Government Unit 1

Question 1

Sociologist C. Wright Mills was a proponent of the theory of

Answer 1

elitism.

Question 2

What is a major limit on majoritarianism suggested by the text?

Answer 2

The public as a whole takes an interest in only a few of the hundreds of policy decisions that U.S. officials make each year.

Question 3

What aspect of America were William Watts and Lloyd Free referring to when they labeled it “the country of individualism par excellence”?

Answer 3

the emphasis that Americans place on economic self-reliance and free markets

Question 4

From 1945 until the late 1960s, there was the highest degree of bipartisanship in the area of:

Answer 4

foreign affairs.

Question 5

bipartisanship

Answer 5

agreement or cooperation between two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies.

Question 6

Gideon v. Wainwright supreme court ruling?

Answer 6

Gideon v. Wainwright ruling?

Question 7

Research suggests which of the following is primarily to blame for misinformation about political affairs spreading easily?

Answer 7

a growing disinterest in seeking out news items.

The major barrier to political thinking is the unwillingness of citizens to make the effort

Question 8

Europeans have a greater acceptance than Americans of

Answer 8

tax and social policies that redistribute wealth.

Question 9

Political knowledge has been shown to be important …

Answer 9

because it fosters civic participation.

Question 10

To the framers, the great danger of democratic government was the risk of

Answer 10

tyranny of the majority.

Question 11

Articles of Confederation

Answer 11

• Authority rested primarily with the states - but vested in the Congress.
• prohibited Congress from levying taxes
• Congress was prohibited from regulating the states’ trade policies, so it was powerless to forge a national economy.
• Each of the 13 states had one vote in Congress,

Question 12

The Federalist Papers were written by _______, _______ , and ______ to persuade New York to vote for the new Constitution.

Answer 12

Jay, Hamilton, Madison

Question 13

The term of office for a U.S. senator is ________ years, while that of a member of the U.S. House is ________ years.

Select one:

Answer 13

six; two

Question 14

Where is the Bill of Rights found in the Constitution?

Answer 14

the first ten amendments

Question 15

Marbury v. Madison is a landmark Supreme Court decision

Answer 15

set the precedent for judicial review

Question 16

To the founders, the term “democracy” meant:

Answer 16

Majority Rule - a government in which the majority, either directly or through its representatives, has absolute power.

Question 17

The type of government created in the United States in 1787 can be called:

Answer 17

constitutional democratic republic

Question 18

Which choice below describes the American change in governmental structure in 1787?

Answer 18

confederal to unitary

Question 19

Which of the following individuals would agree that each state should be allowed to determine for itself the extent to which national authority restricts its actions?

Answer 19

a. John Marshall
b. John C. Calhoun Correct
c. Lyndon Johnson
d. Franklin D. Roosevelt
e. None of these answers is correct.

Question 20

What did Newt Gingrich declare about federalism in 1994?

Answer 20

that the 1960s-style federalism was dead

Question 21

Concurrent powers are powers exercised over the same policy areas. Some of the shared powers of the state and federal government are:

Answer 21

lend and borrow money
taxation
law enforcement
charter banks
transportation.

Question 22

The TANF aspect of the Welfare Reform Act

Answer 22

was a block grant that, among other aspects, restricted federal assistance to five years.

Question 23

Which decision is indicative of how the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment and state discretion in civil rights matters in the decades after the Civil War?

Answer 23

Plessy v. Ferguson

Fourteenth Amendment

(1896), “separate but equal”
the court upheld Plessy conviction for riding in the whites-only care.

Question 24

The “separate but equal” standard was created by

Answer 24

The “separate but equal” standard was created by the Supreme Court - (1896) Plessy v. Ferguson

Question 25

Starting in the 1990s, the Supreme Court has rolled back some of the power of the national government, basing its decisions primarily on interpretations of which two amendments?

Answer 25

Tenth and Eleventh

Question 26

Which of the following is a difference between communism and socialism, as described by the text?

Answer 26

Under communism, the government assumes total management of the economy.

Under socialism, the government does not try to manage the overall economy.

Question 27

According to the Declaration of Independence, governments get their “just powers” from:

Answer 27

the consent of the governed.”

Question 28

According to political scientist Louis Hartz, the United States…

Answer 28

was “born free.”

Question 29

Who described politics as a conflict over “who gets what, when, and how.”

Answer 29

Harold Lasswell

Question 30

The Bill of Rights

Answer 30

further checked the power of the majority.

Question 31

The Enormous concentrations of wealth and power exist in the U.S. private sector, primarily in the hands of:

Answer 31

large corporations

Question 32

Politics

Answer 32

The process by which a society settles its conflicts and allocates the resulting benefits and costs.

Question 33

As described in the text, “political thinking”

Answer 33

involves the careful gathering and sifting of information in the process of forming a knowledgeable view about a political issue.

Question 34

James Madison.

Answer 34

was the chief architect of the United States Constitution and also one of America’s top political scientists

Question 35

Jefferson paraphrased _______ ideas in passages of the Declaration of Independence, including those asserting that “all men are created equal.”

Answer 35

John Locke’s

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT among the checks Congress has on the executive?

Answer 36

power to declare an executive action unlawful - This power belongs to the Judiciary

Question 37

Congressional Powers

Answer 37

a. power to ratify treaties Incorrect
b. power to approve executive appointments
c. power to appropriate funding
d. power to impeach

Question 38

The direct election of U.S. senators came about due to?

Answer 38

political pressure from the Progressives

**early 1900s democratic reform pg. 53

Question 39

Shay’s rebellion was significant because ?

Answer 39

it led to a resolution calling for a constitutional convention

Question 40

Shay’s rebellion

Answer 40

A revolt in western Massachusetts. An army of 2,000 marched on county courthouses to prevent foreclosures on their land. - Daniel Shays, demand Congress honor their assurances made during the Revolution.

• Soldiers -unplowed land would not be confiscated for unpaid debts and taxes.
• back pay owed to them for their military service. (Congress had run out of money during the Revolution.) Shays’ Rebellion, pg. 32

Question 41

The Constitution prevents the government from suspending the writ of habeas corpus, meaning that the government cannot

Answer 41

jail a person without a court hearing to determine the legality of his or her imprisonment.

Question 42

Marbury v. Madison was an ingenious decision because it

Madison - did not issue a commission for Marbury

Answer 42

asserted the power of the judiciary without creating the possibility of its rejection by either the executive or the legislative branch.
pg - 47 -

(judicial review)

Question 43

Which of the following aspects of U.S. government might be used as part of an argument that the U.S. is less democratic than some other democracies?

Answer 43

The staggered terms of office of members of the legislature.

**In fact, the link between an electoral majority and a governing majority is less direct in the American system than in many democratic page 57systems.

Question 44

In his criticism of the Constitution, the economist Charles Beard argued that:

Answer 44

Charles Beard argued that:

the Constitution’s elaborate systems of power and representation were designed to protect the interests of the rich.

Question 45

In 1787, most countries in the world had a(n) __________ form of government.

Answer 45

unitary

Question 46

The doctrine of nullification is most closely associated with

Answer 46

John C. Calhoun

Question 47

Alaska is a state that only receives ________ percent of its general revenue from the federal government.

Answer 47

20 %

Question 48

government

Answer 48

The only counterforce that was potentially strong enough to control the business trusts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was::

Question 49

In America today, public education is primarily the responsibility of

Answer 49

state and local governments

Question 50

While the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to protect the newly freed slaves from discriminatory action by state governments, it was also used to

Answer 50

protect businesses from state regulation.

Question 51

commerce clause

Answer 51

says that Congress shall have the power “to regulate commerce” among the states.

However, the clause does not spell out the economic activities included in the grant of power.

Question 52

The expansion of the power of the federal government and its ability to spur the national economy occurred under

Answer 52

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Question 53

Dred Scott - Supreme Court decision (1857), written by Chief Justice Roger Taney

Answer 53

ruled that Congress could not outlaw slavery anywhere in the United States.