Deck 3: Federalism

Question 1

Jessica Rapchik and Pat Korte revived a group from the 1960s known as SDS, which stands for

A) Students for a Democratic Society.
B) Students for a Devolving Society.
C) Socialists against Democracy in Society.
D) Students for a Democratic Socialism.
E) Seditionists for a Democratic Society.

Answer 1

Students for a Democratic Society.

Question 2

Systems of government in which political power and authority are located in one central government that runs the country and may or may not share power with regional sub-units are referred to as

A) unitary.
B) confederal.
C) federal.
D) plural.
E) sovereign.

Answer 2

unitary.

Question 3

The most common system of government in the world today is the ____ system.

A) unitary
B) confederal
C) federal
D) authoritarian
E) communist

Answer 3

unitary

Question 4

The idea that "power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments" was described by Madison as

A) political reformation.
B) diversification.
C) liberty security.
D) double security.
E) double movement.

Question 5

McCulloch v. Maryland centered on the controversy created by

A) the movement of slaves across state lines.
B) the invalidation of a Maryland election by the federal government.
C) Maryland's efforts to tax the Second Bank of the United States.
D) Maryland's efforts to invalidate the selection of judges by the federal government.
E) the three-fifths compromise.

Question 6

As a consequence of the Supreme Court's decision in Cohens v. Virginia, the power and authority of the _____ was increased.

A) federal courts
B) state legislatures
C) state governors
D) national legislature
E) president

Question 7

The doctrine of _____ stated that each state had retained its sovereignty and could reject national acts in that state.

A) dual federalism
B) republicanism
C) nullification
D) absolute sovereignty
E) succession

Question 8

The process of "nationalizing the Bill of Rights" began in the 1920s and 1930s and expanded greatly in the 1960s, drawing heavily on which Constitutional amendment?

A) The Tenth Amendment
B) The Twelfth Amendment
C) The Fourteenth Amendment
D) The Sixteenth Amendment
E) The Twentieth Amendment

Question 9

Which of the following was NOT an important socio-economic change that occurred in the decade following the Civil War?

A) The economy of the United States shifted from an agrarian base to an industrial base.
B) Rapid urbanization.
C) Immigration from Europe and East Asia increased.
D) Thousands of small companies emerged to challenge the dominance of large monopolies.
E) All of these occurred following the end of the Civil War.

Question 10

In Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress lacked the power to

A) regulate trade in goods produced by child labor.
B) prohibit the sale of illicit drugs.
C) regulate firearms.
D) establish Social Security.
E) institute a national income tax.

Question 11

Efforts by President Franklin Roosevelt to establish the New Deal were blocked in the 1930s by

A) the U.S. Congress.
B) the U.S. Supreme Court.
C) the states.
D) the federal bureaucracy.
E) popular referenda.

Question 12

Under American federalism,

A) the distribution of power between the states and the national government is written into the Constitution.
B) the national government retains all power.
C) states retain complete autonomy.
D) the national and state governments share power, but the state governments can consolidate power whenever they wish.
E) the national and state governments share power, but the national government can consolidate power whenever it wishes.

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of a concurrent power in American federalism?

A) Declaring war
B) Coining money
C) Taxation
D) Conducting elections
E) Regulating interstate commerce

Question 14

The system of cooperative federalism is often described using the metaphor of a

A) track meet.
B) jousting tournament.
C) marble cake.
D) flowing river.
E) garden.

Question 15

The largest area of public expenditure by the federal government under Johnson's Great Society program was for

A) urban renewal.
B) work training.
C) Head Start.
D) housing.
E) veterans' benefits.

Question 16

Devolution refers to the

A) limited scope for democracy in the United States.
B) transfer of political power from the states to the national government.
C) transfer of political power from the national government to the states.
D) ability of the states to veto actions of the federal government.
E) ability of the national government to veto actions of the states.

Question 17

There are approximately _____ local governments in the United States.

A) 8,000
B) 18,000
C) 58,000
D) 89,000
E) 118,000

Question 18

The Gun-Free School Zones Act was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision in the case of

A) Printz v. United States.
B) United States v. Morrison.
C) United States v. Lopez.
D) Tinker v. Des Moines.
E) Texas v. Johnson.

Question 19

In both United States. v. Lopez and United States. v. Morrison, the Supreme Court

A) strengthened the power of the Congress.
B) limited the power of the presidency.
C) strengthened the power of the federal government.
D) strengthened the power of state governments.
E) expanded the power of the courts.

Question 20

In the United States during the swine flu (H1N1) epidemic in 2009, the federal government took the lead but allowed flexibility to localities as they treated outbreaks.

Question 21

In its McCulloch v. Maryland decision, the Supreme Court prohibited states from undertaking actions which undermined the authority of the national government.

Question 22

The powers of the federal government gradually expanded after the Civil War.

Question 23

After the Civil War, a series of dramatic socio-economic shifts-including rapid urbanization, industrialization, and technological innovation-occurred in the country.

Question 24

Between 1964 and 1970, grants-in-aid for education outpaced the distribution of grants for health care.

Question 25

Ronald Reagan's presidency is most strongly remembered for Reagan's War on poverty program.

Question 26

Block grants are awarded on the basis of competitive applications rather than being provided according to specific formulas.

Question 27

In United States v. Morrison, the Supreme Court struck down portions of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994.

Question 28

In Printz v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court leaned on the Tenth Amendment in deciding that Congress cannot require state and local officials to conduct background checks on buyers of guns.

Question 29

The Tenth Amendment states that powers not specifically granted to the federal government, nor that are prohibited by the states, automatically are powers of the national government.

Question 30

The No Child Left Behind Act

A) gives total control of education to the states, but complete financing by the federal government.
B) requires the partnership between the federal government and the states on education, but the individual states set their own learning standards.
C) gives total control and funding of public education to the federal government.
D) says that the federal government will suggest standards to the states, and they can opt in or opt out, and complete funding for education is provided by the states.
E) instituted a standards-based education reform that required states to develop assessments of basic skills as a condition for received federal funds.

Question 31

In the 1970s, the Congress established a national speed limit

A) in response to national fuel shortages.
B) to improve highway safety.
C) to expand the power of the Interstate Highway Commission.
D) to encourage the expansion of the American auto industry.
E) at the request of the states.

Question 32

The idea that in a federal system, states governments are "laboratories of democracy" was first advanced by

A) Ronald Reagan.
B) Louis Brandeis.
C) Thomas Jefferson.
D) Alexander Hamilton.
E) Bill Clinton.

Question 33

After the American Revolution

A) the nation came together smoothly, almost organically.
B) the 13 colonies existed for fifty years as separate states, before coming under the umbrella of the federal government.
C) the 13 colonies and their local governments all agreed on a single definition of government.
D) each of the colonies exhibited a cooperativeness and willingness to combine with the others to become the United States.
E) one of the great challenges was to bring the population of all colonies to consider themselves citizens of a united nation.

Question 34

The exclusive right of an independent state to reign supreme and have ultimate authority over a geographic region and its people is referred to as

A) power.
B) supremacy.
C) legitimacy.
D) sovereignty.
E) federalism.

Question 35

The political theorist credited with first developing the idea of separation of powers was

A) John Locke.
B) Thomas Hobbes.
C) Aristotle.
D) Plato.
E) Baron Montesquieu.

Question 36

An example of a ________ government would be one that controls the whole nation and does not share power with local entities.

A) unitary
B) federalism
C) decentralized federalism
D) dual federalism
E) confederation

Question 37

Madison's idea of "double security" referred to the

A) development of two political parties.
B) division of government into national, state, and local levels.
C) division of government into three separate branches.
D) both A and B.
E) both B and C.

Question 38

The best argument for retention of the American federal system would be that it

A) prevents the centralization of power.
B) provides cheap government.
C) simplifies political party organization.
D) provides efficient government.
E) provides both unity and diversity.

Question 39

John Marshall's understanding of federalism can best be characterized as

A) strongly supportive of states' rights.
B) weakly supportive of states rights.
C) ambivalent about states' rights.
D) slightly hostile to states' rights.
E) decidedly hostile to states' rights.

Question 40

The secession of the American South during the Civil War was based on an understanding of American federalism in which the

A) national government had supreme decision-making authority.
B) state governments had supreme decision-making authority.
C) national government and the states were co-equal branches of government.
D) president exercised ultimate decision-making authority.
E) Congress exercised supreme decision-making authority.

Question 41

The idea of dual federalism refers to the

A) strength of political parties in the United States.
B) strict separation of powers between the national and state governments.
C) sharing of powers between the national and state governments.
D) ability of the federal government to overrule the decisions of the states.
E) ability of two or more states, when in agreement, to overrule the federal government.

Question 42

The Supreme Court ruling in Gibbons v. Ogden centered on the power of Congress to

A) coin money.
B) establish post offices and post roads.
C) declare war.
D) regulate interstate commerce.
E) issue patents.

Question 43

The issue at stake in Gibbons v. Ogden was the

A) right of state governments to print their own currencies.
B) legality of a national income tax.
C) granting of exclusive licensing to steamboat operators between New York and New Jersey.
D) right of interracial couples to marry.
E) symbolic speech of burning an American flag.

Question 44

Prior to the Civil War, the Tenth Amendment was used to support

A) cooperative federalism.
B) dual federalism.
C) new federalism.
D) devolution.
E) mandates.

Question 45

As Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Marshall

A) argued that the courts should defer to the Congress and the president.
B) forced the federal government to defer to the state governments.
C) strengthened the national government.
D) limited the power of the courts.
E) declared any effort to expand the scope of the federal government unconstitutional.

Question 46

Which of the following U.S. Supreme Court decisions is unlike the others?

A) Cohens v. Virginia
B) Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
C) Gibbons v. Ogden
D) Hammer v. Dagenhart
E) Katzenbach v. McClung

Question 47

The doctrine of nullification was relied upon by which group for their ideas?

A) Native Americans
B) Slaves
C) Massachusetts state government
D) Texas state government
E) Southern leaders

Question 48

The doctrine of nullification maintained that

A) Congress could nullify the decisions of the president.
B) the Courts could nullify the decisions of the Congress.
C) the states could nullify the decisions of the federal government.
D) the federal government could nullify the decisions of the states.
E) the courts could declare the decisions of states unconstitutional.

Question 49

The doctrine of _____ stated that each state had a right to declare their independence and form their own government.

A) dual federalism
B) republicanism
C) nullification
D) absolute sovereignty
E) secession

Question 50

The doctrines of secession and nullification were settled by

A) Justice John C. Marshall.
B) three Supreme Court decisions throughout the years (Gibbons, Cohens, and Johnson).
C) the election of Lincoln.
D) the annexation of Texas.
E) the Civil War's ending.

Question 51

How many states formed the Confederate States of America?

A) 9
B) 11
C) 14
D) 17
E) 22

Question 52

In the 1950s and 1960s, the term "_____" was commonly used as a euphemism for efforts to maintain the institutionalized systems of racial segregation in the South.

A) grandfather clause
B) dixie
C) freedom to choose
D) way of life
E) states' rights

Question 53

Ratified in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment

A) granted women the right to vote.
B) permitted the popular election of senators.
C) extended the franchise to freed slaves.
D) ended slavery.
E) granted citizenship to freed slaves.

Question 54

Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment

A) granted women the right to vote.
B) permitted the popular election of senators.
C) extended the franchise to freed slaves.
D) ended slavery.
E) provided for equal protection of the laws.

Question 55

The process of nationalizing the Bill of Rights began in the

A) 1920s.
B) 1930s.
C) 1940s.
D) 1950s.
E) 1960s.

Question 56

The exclusive control by one group or individual over specified services or commodities is generally referred to as a

A) monopoly.
B) cartel.
C) trade block.
D) exclusive production agreement.
E) oligopoly.

Question 57

The Interstate Commerce Commission was created to establish rules for transporting goods by

A) car and plane.
B) mule and horse.
C) ship and ferry.
D) rail and ship.
E) air and ground.

Question 58

In United States v. E.C. Knight Co. (1895), the Supreme Court rejected the government's charge that a company had become an illegal monopoly in buying and selling

A) sugar.
B) tobacco.
C) wood.
D) iron.
E) steel.

Question 59

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Congress lacked the power to regulate goods produced by child labor in the case of

A) United States v. E. C. Knight Co.
B) Hammer v. Dagenhart.
C) Lochner v. New York.
D) Marbury v. Madison.
E) Katzenbach v. McClung.

Question 60

In United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895), the Supreme Court specifically ruled that the power to regulate interstate commerce did not extend to

A) goods produced for export.
B) goods imported from other countries.
C) the manufacturing sector.
D) child labor laws.
E) Social Security programs.

Question 61

The issue at hand in Lochner v. New York (1905) was

A) state powers in employment.
B) state judicial powers.
C) civil rights.
D) presidential powers.
E) congressional powers.

Question 62

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cases brought to the Supreme Court through the judicial pathway of action dealing with the regulation of business practices had the primary effect of

A) preventing the federal government from expanding its authority.
B) expanding the authority of state governments.
C) limiting individual liberty.
D) expanding the power of the federal legislature at the expense of the executive branch.
E) incorporating the Bill of Rights to the states.

Question 63

What American president proposed a court-packing plan as a way to increase support for his administration's policies?

A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) Grover Cleveland
C) William Taft
D) Andrew Jackson
E) Franklin Roosevelt

Question 64

Following a dispute over the court's ruling on a part of the New Deal program, President Franklin Roosevelt was criticized for his

A) court-packing plan.
B) court bypass plan.
C) appeal to popular opinion.
D) appeal to Congress.
E) unilateral action.

Question 65

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

A) guaranteed African Americans the right to vote.
B) prohibited discrimination in hiring practices.
C) barred racial discrimination in public accommodations.
D) mandated desegregation in public school.
E) ended the use of poll taxes.

Question 66

Powers, such as imposing taxes and borrowing money, which are exercised both by the national government and state governments, are generally referred to as

A) concurrent powers.
B) reserved powers.
C) delegated powers.
D) mandated powers.
E) cooperative powers.

Question 67

The president most closely associated with the New Deal was

A) Lyndon Johnson.
B) Franklin Roosevelt.
C) John Kennedy.
D) Theodore Roosevelt.
E) Ronald Reagan.

Question 68

President Lyndon Johnson's social programs aimed to create a(n)

A) New America.
B) Egalitarian America.
C) Great Society.
D) Re-born America.
E) City on the Hill.

Question 69

President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society program

A) expanded spending on military and national defense.
B) expanded spending on heath care, education, and community development.
C) undermined the power of the federal government to influence the states.
D) expanded the power of the federal government over education.
E) reformed the health care system.

Question 70

One of the main purposes of grants-in-aid is to

A) reduce noticeable inequality among states.
B) increase the power and autonomy of local governments.
C) increase the overall tax base of the country.
D) provide incentives for corporate reinvestment.
E) address environmental problems.

Question 71

_____ are targeted for specific purposes and have strict restrictions that leave little room for discretionary spending.

A) Categorical grants
B) Project grants
C) Formula grants
D) Block grants
E) Mandates

Question 72

_____ are distributed according to a particular calculation, which identifies who is eligible and for how much.

A) Categorical grants
B) Project grants
C) Formula grants
D) Block grants
E) Mandates

Question 73

A grant that provided $2.00 in funding for school lunches based on the number of school-aged children living in families under the poverty line would most accurately be described as a

A) categorical grant.
B) project grant.
C) formula grant.
D) block grant.
E) mandate.

Question 74

_____ are earmarked for specific programs but are far more flexible than other grants.

A) Categorical grants
B) Project grants
C) Formula grants
D) Block grants
E) Mandates

Question 75

When Jimmy Carter ran for the presidency, he campaigned as a(n)

A) effective international diplomat and strong leader.
B) experienced political leader.
C) Washington outsider opposed to big government.
D) charismatic and likeable person.
E) former military commander.

Question 76

In 1980, approximately _____ percent of local government budgets came from the federal government; by 2007, approximately _____ percent came from the federal government.

A) 45; 60
B) 60; 45
C) 40; 28
D) 35; 40
E) 50; 55

Question 77

The process of devolution is often supported by the

A) perceived instability of the national government.
B) belief that the federal government is less effective in delivering services than local governments.
C) idea that the Constitution mandates the supremacy of state governments.
D) larger cash reserves of state treasuries compared with the federal treasury.
E) belief that it will strengthen security for the nation.

Question 78

In its 1995 United States. v. Lopez ruling, the Supreme Court struck down the

A) Balanced Budget Act of 1985.
B) Violence Against Women Act of 1994.
C) Flag Protection Act of 1989.
D) Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990.
E) Defense Authorization Act of 1989.

Question 79

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Lopez was based on the argument that Congress had

A) violated Tenth Amendment reserved powers protections.
B) overstepped the scope of the USA PATRIOT Act.
C) violated First Amendment freedom of association.
D) interpreted the commerce clause too broadly.
E) violated Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Question 80

Considering the last decade's shift in the Supreme Court's profile, reflected in recent decisions,

A) any power the federal government has lost over the years will be regained.
B) the Court will most likely reject specific assertions of federal power.
C) the Court will most likely favor laws initiated by the House, thought of as more representative of the people, over the Senate.
D) the Court will seek to lessen the powers of governors, and extend more power to the presidency.
E) the Court will uphold the Constitutional mandate that the Court wields more power than Congress.