civics literacy

Campaigning for a school board member

Which of the following is most closely associated with the concept of civic life?

a) Campaigning for a school board member

b) Going to a museum to see a new art exhibit

c) Watching an online documentary about the Civil War

d) Collecting travel information about different countries

By the actions of their elected officials

Which is the most direct way the wishes of citiens are represented in the United States government?

a) Through the efforts of their employers

b) By the actions of their elected officials

c) Through the work of trade unions

d) By the actions of state universities

It protects all citizens by ensuring no one is above the law

Why is the Rule of Law an important concept underlying the Constitution of the United States?

a) It supports the Executive Branch’s control of the court system

b) It outlines why leaders are more important than citizen

c) It prevents countries from challenging the power of the United States

d) It protects all citizens by ensuring no one is above the law

A government without effective means of restraining its power

Which of the following defines unlimited government?

a) A government without effective means of restraining its power

b) A government with established and respected constraints on its power

c) A government that is required to effectively act on input from its citizens

d) A government that functions effectively and efficiently in managing citizens

State and local governments cannot pass laws that conflict with federal laws

What does it mean to say the Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land?

a) State and local governments do not have the power to write and pass laws

b) The federal government controls all laws made at the state and local level

c) State and local governments cannot pass laws that conflict with federal laws

d) The federal government is also responsible for enforcing state and local laws

That individual liberty is essential

Which is a common theme in both the Magna Carta and the Constitution of the United States?

a) That individual liberty is essential

b) That monarchy is the best form of government

c) That all men are created equal and there should be no rulers

d) That people must overthrow older governments

Citizens elect representatives to whom they delegate the power to make laws

Which of the following most accurately describes a republic?

a) Citizens are required to vote directly on all laws

b) Citizens elect representatives to whom they delegate the power to make laws

c) States delegate the power to make national laws for the federal government

d) The power to make laws belongs only to the citizens and not to the federal government

The Bill of Rights

What is the name given to the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States?

a) The Preamble

b) The Equal Protection Clause

c) The Bill of Rights

d) The Emancipation Proclamation

Legislating taxation

Which power is held concurrently by the state and national government?

a) Legislating taxation

b) Regulating interstate commerce

c) Making treaties with foreign powers

d) Coining money

To secure the unalienable righths of its citizens

According to the Declaration of Independence, what is the primary purpose of government?

a) To provide an organized system of rule

b) To secure the unalienable rights of its citizens

c) To ensure all citizens are skilled and productive

d) To take responsibility for managing the lives of its citizens.

To distribute the power of government across levels and branches

Which statement best explains why the framers of the Constitution of the United States adopted a federal system of government?

a) To create a single government authority to fight the British

b) To staff the government with the diverse skill sets of individuals

c) To distribute the power of government across levels and branches

d) To create a government that was superior to a parliamentary system.

Legislative

A United States Senator is a representative of which branch of government?

a) Executive

b) Judicial

c) Legislative

d) Military

President

Which of the following individuals has the power to veto a law passed by Congress?

a) Senator

b) President

c) Chief Justice

d) Major General

What is the major role of political parties in the United States?

a) To create news stories for the media

b) To control state election results

c) To provide an objective set of facts for voters to review

d) To nominate candidates to run in elections

Use the quote to answer the question.

“Republics . . . derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates . . .” — Benjamin Franklin

Based on this quote, what would Benjamin Franklin most likely see as a major role of the press?

a) To present stories supporting government actions

b) To investigate and report on government actions

c) To purposely avoiding taking sides on government actions

d) To provide continuous criticism of the actions of the president

Which of the following constitutional amendments is primarily focused on the participation of citizens in politics?

a) The Tenth Amendment

b) The Eighteenth Amendment

c) The Twenty-Second Amendment

d) The Twenty-Sixth Amendment

What do the 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments have in common?

a) They focus on increasing the participation of citizens in politics

b) They outlaw slavery and the holding of slaves

c) They specify rules for how amendments can be added

d) They protect the rights of citizens to own different types of guns

Use this information to answer the question.

A driver is stopped by police for speeding. Although there is no sign of other illegal activity, the officer asks the driver to open the trunk of the car so the officer can look inside. The driver refuses the officer’s request.

The driver’s refusal to allow the search is consistent with the rights guaranteed by which amendment to the Constitution of the United States?

a) Third Amendment

b) Fourth Amendment

c) Sixth Amendment

d) Seventh Amendment

Which right is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States?

a) The right to a fair trial

b) The right to freedom of speech

c) The right to keep and bear arms

d) The right to vote for public officials

Which activity is most directly associated with promoting civic participation? a) Sponsoring a foreign exchange student as a host family for a year

b) Arranging for a high school class to travel to a foreign country

c) Taking elementary students on a tour of a nearby manufacturing plant

d) Offering students a chance to participate in a community service project

Which statement about immigration to the United States is most accurate?

a) Immigrants have rarely contributed to American society in art or business

b) Immigration has had little cultural or social impact on the United States

c) Historically, immigrant groups have rarely tried to integrate into American culture and remain outside the mainstream

d) The history and culture of the United States has been significantly impacted by successive waves of immigration

Which of the following was NOT a major cause of the American Revolution?

a) The Seven Years War

b) The Boston Tea Party

c) The Intolerable Acts

d) The Issue of Slavery

Why did the British government look to impose new taxes on the Colonists in the years leading up to the American Revolution?

a) To provide money to support the integration of Native-Americans into colonial societies

b) To help pay costs for defending the colonies during the French and Indian War

c) To finance the importation of enslaved people into the southern colonies

d) To enrich local merchants who were friendly with the British government

Which of the following was a major cause of the Civil War?

a) Disagreements over taxation and representation in Congress

b) The restrictions on citizens imposed by the Treaty of Ghent

c) Conflicts regarding the extension of slavery in new states

d) The coining of money by the governments of southern states

How did the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford impact abolitionists in the period before the Civil War?

a) They were elated that the court found slavery was morally wrong

b) It gave momentum to the anti-slavery movement in the United States

c) It led to the disbanding of most abolitionist groups across the country

d)It created new conflicts between abolitionists and people who were against slavery.

c

Patrick Henry introduced what important change in mindset at the first Continental congress

a) That the colonists should now consider themselves traitors

b) That the colonists should maintain the identity of the individual "states"

c) That the colonists should consider themselves American not Virginians, New Yorkers, etc

d) That the colonists should embark on their manifest destiny to tame the continent

Thomas Hobbes

Which of the following writers did not directly influence Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence?

a) Thomas Paine

b) Thomas Hobbes

c) George Mason

d) John Locke

Consent

Which of the following concepts forms the "genesis of government" for Thomas Jefferson?

a) Authority

b) Legitimacy

c) Consent

d) Power

False

True or False: The first three words of the Declaration of Independence are "We the People."

a) True

b) False

Protect important rights

For Jefferson the purpose of government is to

a) Protect important rights

b) Ensure safety

c) Ensure domestic tranquility

d) Provide for the common defense

Declare war

Which of the following could Congress do under the Articles of Confederation?

a) Regulate Interstate Commerce

b) Raise an Army

c) Tax

d) Declare war

New Jersey Plan

Which of the following plans for Representation was most similar to that under the Articles of Confederation?

a) Connecticut Plan

b) New Jersey Plan

c) Virginia Plan

d) Madison Plan

A vote for a House district in New York, is worth less than a vote in a House district in Texas

As a result of the Great Compromise, which statement is not correct?

a) Delaware and Alaska have the same number of members of Congress.

b) A vote for a House district in New York, is worth less than a vote in a House district in Texas.

c) California has more House members than any other state.

d) The votes of 38 million Californian's have the same value in the Senate as those of 500,000 people from Wyoming.

A stronger central Government

Most of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention favored

a) A weaker central Government

b) Renewing the war with Great Britain

c) Keeping the Articles of Confederation intact

d) A stronger central Government

The weakness of the Articles of Confederation

What did Shays rebellion demonstrate?

a) The weakness of the Articles of Confederation.

b) The willingness of states to assist other states.

c) The need to disarm the populace.

d) That the central government had become too powerful.

Thomas Hobbes

Which of the following philosophers did not discuss the division of state power?

a) John Locke

b) Aristotle

c) Montesquieu

d) Thomas Hobbes

Having different term lenghts for House, Senate and President

The Founders reinforced institutional separateness by

a) Having different term lengths for House, Senate and President

b) Having the House confirm Supreme Court appointments

c) Having different Salaries for the House, President and Supreme Court

d) Having the Senate ratify treaties

Congress, not the President, has the power to seize private property

Truman lost the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company case, as the court ruled

a) Congress, not the President, has the power to seize private property

b) Steel production might fall under government ownership

c) Congress had not declared the Korean conflict a war, as such the President did not have "Emergency powers"

d) The case was moot as the Korean conflict had ended

Each branch of governemnt should be able to check the others

Montesquieu differs from other philosophers in that he argued

a) Each branch of government should be able to check the others

b) Power should be concentrated in the executive

c) No danger arises from the concentration of power

d) Violence should be used to avoid an abuse of power

All legislative power

The first words of Article 1 of the Constitution are

a) The States shall

b) The executive power shall

c) The judicial power shall

d) All legislative power

Drowning

Which of the following has not been used as a method of execution in the United States?

a) Poison

b) Gas chamber

c) Drowning

d) Firing squad

Protects against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

The 8th Amendment

a) Provides for a speedy trial

b) Reserves rights to the states

c) Protects against "cruel and unusual punishment."

d) Provides for equal protection under the law

Marbury v Madison

What case first established "Judicial Review?"

a) Trop v Dulles

b) Marbury v Madison

c) Bush v Gore

d) Roper v Simmons

8th

Which amendment protects us from "Cruel and unusual punishment"?

a) 7th

b) 6th

c) 8th

d) 4th

Executing someone under the age of 18 is cruel and unusual

What did the Supreme Court decide in Roper v Simmons?

a) The method of execution is a right reserved to the states under the 10th Amendment

b) Executing someone under the age of 18 is cruel and unusual

c) Simmons was innocent of the murder

d) Using a firing squad for execution is cruel and unusual

Obscenity is protected free speech

In Miller v California the Supreme Court ruled that

a) Miller did not send pornography across state lines and so under the terms of the Commerce Clause the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction.

b) It is necessary and proper that Congress regulate pornography.

c) Obscenity is not protected free speech.

d) Obscenity is protected free speech.

Similar crimes may receive very different punishments depending on which state the crime is committed in.

The Nielsen and Wardlow cases illustrate

a) The Federal government can claim jurisdiction over all murder cases if it chooses.

b) Similar crimes may receive very different punishments depending on which state the crime is committed in.

c) The uniformity of the US criminal code.

d) Rich defendants typically receive lighter sentences than poor defendants.

Extend to Bill of Rights to be applicable in the States

The Supreme Court has used the Fourteenth Amendment to

a) Limit the ability of the states to impose the death penalty.

b) Expand the scope of the Commerce Clause.

c) Extend to Bill of Rights to be applicable in the States.

d) Limit federal regulation of the states.

This is an example of the Supremacy Calsue

Federal laws take precedence when in conflict with state laws.

a) Is guaranteed by the Bill of Rights

b) Is power of the Supreme Court

c) This is an example of the Supremacy Clause

d) This is an example of the Elastic Clause

Protects the states from some lawsuits.

The 11th Amendment

a) States that Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

b) Protects the states from foreign invasion.

c) Protects the states from some lawsuits.

d) Reserves powers to the states.