Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy: practice

Question 1

The Three-Fifths Compromise settled a dispute at the Constitutional Convention over

Question 2

The Constitution barred Congress from prohibiting the importation of enslaved people before 1808. This provision shows that the delegates

Question 3

Several states ratified the Constitution only after Federalists promised to add a bill of rights. The promise was made mainly to

Question 4

After the September 11, 2001, attacks, Congress expanded the federal government's power to conduct surveillance in terrorism investigations, and critics argued that the changes threatened privacy. This debate best reflects

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of the judicial branch checking Congress?

Question 6

In 1993 Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to restore a stricter test for laws that burden religious practice, responding to a recent Supreme Court decision. In 1997 the Court held that the act could not be applied to state and local governments. This sequence best illustrates

Question 7

Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were both impeached by the House of Representatives but remained in office. Which of the following explains why?

Question 8

A country's constitution allows its governor-general to write the laws, enforce them and decide all court cases about them. This arrangement departs most directly from which principle followed in the U.S. Constitution?

Question 9

When a president used executive action to delay deportations for some immigrants without new legislation, members of Congress tried to cut off funds for the policy and several states sued in federal court. These responses show

Question 10

Which feature of the Constitution most directly reflects the ideal of limited government?

Question 11

Which feature of the original Constitution best reflects the elite model of democracy?

Question 12

Farm groups, food companies and consumer organizations each lobby Congress over a new food-safety bill, and the final law reflects compromises among them. This best illustrates

Question 13

Which of the following was a central argument of the Anti-Federalists?

Question 14

Under the Articles of Confederation, a proposal to let Congress collect a tax on imports failed even though most states supported it. Which feature of the Articles explains this outcome?

Question 15

In the 1780s, several states taxed goods brought in from neighboring states, and trade disputes among them grew. Which change made by the Constitution addressed this problem most directly?

Question 16

Congress requires state governments to make their public buildings accessible to people with disabilities but provides no money to cover the costs. This is an example of

Question 17

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 withheld part of a state's federal highway funds unless the state set its minimum drinking age at 21. This law shows how the national government

Question 18

After a major hurricane, federal, state and local agencies each directed parts of the response, and confusion over who was in charge slowed relief. This situation best illustrates

Question 19

In 1996 Congress replaced a federal welfare program governed by detailed national rules with block grants that gave states more freedom to design their own programs. This change is an example of

Brutus, Anti-Federalist essay No. 1, 1787

In a republic, the manners, sentiments, and interests of the people should be similar. If this be not the case, there will be a constant clashing of opinions; and the representatives of one part will be continually striving against those of the other. This will retard the operations of government, and prevent such conclusions as will promote the public good. If we apply this remark to the condition of the United States, we shall be convinced that it forbids that we should be one government. . . .

In so extensive a republic, the great officers of government would soon become above the control of the people, and abuse their power to the purpose of aggrandizing themselves, and oppressing them.

Question 20

Brutus's main argument in the excerpt is that

Question 21

Madison, writing in Federalist No. 10, would most likely respond to Brutus's concern about the variety of interests in the United States by arguing that

Question 22

Brutus's concern that officials in a large republic would escape the people's control most closely reflects which model of democracy?

James Madison, Federalist No. 39, 1788

The House of Representatives will derive its powers from the people of America . . . . So far the government is NATIONAL, not FEDERAL. The Senate, on the other hand, will derive its powers from the States, as political and coequal societies . . . . So far the government is FEDERAL, not NATIONAL. . . .

The proposed Constitution, therefore, is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both. In its foundation it is federal, not national; in the sources from which the ordinary powers of the government are drawn, it is partly federal and partly national; in the operation of these powers, it is national, not federal . . . .

Question 23

According to the excerpt, which feature of the Constitution is 'federal' rather than 'national'?

Question 24

Madison's description of the Constitution as 'a composition of both' most directly supports which claim about federalism?

James Madison, Federalist No. 51, 1788

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. . . . Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. . . . If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

Question 25

Which provision of the Constitution most clearly gives one department the 'constitutional means' Madison describes to resist encroachments by another?

Question 26

Madison's statement 'If men were angels, no government would be necessary' supports his argument that

Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. . . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Question 27

Lincoln's description of a nation 'dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal' draws most directly on which earlier document?

Hypothetical federal grant programs to one state, one year

A table of four federal grant programs to one state, showing the amount of each grant and the conditions on how the state may spend it.
Program	Amount (millions of dollars)	Conditions on use
Highway safety	200	Only for listed road safety projects; results reported to the federal agency
Community development	350	Any housing or neighborhood project the state chooses
School meals	400	Only for school meals that meet federal nutrition standards
General assistance	50	No conditions on use

Question 28

The state's governor asks Congress to merge the highway safety and school meals programs into one grant the state could spend on any transportation or health project. The governor's request reflects

Chief Justice John Marshall, opinion of the Court, McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819

We admit, as all must admit, that the powers of the government are limited, and that its limits are not to be transcended. But we think the sound construction of the constitution must allow to the national legislature that discretion, with respect to the means by which the powers it confers are to be carried into execution, which will enable that body to perform the high duties assigned to it, in the manner most beneficial to the people. Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional.

Question 29

Which of the following federal actions would the reasoning in the excerpt most clearly support?

Question 30

An Anti-Federalist such as Brutus would most likely react to the reasoning in the excerpt by saying that it

The U.S. Constitution, Article VI, 1787

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

Question 31

A state passes a law that directly conflicts with a valid federal law on the same subject. Based on the excerpt, a court would most likely rule that

Question 32

Which limit on federal supremacy is stated in the text of the excerpt itself?

Two views of the national government's role in public schools

View A: Public schools are a matter for states and local communities. National requirements attached to federal school funding push one model onto districts that differ in size, needs and resources. Parents have the most influence over a local school board that they elect and can attend in person.

View B: Every child deserves a basic standard of schooling, wherever the child happens to live. Without national standards and the federal funding tied to them, poorer states may fall behind, and some students' rights may go unprotected.

Question 33

View A's argument is most consistent with which position in the debate over the Constitution?

Question 34

Supporters of View B would most likely favor which federal action?