Pre-Test

Question 1

1. Among the benefits often said to be associated with the federal form of government are:

Answer 1

a. policy flexibility and experimentation

Question 2

d. Intergovernmental relations

Answer 2

The subject of how those subnational governments relate to and interact with the national government and with each other

Question 3

3. All of the following are elements that were included in the government established by the Articles of Confederation, except:

Answer 3

c. a strong executive

Question 4

4. Today, as a percent of total state and local expenditures, intergovernmental aid represents about

Answer 4

b. 35%

Question 5

In the allocation of powers to the national and state governments, those powers the constitutional framers reserved to the state governments are found most directly in:

Answer 5

c. the 10th Amendment to the Constitution

Question 6

6. Critics, like “Brutus” and Patrick Henry, believed that the new government created a truly _______ system.

Answer 6

National

Question 7

7. Federal grants distributed to state and local governments that make very large grants of money available in very broad areas, like community development, job training, public housing, welfare, and the like are known as:

Answer 7

c. Block grants

Question 8

8. The decision in the Hammer v. Dagenhart case illustrates a philosophy of federalism known as

Answer 8

Dual federalism

Question 9

9. The two “auxiliary precautions” that Madison argued the U.S. Constitution provided as a check on tyranny are:

Answer 9

e. Federalism and Separation of Powers

Question 10

10. In terms of representation in the new Congress, the “state-centered” delegates at the Constitutional Convention wanted:

Answer 10

a. equal state apportionment of representatives in each house

Question 11

11. When the federal government establishes a set of minimum standards in a certain area (such as food and drugs) and lets states regulate their own affairs as long as they meet that set of standards, this action is known as a:

Answer 11

c. partial preemption

Question 12

12. When the Supreme Court in 2012 declared as null and void various immigration laws that had been established by the State of Arizona, it did so relying on which specific provision of the Constitution:

Answer 12

a. the National Supremacy Clause

Question 13

13. The act passed by Congress in 2003 requiring states to adopt a .08 blood alcohol content as a measure of legal intoxication is known as a:

Answer 13

a. crossover sanction

Question 14

14. The fastest growing type of local government in the United States in the past few years has been:

Answer 14

a. special districts

Question 15

15. That form of local government in the United States experiencing the greatest reduction in numbers over the past several decades is:

Answer 15

b. School districts