Verified Test Bank Ch.4 Federalism And The U.S. Constitution - Test Bank | Keeping the Republic 9e by Barbour by Christine Barbour. DOCX document preview.
Test Bank
Chapter 4: Federalism and the U.S. Constitution
Multiple Choice
1. The principle that each branch of government guards against the abuse of power by the others is called ______.
a. separation of powers
b. fusion of powers
c. federalism
d. checks and balances
e. judicial review
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
2. In the United States, ______.
a. the legislative and executive branches have gradually come to share all institutional powers
b. legislative powers include the ability to initiate and implement laws in a completely autonomous fashion
c. the Constitution gives the president the explicit ability to declare a state of emergency
d. legislative, executive, and judicial powers are handled by separate institutions
e. the judiciary takes precedence over the legislative and executive branches by design
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
3. The major difference between a republic and a democracy is that ______.
a. popular sovereignty is important only in a democracy
b. majority tyranny is more of a danger in a republic
c. republics are less stable than democracies
d. in a republic, elected individuals, rather than citizens themselves, have the direct power to make most governmental decisions
e. democracies require a unicameral legislature
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
4. All of the following comparisons between the House and the Senate are true EXCEPT ______.
a. only House members have always been chosen by the public
b. senators have longer terms than members of the House
c. senators must be citizens for longer before being elected than members of the House
d. senate terms are staggered, whereas all House members are elected at the same time
e. the House of Representatives was modeled after the British House of Lords, whereas the Senate was modeled after the House of Commons
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
5. The founders hoped that the Senate would be ______ the House of Representatives.
a. more responsive to the public than
b. more stable than
c. more accessible to the people than
d. less aristocratic than
e. similar in every way to
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
6. An advantage of the unicameral legislature over the bicameral legislature is that ______.
a. many more interests can be represented in it
b. it is much more responsive to public opinion
c. it can represent different levels of a federal government
d. it divides the power of government more than a bicameral legislature
e. it creates a slower, more deliberative legislative process
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
7. The founders intended the people to have influence over public policy through the ______.
a. House of Representatives
b. House of Representatives and the Senate
c. House of Representatives, the Senate, and the president
d. president
e. Senate
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
8. The fewer chambers a legislature has, the ______.
a. harder it is to achieve consensus on public policy
b. less democratic it is
c. more representative it is of the people as a whole
d. more weight it gives to elite opinion
e. slower it is to react to crises
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
9. The powers of the president include all of the following EXCEPT ______.
a. the president is commander in chief of the armed forces
b. the president appoints, with confirmation by the Senate, members of the judiciary
c. the president negotiates treaties
d. the president can call Congress into session under extraordinary circumstances
e. the president can declare war
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
10. The founders created the ______ as an intermediate body to elect the president.
a. House of Representatives
b. Senate
c. Electoral College
d. Council of Governors
e. Federal Election Commission
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
11. All of the following comparisons between the president and senators are true EXCEPT ______.
a. senators have always been chosen by direct election
b. the minimum age to be president is older than the minimum age to be a senator
c. presidents cannot be naturalized citizens
d. presidents have shorter terms than senators
e. presidents can be impeached
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
12. The founders were concerned the Supreme Court would become ______.
a. dominated by political concerns
b. too weak to protect itself from state courts
c. dependent on the president
d. too busy to carry out all of its duties
e. isolated from public opinion
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Judicial Branch
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
13. All of the following comparisons between the American presidential and parliamentary systems are true EXCEPT ______.
a. parliament chooses the head of the executive branch, whereas Congress normally does not
b. a prime minister can call new elections, whereas the president cannot
c. a prime minister is usually the leader of the majority party or party with the most seats in Parliament, whereas the president may be a member of the minority party
d. the prime minister is a member of Parliament, whereas the president cannot be a member of Congress
e. the prime minister is not chosen directly by the people, whereas the president is chosen by the people via a “one person, one vote” system
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Executive Branch
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
14. Since many of the costs of the federal No Child Left Behind Act were shifted onto the states, Barbour and Wright would assert that this law was a(n) ______.
a. example of general revenue sharing
b. categorical grant
c. block grant
d. unfunded mandate
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Federalism Today
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
15. The portion of the Constitution that is used to justify Congress having many powers that are not explicitly mentioned in the document is called the ______.
a. Ninth Amendment
b. commerce clause
c. Tenth Amendment
d. necessary and proper clause
e. Fourteenth Amendment
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Does the Constitution Say?
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
16. Article III of the Constitution ______.
a. defines a ten-year term for federal judges
b. forbids Congress from adjusting the structure and organization of federal courts
c. creates the Supreme Court and all other federal courts
d. creates the Supreme Court but allows Congress to establish lower courts
e. spells out, in detail, the structure and organization of the federal judiciary
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Judicial Branch
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
17. In a parliamentary system, the ______ is the dominant branch of government.
a. legislature
b. executive
c. judiciary
d. bureaucracy
e. military
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Executive Branch
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
18. Legislative supremacy ______.
a. is an alternative system to judicial review
b. grew more important after the Civil War
c. was never seriously considered by the founders
d. is provided for in Article I of the Constitution
e. is practiced by most democratic countries
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Judicial Branch
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
19. The constitutional safeguard that places legislative, executive, and judicial powers in different hands is called ______.
a. separation of powers
b. checks and balances
c. fusion of powers
d. federalism
e. bicameralism
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
20. Aspects of the system of checks and balances include all of the following EXCEPT ______.
a. presidents can veto legislation
b. presidents can force Congress to adjourn
c. Congress can impeach the president
d. the Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress or of the president to be unconstitutional
e. Congress can impeach members of the judiciary
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
21. In Federalist No. 51, James Madison predicted that no single branch of government would become too powerful and oppress citizens because ______.
a. a foreign country would be welcomed to intervene and restore American democracy
b. the ethics of American political leaders would prevent power grabs
c. the people would revolt and establish a monarchy
d. the other two branches would curb the possibly oppressive advances of each branch
e. citizens would turn to a populist counter-elite to defend their rights
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Clues to Critical Thinking
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
22. The congressional abilities specifically listed in Article I, Section 8, are called the ______.
a. concurrent powers
b. elastic powers
c. enumerated powers
d. supreme powers
e. necessary and proper powers
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
23. The Supreme Court has interpreted the ______ clause of the Constitution so broadly that there are very few restrictions on what Congress can do.
a. necessary and proper
b. national supremacy
c. full faith and credit
d. commerce
e. establishment
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
24. The necessary and proper clause ______.
a. states that it is necessary and proper for Congress to have sufficient reasons to impeach the president
b. states that the authorities must have a necessary and proper reason for search and seizure of private property
c. is used by Congress to justify the exercise of powers not mentioned in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution
d. states that it is necessary and proper for the president to have sufficient reasons to begin a war
e. is used by the Supreme Court as justification for the power of judicial review
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
25. Federalism in the United States ______.
a. is a system badly in need of repair
b. was a compromise for how power should be distributed between the national and state governments
c. provides for strong state and local power compared to federal power
d. has outlived its usefulness as a framework for American politics
e. grants the federal government a dominant position over the states in all areas except education
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
26. Although the states have the authority to set the minimum drinking age, the United States has a national legal alcohol consumption age of twenty-one because ______.
a. state compacts have led to a uniform drinking age
b. the federal government threatened to withhold highway funds from any state that didn’t have a drinking age of twenty-one
c. all states are now sensitive to the consequences of underage drinking
d. prohibition groups have lobbied successfully for a higher drinking age in all states
e. the international standard for the legal drinking age is twenty-one
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
27. If a country creates a ______ system, the local units retain almost all of their sovereignty.
a. unitary
b. confederal
c. federal
d. quasi-federal
e. parliamentary
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Confederal Systems
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
28. The theory that defines the state and national governments as essentially separate from each other and carrying out independent functions is ______.
a. cooperative federalism
b. dual federalism
c. separation-of-powers federalism
d. federalism
e. independent federalism
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
29. Cooperative federalism is a theory that ______.
a. was an accurate depiction of American federalism during the eighteenth century
b. defines state and national powers as interdependent, requiring the cooperation of each other to get things done
c. defines state and federal governments as essentially separate from each other and carrying out their functions independently
d. reflects the formal distribution of powers by the Constitution
e. is modeled after a layer cake
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
30. In which case did the Supreme Court expand federal power over interstate commerce by ruling that New York did not have the ability to create a steamship monopoly on the Hudson River?
a. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
b. Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1851)
c. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
d. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
e. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: John Marshall: Strengthening the Constitutional Powers of the National Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
31. Which of the following is NOT a consequence of federalism?
a. It creates greater flexibility at local levels of government.
b. It leads to increased access to government for citizens.
c. It creates a tendency for states to engage in “smokestack chasing.”
d. It creates a tendency for states to cut social benefits to better compete with each other.
e. It creates a more uniform environment for business activity across the country.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
32. Although the Constitution provides for both national and state powers, ______.
a. state powers decreased so dramatically by the 1990s that states were little more than federal administrative units
b. the state governments have ignored that division of powers at their whim
c. the precise wording of the Constitution has made division of powers between the two levels practically impossible
d. states dominated American politics throughout the twentieth century
e. the balance between state and national powers has shifted considerably since 1787
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
33. Two trends evident in the development of American federalism throughout history are the ______.
a. expansion of American government in general and the gradual strengthening of the federal government
b. simultaneous growth of the nullification movement and federal desire for financial resources
c. increases in state power and fiscal resources at the expense of the federal government
d. development of the property tax and the need for states to provide resources to the national government
e. legalization of the income tax and devolution
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
34. The rulings of the Supreme Court under John Marshall contributed to enhancement of ______.
a. the power of the federal government
b. the role of states in the American political system
c. the reach of the doctrine of nullification
d. the participation of women in American politics
e. the power of the presidency
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
35. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court held that ______.
a. it could declare acts of Congress to be unconstitutional
b. state-chartered banks were immune from federal regulation
c. the federal government had the implied power to create a national bank
d. states had the ability to restrict interstate commerce within their jurisdictions
e. Congress was not allowed to outlaw slavery in U.S. territories
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
36. McCulloch v. Maryland increased the power of the federal government by ______.
a. interpreting the commerce clause of the Constitution very broadly
b. interpreting the necessary and proper clause of the Constitution very broadly
c. outlawing slavery in the territories
d. interpreting the federal police power very broadly
e. establishing that the states did not have the power to secede from the union
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
37. Gibbons v. Ogden increased the power of the national government by interpreting very broadly the ______.
a. federal police power
b. congressional power to declare war
c. commerce clause of the Constitution
d. necessary and proper clause of the Constitution
e. none of the these
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
38. The New Deal increased the scope of both national and state powers by ______.
a. restricting the involvement of the government in business and the economy
b. redefining the purpose of American government to include solving nationwide economic and social problems
c. giving the states more control over how federal powers are carried out
d. increasing the importance of balancing the federal budget
e. increasing the power of Congress at the expense of the president
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
39. The New Deal increased the power of the federal government in regard to ______.
a. business and the economy
b. the war-making power
c. education
d. civil rights
e. civil liberties
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
40. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to ______.
a. allow women to have the right to vote
b. strike down Prohibition
c. strike down racial segregation in the states
d. limit the power of the federal government in relation to the states
e. require the states to permit eighteen-year-olds to vote
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
41. One reason for the growth of the national government’s power and influence has been ______.
a. the trend among democratic countries to become more unitary
b. heightened expectations and demands placed on the federal government
c. an increase in popular apathy
d. the failure of the states to provide adequate opportunities for interest group participation
e. the gradual expansion of the national share of the property tax
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
42. The trend of Supreme Court’s rulings in favor of devolution ended ______.
a. when the membership of the court became more liberal
b. following the attacks of September 11, 2001
c. when the membership of the Supreme Court became more conservative
d. when Barack Obama became president
e. when George W. Bush became president
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
43. Nullification is the discredited idea that ______.
a. criminal suspects can be detained without due cause
b. national law is supreme over state law
c. states can void federal laws within their borders
d. legislatures cannot pass laws that make certain behaviors illegal after the fact
e. the Supreme Court can block the passage of state laws
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Civil War: National Domination of the States
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
44. The federal government has been able to use categorical grants to coerce states into doing what it wants most of the time because ______.
a. citizens want the federal government to force recalcitrant states to accept the grants
b. the Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot turn down this money
c. states are not required to spend their own funds to complete the project if they reject the categorical grant
d. states fear that if they don’t accept all categorical grants they will not be offered any more
e. states have become financially dependent on this aid
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
45. Federal funds provided to states for a broad purpose and unrestricted by detailed requirements are called ______.
a. categorical grants
b. limited grants
c. self-improvement grants
d. block grants
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
46. Federal orders that require states to operate and pay for programs created at the national level are called ______.
a. block grants
b. unfunded mandates
c. categorical grants
d. delegated orders
e. hortatory appeals
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
47. Congress has been reluctant to use block grants to achieve policy goals because ______.
a. they allow states to pursue their own goals rather than the federal government’s goals
b. they are too expensive
c. they are too time consuming to write
d. state politicians dislike them as much as unfunded mandates
e. states rarely accept them due to the restrictions written into such grants
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
48. What is the key difference between categorical grants and block grants?
a. Categorical grants lack any true congressional oversight, and block grants require a lot of congressional oversight.
b. Categorical grants are reflective of the dual-federalism era, and block grants reflect the operative federalism era.
c. Block grants provide states with more leverage and power over how to spend grants-in-aid than do categorical grants.
d. State discretion is minimal for block grants and extensive for categorical grants.
e. Block grants can be spent on any policy issue, no matter what Congress allocated the money for.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
49. Political scientists today see federalism as ______.
a. a partnership between the national and state governments in which the state governments are the dominant partners
b. a bitter rivalry in which each level of government struggles to gain supremacy
c. a partnership between the national and state governments in which the federal government is the dominant partner
d. consisting of two totally separate levels of power that have little to do with each other
e. having evolved to the point at which the state governments really do not matter
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
50. The text concludes that the current status of federalism ______.
a. is dominated by conservative efforts toward devolution
b. is characterized by a contradictory mix of rhetoric about moving power back to the states and new national initiatives
c. is characterized by rhetoric about new national initiatives while more power is being devolved to the states
d. involves a consensus that the national government has grown too strong
e. involves a consensus that the national government must become stronger in the face of so many challenges to the nation’s welfare
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
51. The amendment process for the Constitution ______.
a. has changed over the years to make the process more difficult
b. was designed to allow growth and change but not to be too easy
c. does not permit amendments to be made that would restrict fundamental liberties
d. was supposed to be quick and simple
e. has been used too often for many Democrats’ taste
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
52. The Constitution has been amended through the formal amendment process and through ______.
a. state nullification
b. presidential interpretation
c. judicial review
d. passage of laws by Congress
e. the passage of initiatives
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
53. The most important effect of changing the rules by which political decisions are made is that such changes ______.
a. can affect who is advantaged and who is disadvantaged
b. confuse the public
c. make decisions inconsistent with each other
d. always help the wealthy
e. always reduce justice in the system
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Federalism and the U.S. Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
54. Liberals differ from conservatives in that the former are more likely to ______.
a. prefer to change the Constitution through formal amendment
b. be suspicious of change
c. believe in strict construction of the Constitution
d. be hostile to altering the Constitution through judicial interpretation
e. see the Constitution as a living document that can be continually altered by judicial interpretation
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
55. The initiative, referendum, and recall are methods used ______.
a. by Congress to replace executive officials
b. by the president to launch new policy initiatives
c. in some state governments to allow citizens to participate more directly in government
d. by the Supreme Court to respond to writs of certiorari
e. by the states to resist encroachment on their powers by the national government
Learning Objective: 4.5: Discuss whether the Constitution fosters or limits citizen participation in government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
56. Devolution is ______.
a. the idea that governmental responsibilities should be shifted to the private sector
b. the transfer of power from the central to the regional governments
c. an increase in authority at the federal level at the expense of the states
d. a decrease in taxation as the government becomes more efficient
e. the transfer of power from regional governments to a central government
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Federalism Today
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
57. Categorical grants ______.
a. provide federal money to states with many strings attached
b. give federal funds to states, but the states make the decisions about how to spend them
c. attempt to persuade states to adopt certain federal policies without resorting to using money
d. force states to implement certain federal policies without federal underwriting
e. enable state governments to fund local public works projects quickly and efficiently
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism Today
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
58. In an initiative election, voters ______.
a. can decide to end a governor’s term in office early
b. are asked to approve or disapprove of a legislature’s efforts
c. can bypass the legislature in creating laws
d. must pay a poll tax to participate
e. can overturn a law within ninety days of its enactment
Learning Objective: 4.5: Discuss whether the Constitution fosters or limits citizen participation in government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
59. An example of a referendum would be when state voters are asked whether they want to ______.
a. remove a state legislator from office before the end of her term
b. approve a sales tax increase the legislature has passed
c. support a proposed law written by their fellow citizens
d. pardon a politician who has been convicted of malfeasance in office
e. ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Learning Objective: 4.5: Discuss whether the Constitution fosters or limits citizen participation in government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
60. In 1921, when Lynn Frazier was removed by voters from the North Dakota governor’s office before his term had expired, he was the first governor to fall victim to a successful ______.
a. recall election
b. impeachment
c. initiative election
d. referendum
e. judicial review
Learning Objective: 4.5: Discuss whether the Constitution fosters or limits citizen participation in government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
True/False
1. Under the original design of the Constitution, senators were chosen by state legislatures rather than directly by voters.
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: What Does the Constitution Say?
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
2. Each state in the Union has two representatives in the House of Representatives.
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
3. As countries become more democratic, the number of legislative chambers within their governments tends to increase.
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
4. The President of the United States has the power to declare a law unconstitutional.
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
5. In a parliamentary system, the legislature selects and removes the executive.
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Easy
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
6. In Federalist No. 78, Hamilton argued that the judiciary would be the least threatening branch of government.
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
7. Congress is the primary law-making arm of the federal government.
Learning Objective: 4.1: Describe the role of each branch of government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
8. The Constitution’s vague wording regarding state and federal power helped it get ratified.
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
9. Generally speaking, throughout U.S. history the size and power of the federal government has trended downward.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
10. Chief Justice John Marshall’s early decisions contributed to the increased power of state governments at the expense of the federal government.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
Short Answer
1. As the founders debated the creation of an executive branch what were their three primary concerns?
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
2. According to James Madison, what are the two advantages of a republic?
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
3. Although the Constitution does not explicitly say so, what is required for America’s system of checks and balances to work?
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
4. In what way is the payment of taxes an example of the effects of federalism?
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
5. How is power distributed in a unitary system?
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
6. How is power distributed in a confederal system?
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
7. In what way does a federal system allow for flexibility at the local level?
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
8. What are the two means through which the Constitution can be amended?
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
9. What are the two means through which a constitutional amendment can be proposed?
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
10. What are the potential problems associated with a constitution that can be amended too easily?
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
Essay
1. According to the text, twenty-three states now have medical marijuana use laws. The text also mentioned different points of view that pertained to whether or not it was legal to use marijuana for medical purposes in the United States. Is it illegal or not? Explain your answer.
Learning Objective: 4.5: Discuss whether the Constitution fosters or limits citizen participation in government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
2. Compare and contrast unicameral and bicameral legislatures. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a unicameral legislature? Why did the founders choose a bicameral legislature?
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
3. Explain how the concept of federalism has changed since the days of Marbury v. Madison.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government | Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
4. Discuss the logic behind the separation of powers as given by Montesquieu. According to James Madison, why would having different branches of government hold power protect against tyranny?
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
5. Compare and contrast presidential and parliamentary systems.
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
6. Compare and contrast the models of dual and cooperative federalism.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
7. Detail the specific Supreme Court decisions made under Chief Justice John Marshall that strengthened the powers of the national government, and explain how they did so.
Learning Objective: 4.3: Identify the rules and interests that keep relations tense between state and national governments.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government; Federalism
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
8. Discuss the different ways the Constitution has changed over the years. How difficult is it to amend the Constitution? Explain why it should or should not be easier to amend the Constitution.
Learning Objective: 4.4: Demonstrate how the flexibility built into the Constitution has allowed it to change with the times.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Amending the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Medium
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
9. Discuss the means through which the initiative, referendum, and the recall election enable citizens to actively participate in politics at the local and state level.
Learning Objective: 4.5: Discuss whether the Constitution fosters or limits citizen participation in government.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Citizens and the Constitution
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
10. What concerns were raised during the Constitutional Convention related to the executive branch, and how did the founders ultimately resolve those concerns?
Learning Objective: 4.2: Explain why the founders chose to structure each of the three branches of government as they did.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: The Three Branches of Government
Difficulty Level: Hard
TOP: SAGE Learning Outcomes for American Government: Explain the main institutions of American government, including their roles and interrelationships.
Document Information
Connected Book
Test Bank | Keeping the Republic 9e by Barbour
By Christine Barbour