Federal Government 2305 Exam 1

What does the First Amendment of the Constitution provide for?

Freedom of assembly

Federalism refers to how power is distributed...

between national and state governments

Under the Constitution, both the national and state governments...

are accountable to the people

Which of the following public policies would conservatives be most likely to support?

a. Regulating the banking and financial sectors

b. Overturning welfare programs

c. Decreasing defense spending

d. Prohibiting any references to God or religion on money or government buildings

e. Universal healthcare provided by the government

B

National laws that direct state or local governments to comply with federal rules or regulations but do not include funds to help defray the costs are called?

Unfunded mandates

Confederate System

Government and states are sovereign and national government only allow what state permits.

Federal System

Government which sovereignty shared between state and national government.

Unitary System

Sovereignty in the hands of national government.

Conservatives generally believe that

a. government should guarantee individual rights

b. government should be abolished

c. government should provide only for defense and little else

d. there should be less government intervention in economic affairs

e. activist governments are often necessary

D

An example of a concurrent power is

a. setting the time, place, and manner of elections

b. impeaching federal officials

c. spending money for the general welfare

d. coining money

e. establishing national courts

C

Social contract theory

the idea that individuals possess free will and that every individual is equally endowed with the God given right of self-determination and the ability to consent to be governed. Proposed by Locke and Hobbes.

Article 1, section 8

Gives Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper to carry out its powers. These powers are know as enumerated powers.

If the Texas legislature passes a law that directly conflicts with a national law, the national law will reign supreme.

True

Liberals often favor.....

spending on social programs, more lenient enforcement of laws such as the USA Patriot Act, and affirmative action program to help make up for economic injustices.

Authoritarian governments

Are kept in check by other political or social institutions, such as the army, an organized church, organized business groups, or labor.

I a person accused of a crime in Arizona leaves for Missouri, are Missouri authorities required to return the defendant to Arizona to stand trial?

Yes, because it is required by the extradition clause of Article IV.

The necessary and proper clause is the root of Congress's implied powers.

True

The 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled farmers marched on Springfield, Massachusetts, to prevent foreclosure on their farms was called

Shays's Rebellion

The American emphasis on the importance of the individual is rooted in the principle of...

Political equality

Who said that life without government would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short?"

Thomas Hobbes

Advocates of the Tea Party movement, who advocate strongly for states'[ rights, would MOST likely support which of the following types of government?

a. Unitary system

b. Confederation

c. Communitarianism

d. Republicanism

e. Federal system

B

U.S. Supreme Court justices are appointed by the...

President

True

In a confederate system, the state governments draw their power from the people.

The two ways to propose a constitutional amendment requires either a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate, or a special constitutional convention at the request of two-thirds of the states.

True

What theory does Locke's "Second Treatise on Civil Government" set?

Natural rights

Informal methods of amending the Constitution include....

Judicial interpretation and cultural and social change.

The Sixteenth Amendment granted states greater power over taxation.

False

Why was indirect democracy a necessary alternative to direct democracy?

It became increasingly difficult to bring all the colonists together in the decision-making process.

Libertarians would likely advocate for the USA Patriot Act.

False

What does the full faith and credit clause found in Article IV require?

That states generally honor the laws and rulings of other states.

Liberals....

generally favor government intervention to promote equality.

Honoring out-of-state driver's license is an example of the consequences of....

The full faith and credit clause

Dred Scott v. Sandford

The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens, but property.

The power to tax is a concurrent power in the U.S. federal system.

True

The division of authority among the three branches of government is called....

Separation of powers.

The Tenth Amendment provides for...

States' reserve or police powers.

Why would legal proceedings properly recorded in a court of law in California are generally deemed admissible in a court of law in Texas, or any other state.

Full faith and credit clause

The Three-Fifths Compromise was a deal to....

Iron out the differences between slave-holding and non-slave holding states.

Social conservatives, who now form a large part of the base of the Republican Party, often are also members of...

Religious organizations

Direct Democracy

A system in which all members of the polity meet to discuss policy and make decisions.

Which of the following is NOT one of the functions of government?

a. provide services

b. providing for common defense

c. to fight against the socialization of new generations

d. preserving order and stability

C

Miranda v. Arizona

Supreme Court ruling that individuals who are arrested must be informed of their constitutional rights

Civil War Amendments

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments

Which aspect of racial discrimination became the primary target of the NAACP inits first decades of existence?

Separate but equal doctrine

If an employer engages in a practice whereby it gives bonuses to employees who live by themselves, it is practicing what kind of discrimination against married employees?

De Facto

Which legal case established the clear and present danger test in relation to free speach?

Schenck v. United States

The U.S. Supreme Court consistently has found that

the disabled can sue local governments that do not make public buildings accessible to the disabled.

True

The principle of prior restraint, established in the case of Near v. Minnesota, relates to...

Freedom of speech

The Supreme Court has defined obscenity differently in different periods of time.

True

Which 1961 decision extended exclusionary rules of search and seizure to state court proceedings?

Mapp v. Ohio

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment that discriminates base on what?

Race, creed, color, and religion

Which of the following forms of opinion-based communication is/are protected by the Constitution?

Blogs and email, letters and pamphlets, and rallies and speeches.

Colleges and Universities use affirmative action policies to ensure a student body that is diverse in...

race, color, economic status, and place of origin.

A person being tried for armed robbery is left for an entire day in an interrogation room and is not given any food or beverages. The police in this case are most likely violating which Amendment?

Eighth Amendment

Who established the bad tendency test, which made it easier to punish citizens for speech content?

Gitlow v. New York

Religious rights, including the right to free exercise and the protection against establishment of an official religion, are protected by which Amendment?

First Amendment

What do the religion clauses of the First Amendment achieve?

It bars the government from establishing a national religion, from favoring one group over another, and from interfering with individual religious practices.

When secular law conflicts with religious beliefs, freedom of religion is sometimes denied.

True

Due process protectoin

A legal safeguard that prevents the government from arbitrarily depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property.

Which constitutional amendments were passed in the aftermath of the Civil War, and codified the victory of the North?

13th, 14th, and 15th

What did the southern states, during the Jim Crow era, use to deny African Americans their voting rights?

White primaries, literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses.

In Plessy v. Ferguson, a majority of the Supreme Court argued that the Constitution should be colorblind.

False

Brandenburg v. Ohio

A 1969 legal case that marked a reversal of the Supreme Court's traditional position, and also saw the establishment of the imminent lawless action test.

What are some examples of Symbolic speech?

Picketing, flag burning, or wearing an armband

Dred Scott v. Sandford

1857 Supreme Court decision set the stage for the Civil War by mobilizing the abolitionist movement.

What protects an individual from being held in custody without the right to be heard in a court of law?

Habeas corpus

13th Amendment

Ended slavery

14th Amendment

Guarantees equal protection and due process of the law to all U.S. citizens

15th Amendment

Says that we shall not deny the people the right to vote based on race, etc.

Accommodationist

A person who seeks compromise with an opposing point of view, typically political one.

Anti-Federalists

Favored strong state government and weak national government.

* Wanted a Bill of Rights in the Constitution

*Did not like that the national government could have an army during peacetime

*Policies favored farmers, artisans, and skilled workers

*Did not approve of the necessary and proper clause (it gave too much power to the national government)

*Feared a strong Executive branch would lead to a monarchy

*People must actively participate in order to have a free government

Aristocracy

Rule based on nobility

*job

*riches

*educated

Articles of Confederation

"League of Friendship". The first constitution of the 13 American states, adopted in 1781 and replace in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States.

Barron vs. Baltimore

The Supreme court ruled that the due process clause of the 5th Amendment did not apply to the actions of states. This decision limited the Bill of Rights to the actions of the congress alone.

Bear Arms

2nd Amendment. The right to carry firearms.

Bill of Rights

The first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution. Guarantees specific rights and liberties.

Block

Money given for general reasons (ex: education)

Capital Punishment

The legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime.

Categorical

Money given for specific purposes. Strict guidelines.

Civil Liberties

The personal guarantees and freedom that the government cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation.

Clear and Present Danger Test

Established by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in the unanimous opinion for the case Schenck v. United States, concerning the ability of the government to regulate speech against the draft during WWI.

Competitive Federalism

Where state and local governments compete for different laws and powers, and then people choose which region they live under.

Compulsory Process

Clause of the 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows defendants in criminal cases to secure witnesses in their favor through the issuance of a court-ordered subpoena.

Confederacy

A union or combination of people, states, etc; alliance; league.

Confrontation

A hostile or argumentative meeting or situation between opposing parties.

Conservative

Favors limited government intervention

*limited government

*local and state action

*fiscal responsibility

Cooperative Federalism

When national, state, and local governments work together to make the government easier.

Court packing plan

A move by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to increase the size of the Supreme Court and then bring in several new justices who would change the balance of opinion on the court.

Declaration of Independence

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain.

Defamation

The action of damaging the good reputation of someone; slander or libel.

Democracy

Ruled by the people

Democratic Republic

Neither a democratic or Republic. Usually a dictatorship.

Dictatorship

Ruled by one or a group (ex. China/N. Korea)

Dillon's Rule

A premise articulated by Judge John F. Dillon in 1868

*states that local governments DO NOT have any inherit sovereignty and instead must be authorized by state governments that can create or abolish them.

Dual Federalism

Other powers to states. Giving limited list of powers primary foreign policy and national defense to the national government.

Due Process Clause

Clause contained in the 5th and 14th Amendments; over the years, it has been construed to guarantee a variety of rights to individuals.

Elastic

A statement in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.

Eminent Domain

The right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.

Enumerated

The powers of the national government specifically granted to congress in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

Exclusionary Rule

Judicially created rule that prohibits police from using illegally seized evidence at trial.