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POLS 111 - Chapter 2

Terms in this set (63)

Which of the following is true about the U.S. Constitution?
The Constitution can be amended with a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of Congress and a ratification vote by three-fourths of the states.
Which of the following was a ramification of the Three-Fifths Compromise?
It allowed for a political agreement between the North and the South.
Who was Gregory Watson?
a University of Texas undergraduate who began a successful campaign in 1982 to complete the ratification process for an amendment stating that no congressional pay increase can take effect until the next Congress is elected
The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the state governments, is called ________.
federalism
During the ratification debates, the Antifederalists were those who
opposed the new Constitution because they wanted a weaker central government.
What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?
a deficit that was incurred as a result of the French and Indian War
A ________ is a system of government in which member states retain almost all of their sovereign authority and delegate limited powers to a weak central body.
confederation
The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to
prevent the new government from abusing its power.
The Federalists believed that the most apparent source of tyranny was the ________.
popular majority
The electoral college is
designed to select the president of the United States.
James Madison believed that the greatest conflict of interest in the Philadelphia convention was between ________ and ________.
northern states; southern states
________ defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.
John Adams
There are ________ amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
27
The framers attempted to reassure citizens that their views would be represented in the new government created by the Constitution by
requiring the direct election of senators, members of the House, and the president
The purpose of the Annapolis Convention was to
discuss revamping the Articles of Confederation
The expressed powers of Congress are listed in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.
Article I, Section 8
How many amendments to the Constitution have been formally proposed in Congress in U.S. history?
more than 11,000
Who were the authors of the Federalist Papers?
James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton
The writing of the Constitution demonstrates the
marriage of interests and principles.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of
withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.
The most important political value for the framers of the Constitution was ________.
individual liberty
Judicial review is the power of
the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.
The 1787 convention to draft a new Constitution was held in ________.
Philadelphia
The Stamp Act was a
tax on commerce.
The idea of a "living constitution" means that
the judiciary can shape the interpretation of the Constitution in line with contemporary problems and values.
The Three-Fifths Compromise
determined that three out of every five slaves would be counted for purposes of representation and taxation.
In order for the Constitution to be formally adopted, ________ of the ________ states in the Union had to agree to its terms.
9; 13
Which of the following statements about the income tax is most accurate?
Although the income tax is currently one of the most important sources of government revenue, it had not yet developed during British rule over the colonies in the eighteenth century.
The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia convention to fail, was resolved by the ________.
Connecticut Compromise
The delegates at the Philadelphia convention turned down the idea of including a list of citizens' rights in the Constitution because they believed that
since the federal government was already limited to its expressed powers, further protection of citizens was not needed.
The United States' first written constitution was called the ________.
Articles of Confederation
The decision to assign jurisdiction over controversies between citizens of different states to the Supreme Court was significant because it meant that
the federal judiciary, rather than the state courts, would ultimately become the primary venue for resolving disputes.
The Boston Tea Party was largely a response to the
British government's decision to grant the East India Company a monopoly on the export of tea from Britain.
What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?
representation would be equal for each state
Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable political statement for its time?
It helped unify colonial groups that were divided along economic, regional, and philosophical lines by identifying shared problems, grievances, and principles.
The Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to
regulate interstate commerce.
According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were mostly concerned with
promoting their own economic interests.
The president's power to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of ________.
checks and balances
According to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, one of the purposes of government is to
promote justice and secure the "blessings of liberty"
The most common method of passing an amendment to the Constitution is passage
in both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote, followed by a majority vote in three-fourths of the state legislature.
The power of judicial review was
asserted by the court in the case Marbury v. Madison.
Successful amendments to the Constitution
are most commonly concerned with the structure or composition of the government.
The American victory in the Revolutionary War changed the balance of political power in the new states so that royal land, office, and patent holders
were significantly weakened, and prerevolutionary radicals became the controlling forces in many state legislatures
Montesquieu called ________ the principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency.
a mixed regime
How was political power in the Continental Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?
Each state had an equal vote.
Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that means the division of
Congress into two chambers.
Which of the following statements best describes British rule of the American colonies during the first half of the eighteenth century?
The British ruled with a light hand and exerted almost no influence at all in any colonial town or city.
A ________ is a person who believes that the Constitution should not be amended by judges and that judges should adhere closely to the document's text.
strict constructionist
In order to win concessions from large states at the Philadelphia convention, representatives from smaller states such as Delaware threatened to
form alliances with foreign nations.
What does the supremacy clause assert?
The Constitution and all laws made under it are superior to any state laws.
Which of the following statements best describes the framers' view of liberty?
Liberty is less important than social and economic equality.
The Virginia Plan proposed a system of representation in the national legislature that was based on
the population of each state, the proportion of each state's revenue contribution, or both.
One reason for the Constitution's longevity is that it
did not confer permanent advantage on any one set of economic or social forces.
A ________ vote by both houses of Congress and a ratification vote of ________ of the states are required to amend the U.S. Constitution.
two-thirds; three-fourths
Which office did the framers design to be directly elected by the people?
U.S. representative
The Articles of Confederation were adopted in ________.
1781
What is the term length of a federal judge?
barring impeachment, life
Which of the following statements best summarizes the Federalists' view on representation?
Representatives need not be a "true picture of the people," and the best system of representation allows citizens to elect individuals possessing ability, experience, and talent superior to their own.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of
withstanding excessive popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.
Federal judges are appointed by the ________ and must be approved by the ________.
president; Senate
In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the framers of the Constitution
included the elastic clause in the Constitution.
In the United States, the right to private property is
explicitly mentioned in the First Amendment.
Which statement about amendments to the Constitution is most accurate?
One amendment to the Constitution has been successfully repealed
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