test 3 Flashcards
In a federal system, the constitution divides authority between which of the following
two or more distinct levels of government
A confederation is a form of government best described as which of the following
. lower-level governments possess primary authority
In unitary government systems which of the following is true
the national government monopolizes constitutional authority
In a famous decision by Judge John E. Dillon, “Dillon’s Rule” clarified which of the following
local governments are mere creatures of the state
Dual federalism leaves the states and the national government to preside over which of the following
mutually exclusive spheres of sovereignty
______ occurs when national and state governments jointly supply services to the citizenry
shared federalism
The Constitution opened the door to nationalization by granting the federal government ultimate power to determine within certain bounds which of the following
the extent of its authority over the states
. The Seventeenth Amendment, which came about amid persistent and widespread charges of bribery, mandated which of the following
the direct and popular election of senators
Under what circumnstances could Congress destroy an established state by, for example, cutting it in half to create a new state
only with the consent of the established state
The original intent of the supremacy clause was to ensure which of the following
the national government would prevail over states when both governments were acting in a constitutionally correct manner
The commerce clause, the elastic clause, the supremacy clause, and the Tenth Amendment are all examples of which of the following
the constitutional provisions for federalism
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), John Marshall determined the supremacy clause did which of the following
. it implicitly exempted the federal government from state taxes
When the Supreme Court ruled in Gibbons v. Ogden that only Congress possessed the authority to regulate interstate commerce, it did which of the following
with McCulloch v. Maryland, it created a powerful precedent that allowed future national policy to develop free of the constraints of state government
The post–Civil War passage of the Fourteenth Amendment allowed later courts to use its due process clause to do which of the following:
strike down state laws that violated federal rights
When modern state governments have encountered the same dilemmas of collective action that prompted their eighteenth-century counterparts to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, they have solved the dilemmas by shifting responsibility from which of the following
from the state to federal authorities
The passage of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which standardized state driver’s licenses for interstate truckers, is an example of the federal government doing which of the following
solving a coordination problem among the states
Which of the following are two compelling strategic reasons for a group to prefer national policy to state policy
the national arena may be the only place in which it can hope to prevail and it is easier to lobby Congress than the fifty state legislatures
. Conflicts arising over the environment frequently pit local resource users who bear the cost of environmental regulations against which of the following
nationally organized environmental constituencies that do not
As Madison points out in Federalist No. 10, since the states and the national government combine the citizenry’s preferences into different groupings, the two levels of government do which of the following
they may adopt different, even opposite, policies to address the same problem
Federalism presents opportunities for two kinds of majorities to pursue their interests in competition with each other. These majorities are which of the following
state and national
Today’s constitutional litigation over federalism typically concerns which of the following direct efforts
efforts by the federal government to regulate the activities of state and local governments and their employees
Article IV of the Constitution requires that the national government ensure which of the following
that all states adhere to a republican form of government
The so-called “elastic clause” of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution provides that Congress can “make all Laws which shall be . . .
. . . necessary and proper for carrying into Execution” the foregoing enumerated powers
Which of the following best describes scholars who argue that the Tenth Amendment—which provides that the powers not taken by the national government belong to the states—is little more than a truism
they point to the powerful combination of the supremacy clause and the elastic clause to support their argument
American federalism is which of the following
a two-tiered system comprised of the national government and the state governments
The most accurate conception of American federalism is referred to as which of the following
shared federalism
Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty are both examples of
historic shifts towards nationalization
. Roosevelt’s New Deal was which of the following
a comprehensive set of economic regulations and relief programs intended to fight the Great Depression
The New Deal was innovative primarily because of which of the following
its size and scope
In order to justify the New Deal’s unprecedented intervention in the economy, the Roosevelt administration invoked which of the following
. the commerce clause
Which of the following is true about the ways that both the New Deal and the Great Society programs broadened the scope of federal responsibilities
they broadened the scope and were accompanied by the election of large national majorities to Congress from the president’s party
Under the Articles of Confederation each state was free to conduct its own international trade policy, which meant which of the following
foreign governments and merchants could exploit competition among the states to negotiate profitable trade agreements
Although state officials may frequently complain about the policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, which of the following is true
the presence of national standards insulates environmental protection from cutthroat competition among the states
National campaigns for legislation banning automatic weapons, regulating hazardous waste disposal, and mandating special education are all examples of which of the following
instances in which state issues have been strategically shifted to Washington, D.C., by their advocates
. In the nineteenth century the Senate had both the motive and the means to defend state prerogatives against national encroachment because of which of the following
state legislatures picked the senators and each state had equal representation in the Senate regardless of population
Which of the following is true about the 1913 ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, which mandated the popular elections of senators
it came about because of public pressure amid persistent, widespread, and well-founded charges that senators were buying seats by bribing state legislators
. Which of the following is true about the states and amending the Constitution
the states may petition Congress to convene a constitutional convention for the purposes of proposing constitutional amendments, so long as two-thirds of the states are part of the petition
The purpose of the supremacy clause in Article VI of the Constitution was to do which of the following
to avoid impasses over jurisdiction rather than cede to the national government broad, preemptive authority over the states
Which of the following is true about the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which provides, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people
it offers the most explicit endorsement of federalism to be found in the Constitution
In the case of McCulloch v. Maryland, Chief Justice John Marshall upheld the right of the national government to create a bank based on which of the following
the elastic clause in the Constitution
Which of the following is true about the recent Supreme Court case United States v. Lopez and the Court’s overturning of the Violence Against Women Act
they suggest the Supreme Court is seeking to remove the last semblance of state independence in federal-state relations
Preemption legislation” is which of the following
any federal law that asserts the national government’s prerogative to control public policy in a particular field
When the federal government makes a block grant
it gives an exact amount of money to spend on a specific program
The use by the national government of cross-cutting requirements, crossover sanctions, direct orders, and partial preemption are all examples of which of the following
unfunded mandates
When members of Congress pass a law that obligates states to provide particular services, they are doing which of the following
responding to some citizens’ demands without being held repsonsible for imposing the costs on others
The Framers designed the House of Representatives with short, two-year terms and election by broad right to vote in order to do which of the following
keep the House as close to the people as possible
One aspect of the Senate designed to insulate it from momentary shifts in public mood is which of the following:
the entire Senate stands for reelection every six years
James Madison was referring to _________________ when he wrote in Federalist No. 62 that its necessity was “indicated by the propensity of all single and numerous assemblies to yield to the impulse of sudden and violent passions, and to be seduced by factious leaders into intemperate and pernicious resolutions
the Senate
. The Constitution’s single most extensive grant of power to Congress is which of the following
the necessary and proper clause, often known as the elastic clause
. In distributing power between the House and the Senate, the final compromise regarding the authority to raise or spend money required that bills raising revenue originate in which of the following
the House, with the Senate having an unrestricted right to amend them
. In parliamentary systems, government authority rests with the legislature, which does which of the following
it chooses the chief executive
The term “gerrymander” refers to which of the following
the extensive manipulation of the shape of a legislative district to benefit a certain incumbent or party
Which of the following can best account for the incumbency advantage
. incumbents win reelection consistently because they work so hard at it
