US Gov Unit 1 (Chapter 1 and 2)

How does the Preamble to the Constitution begin?

"We the People…"

What was the most common initial reason for settlement in North America by the first colonists?

commerce

In a direct democracy, decisions are made collectively by citizens using __________.

majority rule

The ancient Greeks considered representative government to be __________.

undemocratic

Indirect democracy uses which of the following?

representation

What are republics?

representative democracies

In an oligarchy, rule is by which of the following?

a few people in their self-interest

Which function of government stated in the Preamble is consistent with the notion of having government-provided police protection?

ensuring domestic tranquility

Which of the following expanded Americans’ conceptions of personal liberty?

the Fourteenth Amendment

The idea that governments draw legitimacy and power from the governed is referred to as which of the following?

popular consent

Which of the following is the doctrine that society should be governed by certain ethical principles that are part of nature and can be understood by reason?

natural law

The Framers agreed that the new nation had to be founded on notions of which of
the following?

religious freedom

How many citizens did the Constitution initially mandate that each member of the House of Representatives should represent?

30,000

In general, which of the following is true about the U.S. population?

It is getting older

What percentage of Americans are immigrants?

15 percent

Which accurately compares Southerners to Northerners?

Southerners are more likely to favor downsizing the federal government.

Approximately what percentage of children live in a household with both parents?

70 percent

Based on the average age of the state’s population, which issue would you expect to be least important to voters in Florida, which has the oldest state population in the U.S.?

public education

Which of the following public policies would social conservatives be most likely to support?

restricting abortions

Members of which of the following groups are most likely to be social conservatives?

evangelical Protestants

Which of the following is a true statement about liberals?

They generally favor government intervention to promote equality.

Which of the following is a true statement about moderates?

They believe that a centrist approach to politics is best.

Over time, Americans’ expectations of government have generally __________.

increased

Americans’ confidence in government institutions in the United States has __________.

generally decreased

Americans generally have the lowest levels of confidence in which of the following institutions?

Congress

Which of the following was expected of the federal government 200 years ago?

providing national defense

Which of the following did NOT lead to American settlement in the seventeenth century?

Belief in intelligent design

A social contract theory of government was proposed by

Locke and Hobbes

Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government sets out a theory of

natural rights

Who was the major author of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

According to the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, which of the following is NOT an example of a function of American government?

Ensuring the pursuit of happiness

The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is

Hispanics

The more or less consistent set of values that are reflected in the political, economic, social, and moral order of society is called

political ideology

All of the following are among the functions that political scientists attribute to ideologies EXCEPT

discrimination

Conservatives generally believe that

there should be less government intervention in economic affairs

Politics, as defined in the text, is

the study of "who gets what, when, and how."

The House and Senate in 1994 and 1996 experienced unprecedented numbers of retirements due to

the lack of a middle ground in American politics.

Hobbes argued that the only protection for the rights of the weak in a polity was a

single ruler

A direct democracy is a system in which

all members of the polity meet to discuss policy and make decisions.

Adam Smith argued that free trade produced the wealth of nations through

the invisible hand

Many citizens opt not to go to the polls because

They cannot take the time; They lack sufficient info on candidates and issues

It is important to remember that politics often involve

conflict over ideology

The idea that governments draw legitimacy and power from the governed is often referred to as

popular consent

The single most important characteristic of American democracy is

personal liberty

Attitudes toward the political system and its various parts are often called

political culture

One year after the Constitution was ratified, the population of the United States was about __________ million.

four

Most Americans in the early republic shared some characteristics including

a Protestant-Christian heritage

The Constitution mandated that each member of the House of Representatives should represent __________ citizens.

30,000

From the 1880s to 1910s, many of the immigrants who came to the United States were from

Northern and Eastern Europe

Originally demographers did not anticipate _________ would surpass African- Americans as the largest minority until 2050.

Hispanics

In 1997, 54 percent of Americans said that the ideal family size was __________ children.

0-2

In the 1840s, there were a number of people opposed to the immigration of Roman Catholics to the U.S. Many of these people got together and formed the

Know Nothing Party

The single biggest reason Americans gave for not voting in a 1996 Census Bureau Report was that

they didn’t have enough time to vote.

Our system of government often changes in response to

crises.

At the Constitutional Convention, the delegates agreed that slaves would be counted as __________ of a person for determining population for representation in the House of Representatives.

three-fifths

__________ is an economic theory designed to increase a nation’s wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade.

Mercantilism

In what year was the Declaration of Independence signed?

1776

How many constitutions has the United States had in its history?

two

The U.S. Constitution was adopted in response to the weaknesses of which document?

the Articles of Confederation

The colonists rebelled against the imposition by the British government of which of
the following?

taxes

Who was the author of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

Which of the following debated and drafted the Declaration of Independence?

the Second Continental Congress

Which clause provides that the Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land?

supremacy

Which of the following people generally favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution?

Federalists

How many amendments comprise the Bill of Rights?

ten

In what year was the U.S. Constitution ratified?

1788

Which of the following imposed a tax on paper items such as cards and books?

Stamp Act

How many of the thirteen colonies voted for independence?

twelve

In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

1791

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution contains __________ powers.

Congress’s enumerated

During the Constitutional Convention, which states generally opposed an unelected federal judiciary?

small states

The Constitution required consent from __________ for ratification.

nine states

Many of the Founders believed that government legitimacy is derived from __________, which holds that governments exist based on the consent of the governed.

social contract

What type of legislature did the United States have under the Articles of Confederation?

unicameral

Which of the following specifies the procedure for amending the Constitution?

Article V

The First Continental Congress was called partially in response to which of the following?

the Coercive Acts

The executive branch is in charge of which of the following?

enforcing court order

What was the subject of the Great Compromise?

the form of the legislative branch

What does the Ninth Amendment say?

The Constitution’s enumerated rights are not inclusive.

The publication of which of the following galvanized the colonists’ belief that reconciliation with Great Britain was impossible?

Common Sense

Which of the following was a problem under the Articles of Confederation?

Citizens lacked a national identity

What did supporters of the New Jersey Plan want to do to the Articles of Confederation?

strengthen them

Prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, how were senators selected?

By state legislatures

Which of the following is a reason for the separation of powers?

to prevent tyranny in one branch

Which of the following was part of both the Articles of Confederation and the
Constitution?

a congress

Which of the following can be found in Article I?

necessary and proper clause

Which of the following can be used to help determine the intent of the Framers?

the Federalist Papers

Which of the following is a method of ratifying constitutional amendments?

c. by three-fourths of the state legislatures

To facilitate communication and the flow of information among independence-minded colonists, colonial leaders formed the

The Committees of Correspondence

Great Britain used the principle of mercantilism to justify

strict import/export controls on the colonies.

Eighteen to 21-year-olds received the right to vote with ratification of the

Twenty-Sixth Amendment.

In 1765, the American colonists initiated a major protest against the

Stamp Act

Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were among the leaders of the

Sons of Liberty

The "shot heard round the world" was fired at

Concord, Massachusetts.

Which of the following BEST describes the relationships among states under the Articles of Confederation?

A loose league of friendship

The 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled farmers marched on Springfield, Massachusetts, to prevent foreclosure on their farms was called

Shay’s Rebellion

The original purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to

revise the Articles of Confederation.

A committee was appointed at the Constitutional Convention to work out the differences between the proposals of large and small states; the result was the

The Great Compromise

The Electoral College system created by the Framers was designed to give

states a key role in choosing the president.

The system of government in which power is divided between the state and national governments is called

federalism

A type of government in which the national government is weaker than the sum of its parts is called

confederation

The ________ is empowered by the Constitution to make all federal laws.

legislative branch

The Virginia Plan called for a national system with

with a strong central government and a bicameral legislature.

The smaller states presented a plan at the Constitutional Convention advocating the strengthening of the Articles of Confederation. The plan was presented by

New Jersey

The most serious disagreement in the debate between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention was the issue of

representation in Congress

The sole responsibility of investigating and charging a president or vice president with "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" falls to the

House of Representatives

The Legislative Branch is established in

Article I

Article VI is also known as the

Supremacy Clause

The series of 85 political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the new constitution are called the

Federalist Papers

The amendment process for the Constitution is set out in Article V and creates a

two-stage process of proposal and ratification.

The only Amendment passed and ratified that repealed a prior amendment was the

21st

Of the more than 10,000 amendments introduced in Congress, __________ have been sent to the states for debate and ratification.

33

The amendment process for the Constitution is set out in Article V and sets up a

two stage process of proposal and ratification

The 18th Amendment was added to the Constitution in order to enable

the enactment of Prohibition

The Madison Amendment that prohibits Congress from raising their own salaries during the term of Congress was passed many years after it was proposed. It is also known as the __________ Amendment.

27th