution, typically enacted by a supermajority of the legislature or through a statewide referendum.

Question 7

Constitutional convention

Answer 7

An assembly convened for the express purpose of amending or replacing a constitution.

Question 8

Constitutional revision commissions

Answer 8

Expert committees formed to assess constitutions and suggest changes.

Question 9

Direct democracy

Answer 9

A system in which citizens make laws themselves rather than relying on elected representatives.

Question 10

Dual constitutionalism

Answer 10

A system of government in which people live under two sovereign powers. In the United States, these are the government of their state of residence and the federal government.

Question 11

Electorate

Answer 11

The population of individuals who can vote

Question 12

Franchise

Answer 12

The right to vote

Question 13

Jim Crow laws

Answer 13

Legislative measures passed in the last decade of the 19th century that sought to systematically separate Black people and white people.

Question 14

Judicial federalism

Answer 14

The idea that the courts determine the boundaries of state–federal relations.

Question 15

Judicial review

Answer 15

The power of courts to assess whether a law is in compliance with the constitution.

Question 16

Line-item veto

Answer 16

The power to reject a portion of a bill while leaving the rest intact. US President can’t do this. Texas governor can.

Question 17

Model constitution

Answer 17

An expert-approved generic or “ideal” constitution that states sometimes use as a yardstick against which to measure their existing constitutions.

Question 18

Municipal charter

Answer 18

A document that establishes operating procedures for a local government.

Question 19

Natural law or higher law

Answer 19

A set of moral and political rules based on divine law and binding on all people.

Question 20

Plenary power

Answer 20

Power that is not limited or constrained.

Question 21

Ratification

Answer 21

A vote of the entire electorate to approve a constitutional change, referendum, or ballot initiative.

Question 22

Reconstruction

Answer 22

The period following the Civil War when the southern states were governed under the direction of the Union army.

Question 23

Referendums

Answer 23

Procedures that allow the electorate to accept or reject a law passed by the legislature.

Question 24

Separation of powers

Answer 24

The principle that government should be divided into separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with its own powers and responsibilities.

Question 25

Unicameral legislatures

Answer 25

Legislatures that have only one chamber. Nebraska is currently the only U.S. state with a unicameral legislature.