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Government Test 3
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What are the 6 points the Constitution made? | Form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and the generations that followed |
| What did some of the Framers think of creating a large national government? | They knew their decisions would have long-lasting consequences, and they were determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past |
| The Framers’ solution was to create a governing document, the Constitution, that... | Divided, distributed, and balanced governmental power. In addition, the Constitution made almost all uses of government power subject to the will of the people through their power as voters. |
| What are the three parts of the Constitution? | 1.) Preamble. 2.) Articles. 3.) Amendments. |
| What does the Preamble do? | The Preamble, or introduction to the Constitution, states the broad goals for the new government established by the Constitution. |
| What do the articles do? How many are there? | The seven articles following the Preamble create, with little detail or elaboration, the structure of the U.S. government. |
| What are amendments? How many are there? | Changes to the Constitution. -27. |
| What are the six basic principles of governing? | Popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, and federalism. |
| What is popular sovereignty? | The concept that government gets its authority from the people and that ultimate political power remains with the people. |
| A republic, according to James Madison, was also the best way to guard against the danger of _______, which Madison and other Framers saw as... | Factions -A serious outgrowth of unchecked popular sovereignty. |
| What are factions? | Could be a minority or majority, but people who are united by a common interest who might act in a way that hurt the rights of other citizens or the interests of the nation. |
| Every elected leader, from the president on down... | Works for you, and when you step into the voting booth, you can vote to “fire” them. |
| What is limited government? | The principle that the powers and functions of government are restricted by the U.S. Constitution and other laws. |
| What is rule of law? | The concept that every member of society, including the ruler or government, must obey the law and is never above it. |
| _______ ________ make better choices when they vote, and they may be more likely to hold government accountable when it exceeds its powers or fails to respond to and address society’s needs. | Informed citizens |
| What is separation of powers? What are these powers called? | The duties of governing are divided among three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. |
| Article I creates and empowers... | Congress, the nation’s lawmaking body, which is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. |
| How often are elections for members of the House of Representatives? | Every 2 years. |
| Article II establishes... | The duties of the executive branch, which comprises the president, vice president, and many executive departments. |
| What does the executive branch do? | Implements, or carries out, laws passed by the legislative branch. The president is also commander in chief of the nation’s military. |
| Article III establishes... | The judicial branch, including the Supreme Court, to exercise the judicial power of the United States. |
| What does the judicial branch do? | Interprets and applies the law. |
| What are checks and balances? | The system that gives each branch of government the power to change or cancel acts of another branch. The system prevents any branch from exerting too much power. |
| What does veto mean? | Reject. |
| What is judicial review? | The power to determine whether the actions of the legislative and executive branches of government are constitutional. |
| What does unconstitutional mean? | Any law or government action that is found to violate a part of the Constitution |
| What is republicanism? | A broad set of ideas about representative government that can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome. |
| What was one of the most well known examples of the president becoming annoyed with the judicial branch? | In the 1930's, Franklin Roosevelt had many of his laws to help the Great Depression denied. |
| What did the Marbury vs. Madison case establish? | The principle of judicial review became firmly established by the Supreme Court. |
| What was limited government? | The principle that the powers and functions of government are restricted by the U.S. Constitution and other laws. |
| The final principle in the Constitution's blueprint is... | Federalism. |
| What is federalism? | The powers of government are distributed between the national government and state governments. |
| What is an amendment? | A minor change or addition designed to improve a text, piece of legislation, etc. |
| What is the supremacy clause? | Declares that the Constitution—together with U.S. laws passed under the Constitution and treaties made by the national government—is “the supreme law of the land.” Advocates for state sovereignty found these clauses troubling |
| What does the tenth amendment say? | “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” |
| What is an informal amendment? | The process by which over time many changes have been made in the Constitution which has not involved any changes in its written words. |
| What is a formal amendment? | A fully executed written amendment. |
| Define repeal. | To cancel or revoke a law by a legislative act. |
| What are the Bill of Rights? | The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution concerning basic individual liberties. |
| What did Jefferson think of the Constitution? | The Constitution should not be changed on a whim, but it should be able to be changed as society and circumstances changed. |
| What did Madison think of changing the Constitution? | First, laws and constitutions grow in authority and acceptance the longer they go unchanged. Second, changing the Constitution too often could split the country into bitter factions. |
| The amendment process gives Americans the power to... | Change the Constitution. |
| The process for amending the Constitution is described in... | Article V (5). |
| Amendments must be _______ and then _______. | Proposed; Ratified. |
| What is an executive agreement? | Arrangements or compacts the U.S. president makes with foreign leaders or foreign governments. |
| How did the Framers ensure that changes to the Constitution would be a reflection of the national will? | By creating a two-step process that required ratification by the states, they restricted the power of Congress to change the Constitution. |
| What is a super majority? | A majority—such as three-fifths, two-thirds,or three-fourths—that is larger than a simple majority. |
| What is eminent domain? | The process by which the government may seize private property with proper compensation, but without the owner's consent. |
| What is double jeopardy? | Being made to stand trial twice for the same offense. |
| Amendments can be proposed by... | 1.) Congress: Two-thirds vote in each house. 2.) National Convention: Called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislature. |
| Amendments can be ratified by... | 1.) Legislatures: Three-fourth of the states. 2.) Conventions: Three-fourths of the states. |
| So far, however, all the amendments to the Constitution have been proposed by... | Congress. |
| Once an amendment has been formally proposed by either method, Congress sends the proposed amendment to the... | 50 states for ratification. |
| What did the 1st-10th amendnents do? | Protected certain rights from government infringement; Bill of Rights. |
| Executive agreements are important in... | Conducting foreign policy. In recent years, presidents have increasingly used their executive agreement power, especially when they are seeking to bypass the long, formal— and often contentious—treaty process. |
| Most executive agreements require... | Subsequent congressional action—legislation giving an agency the necessary power or money—to be implemented. |
| Actions of the executive department and agencies also change the way the Constitution is applied or interpreted. Congress passes laws to create these bodies and sets broad goals for them to achieve. It is up to... | The agencies themselves, however, to define their operations and carry out the programs Congress has assigned to them. |
| _______ ________, therefore, may affect the meaning of the Constitution—what the rights of citizens are and what the government is allowed to do or is prevented from doing. | Court Rulings. |
| Strict construction, or interpretation, of the Constitution means... | Giving the words in the document only their literal meaning. |
| A loose construction of the Constitution means... | Following the words plus any reasonable inferences that can be drawn from them. |
| What is a political party? | An organized group that seeks to win elections in order to influence the activities of government. |
| Are political parties talked about in the Constitution? | No. |
| The legacy of two political movements popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s but around no longer, the ____ and ____, rests in the Constitutional amendments they helped get passed. | Populists; Progressives. |
| The Populists were a... | Coalition of farmers, labor leaders, and reformers. Populists supported bank regulation; government ownership, or at least government regulation, of railroads; and the unlimited coinage of silver. They also called for the direct election of senators. |
| The Progressives took up many of the same causes as Populists but also wanted to... | Improve living conditions for the urban poor. As a result of Progressive influence, Congress passed laws giving the federal government powers to regulate banks, food and drug safety, railroads, and business monopolies—powers upheld by the Supreme Court. |
| Progressives were also instrumental in the passage of the ______, ________, and _______ amendments to the Constitution | Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth. |
| _______ and ______ are not mentioned in the Constitution, but they strongly influence how American government behaves. | Customs; Traditions. |
| What's a cabinet? | A group of advisers consisting of the heads of the executive departments. |
| _______ _______ broke with tradition to run for and win third and fourth terms as president in the 1940s. | Franklin Roosevelt. |
| In our system of checks and balances, power and decision making are distributed among the branches of government. What are the criticisms for this? | Critics say that this diffusion of power makes it too easy for the president and congressional leaders to avoid responsibility for their actions. |
| What is political gridlock? | The inability to govern effectively due to separation of powers or a conflict between political parities. |
| Some political observers argue that the Constitution falls short of truly ______ ______ when judged by contemporary democratic standards. They are especially critical of... | Representative Democracy. -The Senate, in which residents of states with small populations have far more relative influence than residents of states with large populations. |
| What is the electoral college? | The body of 538 people elected from the 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast the official votes that elect the president and vice president |
| When voting for Congress, what type of system do we have? | Winner takes all. |
| What are some of the president's constitutional duties? | -Make treaties. -Command the army and navy. -Grant pardons. -Reviewing legislation. |
| How can the legislative branch check the executive branch? | 1.) Impeach or remove president. 2.) Can override veto. 3.) Controls spending of money. 4.) Approves or rejects certain presidential nominations (Senate). 5.) Must ratify all formal U.S. treaties (Senate). |
| How can the legislative branch check the judicial branch? | 1.) Can impeach and remove federal judges. 2.) Establishes lower court/ approve federal judges. 3.) Propose Constitutional amendments. |
| How can the executive branch check the legislative branch? | Can veto, or reject, legislation. |
| How can the executive branch check the judicial branch? | Appoints federal judges. |
| How can the judicial branch check the legislative branch? | Can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional through the power of judicial review. |
| How can the judicial branch check the executive branch? | Can declare executive acts unconstitutional. |
| What are the five ways informal amendments are formed? | 1.) Legislation passed by Congress. 2.) Executive actions by the president. 3.) Supreme Court decisions. 4.) Political parties. 5.) Customs. |
| When was the Bill of Rights formed/added? | 1791. |
| What is popular sovereignty? | The government's authority comes from the people. |
| What branch makes the nations laws? | The legislative branch. |
| What is the supremacy clause? | It declare that the Constitution is the "supreme law of the land". |
| True or false: Once an amendment has been ratified, it can never be reversed. | False. |
| What are the Bill of Rights? | The first ten amendments in the Constitution. |
| How many state legislature must approve an amendment before it becomes part of the Constitution? | 38 or 3/4. |
| What are the current number of constitutional amendments? | 27. |
| The Constitution is called a ______ document because it is flexible enough to allow the government to change with the changing times. | Loose. |
| ________ was the first president to bring together the heads of the executive departments to act as advisors. | Washington. |
| Customs and traditions., which are... | Long-established, informal ways of doings things, have helped to shape U.S. government. |
| Many of Congress's powers are... | Implied by the Constitution. |
| True or false: Political parties were not listed in the Constitution. | True. |
| According to Madison, the Constitution... | Ensures that all interests have an equal chance to be represented. |
| What can happen with political gridlock? | It can limit the ability of government to work effectively. |
| True or false (correct if false): Groups motivated by self-interests are called "majorities'. | False; factions, not majorities. |
| True or false (correct if false): When the branches of government disagree on a situation, the president has the final say. | False; The Supreme Court, not the President. |
| True or false (correct if false): Madison wanted the country to remain small so that government would remain manageable. | False; He wanted the federal government to remain small. |
Created by:
OliviaRoark
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