6. POLS 301 Wk 2 Chapter 4 Quiz 4 Study Guide PDF

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CHAPTER 4

MULTIPLE CHOICE AND TRUE OR FALSE: 15 of the following will be randomly chosen.

1.

The Constitution spells out ______. a. the founders’ views of the philosophically best government b. the official rules for who gets what, when, and how in American politics c. a government designed to maximize the power of the wealthy d. the justification for the Revolution e. the most extreme example of popular sovereignty ever created

2.

In the United States, ______. a. the legislative and executive branches have gradually come to share all institutional powers b. legislative powers include the ability to initiate and implement laws in a completely autonomous fashion c. the Constitution gives the president the explicit ability to declare a state of emergency d. legislative, executive, and judicial powers are handled by separate institutions e. the judiciary takes precedence over the legislative and executive branches by design

3.

The major difference between a republic and a democracy is that ______. a. popular sovereignty is important only in a democracy b. majority tyranny is more of a danger in a republic c. republics are less stable than democracies d. in a republic, elected individuals, rather than citizens themselves, have the direct power to make most governmental decisions e. democracies require a unicameral legislature

4.

All of the following comparisons between the House and the Senate are true EXCEPT this one: a. Only House members have always been chosen by the public. b. Senators have longer terms than members of the House. c. Senators must be citizens for longer before being elected than members of the House. d. Senate terms are staggered, whereas all House members are elected at the same time. e. The House of Representatives was modeled after the British House of Lords, whereas the Senate was modeled after the House of Commons.

5.

The founders hoped that the Senate would be ______ the House of Representatives. a. more responsive to the public than b. more stable than

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c. more accessible to the people than d. less aristocratic than e. similar in every way to 6.

An advantage of the unicameral legislature over the bicameral legislature is that ______. a. many more interests can be represented in it b. it is much more responsive to public opinion c. it can represent different levels of a federal government d. it divides the power of government more than a bicameral legislature e. it creates a slower, more deliberative legislative process

7.

The founders intended the people to have influence over public policy through the ______. a. House of Representatives b. House of Representatives and the Senate c. House of Representatives, the Senate, and the president d. president e. Senate

8.

The fewer chambers a legislature has, the ______. a. harder it is to achieve consensus on public policy b. less democratic it is c. more representative it is of the people as a whole d. more weight it gives to elite opinion e. slower it is to react to crises

9.

The powers of the president include all of the following EXCEPT this: a. The president is commander in chief of the armed forces. b. The president appoints, with confirmation by the Senate, members of the judiciary. c. The president negotiates treaties. d. The president can call Congress into session under extraordinary circumstances. e. The president can declare war.

10. The founders created the ______ as an intermediate body to elect the president. a. House of Representatives b. Senate c. Electoral College d. Council of Governors e. Federal Election Commission 11. All of the following comparisons between the president and senators are true EXCEPT this one: a. Senators have always been chosen by direct election. b. The minimum age to be president is older than the minimum age to be a senator. c. Presidents cannot be naturalized citizens.

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d. Presidents have shorter terms than senators. e. Presidents can be impeached. 12. The founders were concerned the Supreme Court would become ______. a. dominated by political concerns b. too weak to protect itself from state courts c. dependent on the president d. too busy to carry out all of its duties e. isolated from public opinion 13. All of the following comparisons between the American presidential and parliamentary systems are true EXCEPT this one: a. Parliament chooses the head of the executive branch, whereas Congress normally does not. b. A prime minister can call new elections, whereas the president cannot. c. A prime minister is usually the leader of the majority party or party with the most seats in Parliament, whereas the president may be a member of the minority party. d. The prime minister is a member of Parliament, whereas the president cannot be a member of Congress. e. The prime minister is not chosen directly by the people, whereas the president is chosen by the people via a “one person, one vote” system. 14. In Federalist No. 78, Hamilton argued that the judiciary would be the least threatening branch of government because ______. a. judges are naturally peaceful b. its members can be impeached c. it does not control the military or the budget of the nation d. it has no power that cannot be restricted by Congress e. its functions are totally passive 15. The power of the Supreme Court to declare acts unconstitutional ______. a. is explicitly spelled out in the Constitution b. is no longer recognized today c. was argued by Hamilton to be consistent with the Constitution d. is subject to presidential veto e. is allowed only in situations that concern the First Amendment 16. Article III of the Constitution ______. a. defines a ten-year term for federal judges b. forbids Congress from adjusting the structure and organization of federal courts c. creates the Supreme Court and all other federal courts d. creates the Supreme Court but allows Congress to establish lower courts e. spells out, in detail, the structure and organization of the federal judiciary 17. In a parliamentary system, the ______ is the dominant branch of government. a. legislature

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b. c. d. e.

executive judiciary bureaucracy military

18. Legislative supremacy ______. a. is an alternative system to judicial review b. grew more important after the Civil War c. was never seriously considered by the founders d. is provided for in Article I of the Constitution e. is practiced by most democratic countries 19. The constitutional safeguard that places legislative, executive, and judicial powers in different hands is called ______. a. separation of powers b. checks and balances c. fusion of powers d. federalism e. bicameralism 20. Aspects of the system of checks and balances include all of the following EXCEPT this: a. Presidents can veto legislation. b. Presidents can force Congress to adjourn. c. Congress can impeach the president. d. The Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress or of the president to be unconstitutional. e. Congress can impeach members of the judiciary. 21. In Federalist No. 51, James Madison predicted that no single branch of government would become too powerful and oppress citizens because ______. a. a foreign country would be welcomed to intervene and restore American democracy b. the ethics of American political leaders would prevent power grabs c. the people would revolt and establish a monarchy d. the other two branches would curb the possibly oppressive advances of each branch e. citizens would turn to a populist counterelite to defend their rights 22. The congressional abilities specifically listed in Article I, Section 8, are called the ______. a. concurrent powers b. elastic powers c. enumerated powers d. supreme powers e. necessary and proper powers

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23. The Supreme Court has interpreted the ______ clause of the Constitution so broadly that there are very few restrictions on what Congress can do. a. necessary and proper b. national supremacy c. full faith and credit d. commerce e. establishment 24. The necessary and proper clause ______. a. states that it is necessary and proper for Congress to have sufficient reasons to impeach the president b. states that the authorities must have a necessary and proper reason for search and seizure of private property c. is used by Congress to justify the exercise of powers not mentioned in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution d. states that it is necessary and proper for the president to have sufficient reasons to begin a war e. is used by the Supreme Court as justification for the power of judicial review 25. Federalism in the United States ______. a. is a system badly in need of repair b. was a compromise for how power should be distributed between the national and state governments c. provides for strong state and local power compared to federal power d. has outlived its usefulness as a framework for American politics e. grants the federal government a dominant position over the states in all areas except education...