CONSTITUTIONAL UNDERPINNINGS
1) The primary intent of the Tenth Amendment is that
A) national laws override state laws when there is a conflict between the two.
B) states have certain powers that are reserved for them.
C) state legislatures have the ultimate authority to determine what a state government's powers are.
D) both the states and national government are bound by the limitations in the Bill of Rights.
E) the national government can take control of a state government during a national emergency.
2) Pluralist theory contends that in the United States
A) the many members of Congress dominate a singular official such as the president.
B) many groups vie for power with no one set of groups dominating.
C) society is governed solely by an upper-class elite.
D) most citizens fail to pay attention to serious issues.
E) too many influential groups cripple government's ability to govern.
3) In United States v. Lopez, the Supreme Court ruled that
A) the Gun Free School Zones Act was constitutional.
B) the Gun Free School Zones Act violated the national supremacy clause.
C) the Gun Free School Zones Act could not be enforced against illegal immigrants.
D) the Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress's authority to regulate commerce among the states.
E) illegal immigrants can be denied access to basic social services.
4) The Connecticut Compromise at the Constitutional Convention
A) established an indirectly-elected president.
B) resolved the impasse over the issue of representation in Congress.
C) settled the dispute over whether slavery should be allowed in the final constitution.
D) added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
E) involved the federal judiciary
5) Informal changes to the Constitution have come about as a result of all of the following EXCEPT
A) tradition.
B) constitutional amendments.
C) congressional legislation.
D) judicial interpretation.
E) custom
6) The federal system
A) decreases judicial power.
B) decentralizes our politics.
C) centralizes our politics.
D) decreases opportunities for political participation.
E) decreases the number of government officeholders.
7) The Madisonian requirement that each branch of government acquire the consent of the others for many of its actions created a system of
A) confederated government.
B) unitary government.
C) cross-cutting requirements.
D) checks and balances.
E) constitutional republic.
8) Which of the following was NOT a problem with the national government under the Articles of Confederation?
A) the inability of the central national government to regulate the national economy
B) the lack of a standing army
C) the unwillingness of the states to provide money for the central government
D) the lack of power given to state legislatures
E) the lack of an executive to lead the nation
9) All of these are advantages of federalism EXCEPT:
A) it reduces the amount of experimentation on public policy
B) it allows customization of policies for local needs.
C) it increases access to government.
D) it allows more opportunities for political participation.
E) it allows for a greater diversity of opinion to be reflected in public policies.
10) The new Republican majority in Congress in the 1990s preferred block grants to categorical grants because it:
A) intended to raise more money from state governments to reduce the federal budget deficit.
B) wanted to increase federal aid to state governments.
C) wanted federal money to be spent at the neighborhood level rather than the state level.
D) wanted the federal government to exercise less authority over the states.
E) wanted to decrease federal aid to state governments.
11) The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution
A) in 1865 after the union victory in the Civil War.
B) during the Constitutional Convention, at the insistence of Thomas Jefferson.
C) piece by piece during the first hundred years of its operation.
D) before the ratification process.
E) after the ratification process was complete, and partly to fulfill a promise to those who supported ratification.
12) Federalism is
A) a system of shared power by the state and national governments.
B) a three-branch government with a system of checks and balances.
C) sole government authority in the national government.
D) sole government authority in the states.
E) the same as unitary government.
13) Shays' Rebellion was
A) the most decisive battle of the Revolutionary War.
B) an uprising by small merchants demanding credit.
C) a slave uprising in Virginia.
D) an uprising by Revolutionary War veterans demanding pensions.
E) an uprising by farmers to prevent judges from foreclosing on farms.
14) Political parties are an important example of the
A) Third Amendment.
B) unwritten constitution.
C) wishes of the founders.
D) formal amendment process.
E) rigidity of the Constitution.
15) The Framers of the United States Constitution
A) established the British system of parliamentary government.
B) were interested in promoting equality above all else.
C) were opposed to the concept of limited government.
D) were distrustful of democracy.
E) established a unitary system of government.
16) The theory that sees wealth as the basis of power is the
A) pluralist theory.
B) elite theory.
C) hyperpluralist theory.
D) Jeffersonian theory.
E) democratic theory.
17) The principle of the supremacy of federal law over state law was affirmed in
A) the Tenth Amendment.
B) McCulloch v. Maryland.
C) United States v. Lopez.
D) Marbury v. Madison.
E) the presidential election of 1800.
18) Under the Articles of Confederation, most governmental power rested in
A) the national government.
B) the president.
C) the judiciary.
D) the state governments.
E) the town councils
19) Cooperative federalism includes each of the following EXCEPT
A) categorical grants.
B) federal guidelines.
C) block grants.
D) shared administration.
E) federal funding with no strings attached.
20) Proposal of a formal amendment to the Constitution requires:
A) state conventions.
B) a simple majority vote in Congress.
C) the president's approval.
D) a two-thirds vote in Congress.
E) a majority vote of the Supreme Court.
21) Federal policies to regulate food and drugs are examples of:
A) constitutionally specified powers
B) reserved powers
C) categorical grants
D) expressed powers
E) implied powers
22) Anti-Federalists argued that the Constitution would
A) give too much power to the states.
B) provide for elite control, endanger liberty, and weaken the states.
C) produce excessive democracy.
D) promote pluralism, which would threaten liberty.
E) strengthen the power of state governors
23) The Framers adopted a federal system for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
A) The population was too dispersed for a unitary system to work.
B) Transportation and communication systems were too primitive for a unitary government to work.
C) Americans' loyalty to state governments was stronger than it was to the United States.
D) The confederation had clearly failed in managing the country's problems.
E) Americans had weak allegiance to their states.
24) The United States has increasingly relied on the national government to solve problems primarily because:
A) a problem or policy often requires the authority and resources of the national government.
B) of incompetence of state governments.
C) the Tenth Amendment gave increased power to the national government.
D) of persistent corruption in state and local government.
E) its unitary system of government.
25) The Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803) asserted the power of the Court to
A) determine its own size and makeup.
B) nullify constitutional amendments.
C) check the actions of the other branches through judicial review.
D) impeach the president.
E) confirm presidential appointments.
26) Federal mandates impose burdens upon:
A) foreign governments.
B) federal taxpayers.
C) the President.
D) Congress.
E) state and local governments.
27) A birth certificate issued in one state is valid in all states under the constitutional provision of
A) national licensure.
B) separation of powers.
C) national supremacy.
D) privileges and immunities.
E) full faith and credit.
28) On the issue of slavery, the Constitution specified
A) the Mason-Dixon line to establish free and slave states.
B) that slavery was guaranteed in all states.
C) that three-fifths of the slaves would count for population in determining the number of House seats to which each state would be entitled.
D) that slavery would be banned beginning in 1800.
E) that a gradual end to slavery must be worked out by Congress and the states within ten years.
29) The government designed at the Constitutional Convention allowed the voters to directly elect
A) the president and all members of Congress.
B) only the Senate.
C) only the president.
D) only the House of Representatives.
E) both the House and Senate.
30) A consequence of separation of powers and checks and balances has been
A) the inability of groups to get their grievances heard.
B) fragmented policymaking processes.
C) an "imperial presidency."
D) the tyranny of the majority.
E) streamlined, but hasty, government decision making.