For Each of the Following, Please Complete the Following Tasks with a Partner(S)

Unit IV: Constitutional Underpinnings
Free Response Options

For each of the following, please complete the following tasks with a partner(s):

• Count the points possible for questions 2-6 … know exactly what you are being asked to do.
• Outline how you will respond to eachprompt.
• Brainstorm a list of vocabulary that you could use to write quality responses.
• List examples to strengthen your response.
• Turn in your completed responses to eBackpack: Unit IV FRQ Outlines.

1. The United States Constitution has endured for more than two centuries as the framework of government. However, the meaning of the Constitution has been changed both by formal and informal methods.

a. Identify two formal methods for adding amendments to the Constitution.

b. Describe two informal methods that have been used to change the meaning of the Constitution. Provide one specific example for each informal method you described.

c.Explain why informal methods are used more often than the formal amendment process.

*NOTE: You don’t need to outline this FRQ, but review the student sample using the Survival Guide on the class website.

2. As you learned in your textbook, there are different forms of federalism. Societies choose their preferred form of federalism just as someone might choose their preferred type of cake.

a.) Define federalism in general.

b.) Explain the difference between cooperative and dual federalism through the use of the “cake” analogy.

c.) For each form of federalism, identify ONE advantage and ONE disadvantage.

3. As you learned in your textbook, federalism has a fiscal (financial) component that heavily influences the relationship between national and state governments.

a.) Define fiscal federalism.

b.) Explain how fiscal federalism shapes the relationship between the national and state governments through the use of:

• Block Grants
• Categorical grants
• Unfunded mandates

4. In the late 18th century the Founding Fathers established a new constitutional republic built around a powerful national government. The key feature of this new government was not its power, however; it was an intricate system of checks and balances designed to set various departments in conflict with one another, limiting the power of the government as a whole.

a.) Explain any ONE philosophical influence that shaped the Founders’ designs for the new government.

b.) Explain any ONE historical influence that shaped the Founders’ designs for the new government.

c.) Identify any THREE examples of “checks and balances” found in the U.S. Constitution AND explain how each effectively limits the power of a national policymaking institution.

5. Since America’s founding, federalism has been one of the most celebrated characteristics of our political system. But in the last century federalism experienced a dramatic evolution, and the relationship between the states and the national government has been forever changed.

a.) Define fiscal federalism.

b.) Identify AND explain any ONE trend shown in the chart above.

c.) Discuss one positive political consequence AND discuss one negative political consequence of the trend identified in (b).

6. The American political system, although relatively peaceful and stable in the eyes of the world, succeeds because of (not in spite of) conflict. With the careful design of James Madison, our Constitution established a federal system which guaranteed conflict as a means of limiting the powers of the central government and protecting state sovereignty.

a.) Define federalism

b.) Describe ONE way in which the U.S. Constitution establishes conflict between the states and the national government.

c.) Discuss how each of the THREE items below helped the national government to establish the upper hand in the ongoing power struggle of federalism.

McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819

Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824

(Any other example)

*NOTE: Check your teacher’s website for additional

background reading on these court cases