Deck 3: Texas in the Federal System

Question 1

Under the New Deal,federalism is frequently described as

A) New Federalism.
B) coercive federalism.
C) cooperative federalism.
D) dual federalism.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

During the Nullification Crisis of 1833,South Carolina tried to assert the right to veto (or nullify)

A) national legislation passed by Congress.
B) actions taken by the North Carolina and Georgia militias.
C) Supreme Court rulings.
D) presidential cabinet appointments.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The use of block grants,allowing states considerable leeway in how federal money is spent,was championed by President ________ under the name New Federalism.

A) McKinley
B) Wilson
C) Hoover
D) Nixon

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The understanding that the national government and state governments are both sovereign within their sphere of influence is called

A) cooperative federalism.
B) dual federalism.
C) creative federalism.
D) new federalism.

Question 5

A defining characteristic of federalism is that

A) rather than being held exclusively or primarily by one body, governing authority is divided at different levels between several bodies.
B) the federal government wields ultimate authority in all matters.
C) state governments can nullify the exercise of unpopular federal laws within their own states' boundaries.
D) state governments exist primarily to enact laws established by the national government.

Question 6

In Wickard v.Filburn,the Supreme Court decided that

A) Congress had improperly used the interstate commerce clause.
B) Congress had no authority to regulate commerce.
C) the regulatory power of the national government under the interstate commerce clause was so broad that there seemed no boundaries on national power.
D) Roscoe Filburn was right and he was to be paid $117.11 by the federal government.

Question 7

Dual federalism is also known as

A) layer-cake federalism.
B) cooperative federalism.
C) coercive federalism.
D) marble-cake federalism.

Question 8

In his landmark cases,Chief Justice John Marshall generally

A) supported the authority of the federal government over that of state governments.
B) enhanced the power of state governments over that of the federal government.
C) maintained that the powers of the state and federal governments were identical and inseparable.
D) reduced the power of the federal government at the expense of the state governments.

Question 9

During which president's administration did the federal government's power,especially with regard to the economy,increase the most?

A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) Woodrow Wilson
C) Andrew Jackson
D) Franklin Roosevelt

Question 10

In the case of Gibbons v.Ogden (1824),the Supreme Court decided that

A) states retained full authority to regulate commerce within their own borders and among their immediate neighbors.
B) the federal government had authority to regulate only international commerce, not interstate commerce.
C) the federal government had authority to regulate only interstate commerce, not international commerce.
D) the federal government's authority to regulate international and interstate commerce bestowed on it some power to regulate intrastate commerce.

Question 11

For eligible participants,the Social Security Act of 1935 instituted all of the following EXCEPT

A) a national retirement pension for the elderly.
B) unemployment insurance for the unemployed.
C) universal health care for all Americans.
D) aid for the blind and disabled.

Question 12

Which amendment was commonly referred to as the States' Rights Amendment?

A) the Tenth Amendment
B) the Seventeenth Amendment
C) the Nineteenth Amendment
D) the Sixteenth Amendment

Question 13

Which is a correct statement about the Tenth Amendment?

A) The federal courts have frequently used this amendment to invalidate national government actions.
B) In spite of this amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland permitted federal action through implied powers.
C) The federal courts used this amendment to allow the national government to commandeer state agencies to the service of the federal government.
D) The Tenth Amendment states that all powers not explicitly delegated to the national government are reserved for the states exclusively.

Question 14

State and local governments have greater administrative flexibility with ________ than with categorical grants.

A) matching grants
B) earmark grants
C) block grants
D) project grants

Question 15

According to the Tenth Amendment,any powers not delegated to the national government by the Constitution,nor prohibited by it to the states,

A) can be claimed by the national government as necessary.
B) belong exclusively to the people.
C) belong exclusively to the states.
D) belong to either the people or the state.

Question 16

A system of government in which power is divided between a central government and regional governments is known as

A) federalism.
B) unitarianism.
C) confederation.
D) separation of powers.

Question 17

________ percent of the world's population lives in the countries that are organized around a federal principle where there is a national government and regional government.

A) Ten
B) Twenty
C) Thirty
D) Forty

Question 18

Which of the following requires state governments to spend their own money to meet standards imposed on them by the federal government?

A) categorical grants
B) block grants
C) program grants
D) unfunded mandates

Question 19

The 1819 McCulloch v.Maryland case ________ the powers of the federal government.

A) expanded
B) limited
C) reduced
D) eliminated

Question 20

Which Supreme Court case in 1869 resolved the debate over whether states can secede from the Union?

A) Texas v. White
B) Texas v. Marshall
C) Texas v. Chase
D) Texas v. Perry

Question 21

During the Nullification Crisis of 1833,South Carolina and several northern states attempted to nullify key provisions of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

Question 22

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S.Constitution prevents state governments from imposing cruel and unusual punishments.

Question 23

The supremacy clause,stipulated in Article VI of the Constitution,holds that

A) in a conflict between federal and state laws, the former will override the latter.
B) in the federal system established by the Constitution, the true source of sovereignty is the people.
C) federal laws will be supreme in the national sphere, and state laws will be supreme in local affairs.
D) as a sovereign institution, the state government only needs to obey the limits that it establishes for itself.

Question 24

In ________,the Supreme Court held that segregated public schools were inherently unequal.

A) Plessy v. Ferguson
B) Brown v. Board of Education
C) Edgewood ISD v. Kirby
D) San Antonio v. Rodriguez

Question 25

Replacing the Articles of Confederation in 1787,the new U.S.Constitution allowed both the federal government and state governments to retain significant measures of sovereignty.

Question 26

The legal doctrine at issue in the Plessy v.Ferguson case is the

A) separate but equal doctrine.
B) privileges and immunities clause.
C) hold and save harmless doctrine.
D) supremacy clause.

Question 27

One advantage that a federal system has over a highly centralized government is that it allows states to experiment with ways to improve public policy.

Question 28

Which court case in 2013 struck down the formula for determining the states covered under the Section 5 preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

A) Rick Perry et al. v. Holder
B) Shelby County v. Holder
C) Reynolds v. Simms
D) Texas v. Holder

Question 29

Until a national database was created,background checks by local law enforcement under the Brady Act were suspended following the Supreme Court's ruling in

A) United States v. Lopez.
B) Gonzales v. Raich.
C) Printz v. United States.
D) South Dakota v. Dole.

Question 30

New Federalism was President Richard Nixon's attempt to give individual states greater control over how they spent federal money.

Question 31

In which 1989 court case did the Texas Supreme Court unanimously declare that the huge disparities between rich and poor school districts were unacceptable and order changes in the financing of Texas's public schools?

A) Edgewood v. Kirby
B) Edgewood v. Perry
C) Edgewood v. SAISD
D) Rodriguez v. Edgewood

Question 32

The Great Depression of 1929 was the catalyst that led many Americans to support the New Deal.

Question 33

Controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act is an example of the friction inherent in

A) confederal systems.
B) unitary systems.
C) federalism.
D) cooperative federal systems.

Question 34

As federal regulations became more intrusive,forcing states to change their policies in order to meet national goals,some people began calling our system a ________ federalism.

A) sovereign
B) dual
C) progressive
D) coercive

Question 35

Although James Madison personally did not believe that the Tenth Amendment was necessary,he urged that it be adopted.

Question 36

The Tenth Amendment is also known as the states' rights amendment.

Question 37

Local governments are the creation of the states.

Question 38

________ provide(s)states constitutional protections that go above rights guaranteed by the U.S.Constitution.

A) The Fourteenth Amendment
B) The Fifteenth Amendment
C) Independent state grounds
D) The Tenth Amendment

Question 39

Many of the political conflicts in the nation have been fought over the proper roles of states versus the national government.

Question 40

Which court case involved the University of Texas at Austin encouraging African American students to attend a black law school that had been set up by Texas to provide a separate but equal education for black Texans?

A) Sweatt v. Painter
B) Plessy v. Ferguson
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) McCulloch v. Maryland

Question 41

Analyze the ways the Constitution divides power between federal and state governments.

Question 42

What facts would you select to show the changing patterns in the relationship between the U.S.national government and the states?

Question 43

Describe the Supreme Court's position on federalism from the founding of the republic to the present day.What landmark cases have been most influential in shaping federal-state relations? Has the Supreme Court's position changed frequently,or has its stance been generally consistent,despite a few anomalous periods?

Question 44

Between the beginning of 2008 and the end of 2015,Texas sued the Obama administration 39 times.

Question 45

According to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,it is still possible to sue a state in district court if a voting procedure change negatively affects minority voters.

Question 46

Describe the character of federal-state relations today.How much influence does the federal government wield over the states? What tools can it use to coerce state compliance with federal measures? What means do states have to resist federal initiatives?

Question 47

The Fifteenth Amendment gives states leeway to expand the rights of their citizens.

Question 48

Unfunded mandates requiring states to meet federal guidelines without financial support are associated with coercive federalism.

Question 49

Describe several ways in which the American federal system contains or limits political or policy choices that Texas might otherwise make.

Question 50

Unfunded mandates infringe upon state sovereignty.