Government Constitution

Which of the following was a power granted to the national government under the Articles of Confederation?

A) Regulate commerce
B) Establish courts
C) Collect taxes
D) Establish a national money system
E) Establish a draft

Which of the following was NOT a reason for the failure of the Articles of Confederation?

A) The national government was not able to conduct foreign affairs.
B) The nation experienced an economic revival during the 1780s.
C) The national government set the tax rate too high.
D) There was no effective national leadership.
E) The national government had no way to regulate interstate commerce.

Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government had the power to

A) raise an army.
B) regulate foreign trade.
C) raise taxes.
D) form a national bank.
E) borrow money.

Which of the following was NOT a feature of the Virginia Plan at the Constitutional Convention?

A) Life terms for judges appointed by the legislature
B) A system whereby acts of the new national legislature would override state law
C) A multi-person executive council
D) A system of checks and balances
E) A Council of Revision to review national and state laws

Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution prohibited Congress from

A) removing a sitting official from office.
B) imposing a national income tax.
C) overturning the decisions of the states.
D) undermining the power of the president.
E) ending the slave trade for 20 years.

Article VI of the Constitution outlines what important principle in American government?

A) The supremacy of the national government
B) Equality of citizenship
C) Checks and balances
D) Rights of citizenship
E) The process by which the Constitution could be amended

Which article of the Constitution deals with the executive branch?

A) Article V
B) Article III
C) Article I
D) Article II
E) Article IV

Which article of the Constitution deals with the legislative branch

A) Article III
B) Article II
C) Article IV
D) Article I
E) Article V

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the respective roles of each branch of government?

A) The legislature makes the law, the executive carries the law into force, and the courts resolve disputes over the law. D) The legislature creates the law, the states enforce the law, and the courts interpret the law.
B) The courts create the law, the legislature interprets the law, and the executive enforces the law.
C) The executive creates the law, the legislature enforces the law, and the courts punish people who break the law.
E) The states create the law, the legislature interprets the law, and the courts enforce the law.

A system of government in which political power and functions are divided among different layers of government, such as the national government and the states, is referred to as a(n) _____ system

A) unitary
B) devolved unitary
C) confederal
D) federal
E) proportional representation

The powers explicitly granted to the national government by the U.S. Constitution are usually referred to a

A) relative powers.
B) horizontal powers.
C) implied powers.
D) distributive powers.
E) expressed powers.

The Constitutional requirement that states accept and recognize the legal proceedings of other states is embodied in the

A) full faith and credit clause.
B) justice clause.
C) federal supremacy clause.
D) distributional powers clause.
E) privileges and immunities clause.

Which of the following powers is an example of a power possessed by Congress that acts as a check on the courts?

A) Nominating judges for the courts
B) Creating lower federal courts
C) Investigating presidential actions
D) Paying judges' salaries
E) Declaring laws unconstitutional

Which of the following powers in an example of a power possessed by the courts that acts as a check on the Congress?

A) Proposing constitutional amendments
B) Creating lower federal courts
C) Declaring a law unconstitutional
D) Nominating judges to the courts
E) Removing a sitting member of Congress

The Bill of Rights was ratified

A) after adoption of the Constitution.
B) more than a decade after the Constitution was ratified.
C) immediately after they were proposed.
D) at the Constitutional Convention.
E) in the early nineteenth century.

True or False?

The term "liberty" refers to the belief that individuals should be as free as possible from government interference in private actions.
True False

True or False?

According to the Declaration of Independence, individual rights are granted by governments.
True False

True or False?

One of the main debates at the Constitutional Convention was the degree to which the new government would balance the competing demands for direct and representative democracy
True False

True or False?

The founders believed the national government would play a limited role in government, centering on policy powers, commercial matters, foreign affairs and national security.
True False

True or False?

The ideal form of government for the founders was one that would be responsive to public pressure but slow to change to popular demands.
True False

A political system in which all citizens have a chance to play a role in shaping government action and are afforded basic rights and liberties.

A written list of citizens' liberties within a constitution that establishes a limited government by ensuring both the people and the government know what freedoms the government cannot violate.

A legislature comprised of a single chamber.

Rights that no government can deny.

A legislature comprised of two chambers.

Presents the fundamental principles of a government and establishes the basic structure and procedures by which the government operates to fulfill those principles.

A system of government in which a small group of elected representatives acts on behalf of the many.