Deck 16: Democratic Government in the United States

Question 1

Those powers expressly delegated by the Constitution are called:

A) flexible powers.
B) popular powers.
C) enumerated powers.
D) divided powers.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What are the four major constitutional principles of the U.S. government? Why and how is each principle important?

Answer 2

The four major constitutional principles of the U.S. government are federalism, separation of powers, limited government, and checks and balances. These arose out of a desire for an effective government but also a fear of a concentration of power. Federalism is the separation of power between a national government and separate states and is important in helping to keep power distributed. Power is further separated via the separation of powers in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of the federal government. These different branches have checks and balances where decisions by one must be ratified or agreed upon by another branch to further keep one branch from becoming too powerful. Lastly, the Constitution has the principle of limited government, so power is divided between people and the government. Through ideas such as popular sovereignty, the inviolability of personal rights, and constitutionalism, the government is designed to not become too powerful.

Question 3

Supplementing and modifying the principle of separation of powers is:

A) popular rotation.
B) checks and balances.
C) tyranny.
D) emergency powers.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Concurrent powers are those powers belonging:

A) only to the states.
B) only to the national government.
C) to both the national and state governments.
D) to foreign governments.

Question 5

Which of these is not a compromise included in the Constitution?

A) A mixed unitary and federal system.
B) Direct election of the president by the people.
C) Differential representation in the House and the Senate.
D) The establishment of the Electoral College.

Question 6

Evaluate the democratic political process in the United States. What are the major elements and problems in the U.S. political process? Consider parties, elections, elites, pressure groups, and the military-industrial complex.

Question 7

The form of government in which the head of state does not inherit the office but is elected by the citizens is called a:

A) monarchy.
B) republic.
C) quasi-monarchy.
D) partial dictatorship.

Question 8

For legal purposes, the Constitution of the United States means whatever the:

A) chief executive says it means.
B) Speaker of the House says it means.
C) president and vice president think it means.
D) Supreme Court says it means.

Question 9

One great protection against an unfair trial is the right to:

A) a trial by jury.
B) a trial by a panel of three judges.
C) a trial without legal advice.
D) an instant trial outside the court system.

Question 10

The elastic clause of the Constitution grants Congress:

A) implied powers.
B) the right to impeach the president.
C) the power to approve nominees to the Supreme Court.
D) the sole ability to declare war.

Question 11

The United States has a
(n):

A) living constitution.
B) fixed constitution.
C) written constitution that cannot be amended.
D) oral constitution.

Question 12

The function of the courts is to:

A) make the law.
B) write laws that are proposed in Congress.
C) act as a presidential advisory board.
D) interpret the law and apply it in individual cases.

Question 13

What is the historical development of the U.S. government? Why was compromise important in the writing of the U.S. Constitution?

Question 14

What is the structure of the U.S. government as established by the Constitution? Why is the U.S. government both a democracy and a republic?

Question 15

A presidential veto can be overridden by a:

A) simple majority in each house.
B) three-quarters majority in each house.
C) two-thirds majority in each house.
D) simple majority in the Senate but a five-eighths majority in the House.

Question 16

This is a good example of a parliamentary government.

A) The United States.
B) Mexico.
C) Great Britain.
D) Barbados.

Question 17

A pure democracy is a political system under which:

A) the people make most governmental decisions through elected representatives.
B) all citizens vote directly on every piece of legislation.
C) one person is able to represent all.
D) no government decisions are ever made.

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT an inalienable right of citizens in the U.S.?

A) Freedom of speech.
B) Freedom of assembly.
C) Freedom of privacy.
D) Right to due process of law.

Question 19

Political action committees
(PACs) began:

A) as a result of the revised 1974 federal election laws.
B) in the 1830s to stop corruption.
C) in the Civil War period to block foreign intervention.
D) before World War I to help U.S. soldiers.

Question 20

What are an individual's inalienable rights? Why are rights never absolute? Why does the right to freedoms involve the duty of respecting the freedoms of others?

Question 21

Although the number of parties is not determined in the Constitution, the United States has generally operated on a:

A) two-party system.
B) three-party system.
C) four-party system.
D) multiparty system.

Question 22

The United States has a parliamentary form of government.

Question 23

The military-industrial complex is the nexus between defense industries, the Pentagon, and:

A) Congress.
B) the Government Accounting Office.
C) the armed forces.
D) the State Department.

Question 24

The right to freedoms does not include respecting the freedoms of others.

Question 25

The Constitution specifically gives both Congress and the president the right to declare war either separately or jointly.

Question 26

The United States has a federal government that operates on:

A) two levels.
B) six levels.
C) thirteen levels.
D) three levels.

Question 27

The Founding Fathers feared tyranny by a majority of the electorate as well as by a strong executive.

Question 28

The U.S. government is a constitutional government.

Question 29

Democratic theory has demanded that the courts be directly subject to popular control.

Question 30

The U.S. federal Constitution is easy to amend.

Question 31

One of the great problems under federalism is how to divide powers between the central government and the states.

Question 32

James Madison was an opponent of the principle of the separation of powers.

Question 33

The Constitution divided the national government into three branches: the executive, legislative, and:

A) economic.
B) judicial.
C) commercial.
D) records.

Question 34

In 2016, defense spending totaled nearly:

A) $100 million.
B) $600 billion.
C) $100 trillion.
D) $500 trillion.

Question 35

The Founding Fathers, though desiring a central government strong enough to govern, feared too great a concentration of power and attempted to devise a means for preventing the abuse of power.

Question 36

Since 1985, the Supreme Court has begun to crack down on criminals by giving the police more rights.

Question 37

Rights are never absolute. Furthermore, rights involve duties.

Question 38

The journalistic profession or its members is called:

A) the first association.
B) the middle factors.
C) the sixth estate.
D) the fourth estate.

Question 39

The writers of the Constitution clearly intended the three branches of government to be completely independent of each other.

Question 40

The first ten amendments to the Constitution were adopted in 1791 and are called:

A) the Last Amendments.
B) Constitutional Extension.
C) the Modifiers.
D) the Bill of Rights.

Question 41

The potential development of a third party prevents the two major parties from being responsive to the demands of the people.

Question 42

A two-party system seldom shows sharp and clear-cut differences in program or principle.

Question 43

The government of the United States is both a democracy and a republic.

Question 44

American voters have a much higher percentage of voter participation in elections than voters in Britain.

Question 45

Roughly estimated, there are approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. who could be considered the political and economic elite of our society.

Question 46

Pressure groups play an important role in trying to shape public opinion.

Question 47

The direct democracy approach is least used in California, as exemplified by the recall of Governor Gray Davis and election of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003.

Question 48

President Gerald Ford originated the term military-industrial complex.

Question 49

In the 2008 election, Senator Barack Obama promised to abide by the limits and accept federal money but then decided not to accept the money when he discovered he could raise more money through private donations.

Question 50

Under the 1974 federal election laws, individual contributors could only give $1,000 to a candidate's primary general election campaign, whereas a PAC could give $5,000.

Question 51

The press, or fourth estate, has freedom inherent in the constitution and is also free from influence from private pressure groups and businesses.

Question 52

One of the ways electorates in democracies throughout the world have had their ballot power weakened is the limitation of categories of those who can hold office.