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American Government 100
Patterson, pgs. 28-44, AG2-15
Woll, pgs. 41-46
Part I
Constitutional Democracy
True or False Questions
1. Patterson believes that limited government and representative government are wholly compatible
since these concepts mean the same thing. True or False
2. In the American democratic political system, the will majority will always trump the demands of
the minority. True or False
3. The idea of popular government--in which the majority's desires have a more direct and immediate
impact on governing officials--has gained little strength since the nation's beginning. True or False
4. The British Parliament was simply a rubber-stamp institution that bowed to the powers of the
monarch. True or False
.
5. The American colonies had an elected representative assembly which was subject to British
oversight. True or False
6. Locke held that people have inalienable rights, but unlike Jefferson, Locke argued that people may
never rebel against a ruler who tramples on these rights. True or False
7. Locke argues that the social contract is government itself founded on nothing more than fear, an
institution that exercises unlimited power. True or False
8. The Declaration of Independence was a call to form a new government and not to initiate a
revolution. True or False
9. The Articles of Confederation created a very weak national government that was subordinate to the
states. True or False
10. Under the Articles of Confederation the central government was allowed to tax the states. True
or False
11. The Virginia Plan was concocted by Patrick Henry to the delight of Alexander Hamilton as a
means to derail the constitutional convention and maintain confederation. True or False
12. After an extended debate at the constitutional convention between southern and northern
delegates, a compromise was reached whereby Congress would have the authority to tax imports but
be prohibited from taxing exports. True or False
13. Most of the Framers of the Constitution had no objection to slavery and were indeed enthusiastic
about its legitimation in the document. True or False
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14. The Continental Congress had authorized a complete restructuring of the federal government,
directing the delegates to the Philadelphia convention to come up with a more effective system. True
or False
15. The Anti-Federalists acknowledged the need for more economic cooperation among the states
and for a stronger common defense, but they opposed the creation of a strong national government.
True or False
16. Historical evidence indicates that at the time of the Constitution's ratification, the majority of
ordinary Americans supported it. True or False
Multiple Choice Questions
1. According to Patterson, a system of government that places strict legal limits on the uses of power:
a) majority rule, b) self-government, c) limited government, d) referendum.
2. The following requires that the majority of the people would have the power to rule through its
elected officials: a) minority protections, b) checks and balances, c) separation of powers, d)
representative government.
3. How does the Constitution provide for limited government? a) by directing democratic institutions
and empowering the chief executive, b) by defining lawful powers and dividing those powers among
competing institutions, c) by establishing a more powerful upper legislative chamber and electing the
judiciary, d) by limiting the terms of members of Congress and the president and creating greater
uniformity in the election process.
4. Although most European nations of the eighteenth century implicitly acknowledged the divine
right of kings (absolute monarchies), which of the following was the exception? a) France, b) Britain,
c) Spain, d) Holland.
5. Most of the colonists living in the former thirteen colonies were: a) Protestant, b) Catholic, c)
Mormon, d) Agnostics.
6. Why did the 1765 Stamp Act violate the fundamental rights of the colonies as “British subjects and
men?” a) Because taxes violate the legitimate authority of government, b) Because property is a
natural right that can never be taken away, c) Because the colonists had no representation in the
British Parliament, d) Because the colonists believed that taxes are a central government and not
locally.
7. Which of the following did the British refuse to remove from the Townshend Tax? a) paper, b)
glass, c) lead, d) tea.
8. According to Locke, before there is government, people live in the state of nature where their
protection is assumed by: a) the tribe, b) the group leader, c) God, d) the individual himself.
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9. According to Locke, in order to create a more secure world where the individual is no longer
threatened by others, the individual must band together with others to form a: a) group dynamic, b)
social contract, c) blood bond, d) circle of friends.
10. Why did Daniel Shays initiate a rebellion after the Revolutionary War? a) Shays and his men were
promised back pay and no taxes on their property, commitments that went unfulfilled, b) Shays
decided that life was much better under British rule and wanted a return to the former political system,
c) Shays and his men were criminals and terrorists who wanted to establish a breakaway republic, d)
Shays was wrongly accused of fomenting rebellion when in fact it was Patrick Henry who was the
real culprit.
11. Why would the delegates from small states be opposed to the Virginia Plan at the constitutional
convention? a) The critics believed that the representatives from the larger states were too corrupt, b)
They felt that the plan gave too much power to the proposed central government, c) They strongly
objected to determining representation in both chambers based on population size, d) They opposed
giving the central government the power to both tax and regulate commerce.
12. What conditions were required in the New Jersey Plan? a) It called for a weaker central authority,
b) It demanded that the states regulate commerce while the central government print the currency, c)
It demanded that all aspects of the Articles be eliminated, d) It stipulated that congress would have a
single chamber with each state receiving a single vote.
13. The following provided for a bicameral legislature with representation in the House based on
population while representation in the Senate would be based state equality: a) the New Hampshire
Agreement, b) the North-South Alliance, c) the New England Proviso, d) the Great Compromise.
14. For purposes of apportionment of taxes and seats in the House of Representatives, each slave was
to be counted as: a) whole persons for purposes of representation in the House and taxes, b)
three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation in the House and nonpersons for purposes of
apportioning taxes, c) three-fourths of a person for purposes of representation in the House and
two-thirds for purposes of apportioning taxes, d) one-half of a person for purposes of representation
in the House and four-fifths for purposes of apportioning taxes.
15. When the Second Continental Congress sent delegates to Philadelphia, it stipulated that any
proposed changes to the Articles of Confederation would require: a) an agreement of the majority
members of the Congress and the states, b) an agreement of two-thirds of the members of the
Congress and Nine of the states, c) side-stepping the Congress and going directly to the states and
requiring eleven of the states to agree, d) an agreement of all the members of the Congress and then
confirmed by all thirteen states.
16. To increase the chances that the Constitution would be ratified, what strategy did the delegates of
the Constitution do? a) they violated the Articles of Confederation by requiring ratification by nine
states through special conventions, b) they won the propaganda war and had encircled the Continental
Congress with threats and intimidation if they refused to ratify the Constitution, c) they essentially
paid the majority of members of the Continental Congress with bribes and promises of additional
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lands to win their votes, d) they followed the mandate of the Continental Congress and applied the
procedures stipulated in the Articles of Confederation to scrap the latter.
17. What two states were opposed to ratifying the Constitution and held out until the other eleven
states had ratified the document and had begun the process of forming a new government? a) South
Carolina and New Hampshire, b) North Carolina and Rhode Island, c) New York and West Virginia,
d) Massachusetts and Georgia.
18. What especially heightened the concerns of the Anti-federalists regarding the Constitution? a) It
did not explain the role of the federal government, b) It lacked a bill of rights, c) It neglected the
separation of powers principle, d) It placed no check on the legislature.
19. In the Federalist Papers, Madison and Hamilton argued that the government of the Constitution
would: a) not endanger the people but would marginalize the states, b) reinforce the limitation of the
Articles of Confederation by restricting the Congress, c) correct the defects in the Articles through a
system of separation of powers, d) require that the Congress and the judiciary be limited and the
executive be the dominant institution.
20. What tilted the two larger states of Virginia and New York to finally support ratification of the
Constitution? a) They were assured that representation in Congress would be based on population
size, b) They were promised that political power would result from the size of a state, c) They were
promised that a bill of rights would be incorporated into the Constitution, d) They were promised that
federal taxes would be based on state equality not population or state size.
21. A system of government in which power is divided between the national government and the
states: a) federalism, b) unitary, c) parliamentary, d) consensual.
Fill-in Questions
1. What did the First Continental Congress demand from the British in 1774?
a) they asked for their own councils for the imposition of ______,
b) an end to British _________ occupation, and
c) ______ by local _______.
2. Jefferson paraphrased Locke’s ideas in passages of the Declaration of Independence, including:
a) those asserting that “all men are created _____,” and
b) that they are entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of ___________,” that
c) governments derive “their just powers from the ________ of the governed,” and that
d) “it is the right of the people to alter or ________” a tyrannical government.
3. What were some of the weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation?
a) The national government had no __________ and no independent __________.
b) All authority was vested in the Congress, but it was largely a creature of the _______.
c) Each of the thirteen states had ____ vote in Congress, and each state appointed its
congressional representatives and paid their salary.
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d) Legislation could be enacted only if _____ of the thirteen state delegations agreed to it.
e) The Articles of Confederation could be amended only if each state _______.
4. According to the Anti-Federalists, what were some of the problems with the proposed
Constitution?
a) They claimed that the national government would be too _________ and
b) would threaten _____-___________ in the separate states and
c) the ________ of the people.
5. What were four of the major goals of the framers of the Constitution?
a) To establish a government _______ enough to meet the nation’s ______.
b) To establish a government that would not threaten the __________ of the separate
_______.
c) To establish a government that would not threaten ________.
d) To establish a government based on popular ________.
Limitation on Governmental Power
Woll, pgs. 41-46
1. According to Woll, constitutional democracy refers to the following:
a) the government is regulated by laws that control and limit the exercise of
b) people participate in government on a
basis
c) majority rule is curtailed and checked through various _______ devices.
.
2. This doctrine was designed to prevent any group from gaining control of the national
governmental apparatus: a) limited government, b) separation of powers, c) consent of the
governed, d) federalism.
Federalist 47
1. What is Madison's basic definition of tyranny in Federalist 47?
The accumulation of all powers,
,
, and
in the
few, or many.
hands, whether of one, a
2. He was the French philosopher from which Madison adopted the idea of separation of powers:
a) Rousseau, b) Kant, c) Montesquieu, d) Descartes.
3. Under limited circumstances, for Madison, the executive branch can introduce laws. True or
False
4. According to Madison, the following state constitution corresponds precisely with the doctrine
that Montesquieu articulated: a) Pennsylvania, b) New York, c) Rhode Island, d) Massachusetts
Federalist 48
1. In a representative republic, argues Madison, the following branch is the most powerful: a)
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executive, b) legislative, c) judiciary, d) military.
2. In a monarchy, which government department is the greatest source of danger for Madison? a)
the executive department b) the legislative department, c) the military, d) the judiciary
Federalist 51
1. He is quoted in Federalist 51 as saying that "if men were angels, no government would be
necessary?" a) Jefferson, b) Madison, c) Franklin, d) Washington.
2. "In a republican form of government, the ___________authority naturally predominates. The
remedy for this inconvenience is to _______ the _____________ into __________ branches; and
render them by different modes of _________...."
3. According to Madison, the executive branch should have the power to veto legislative decisions
in order to guard against dangerous encroachments by the latter. True or False
Answers
Patterson, pgs. 28-44
True or False Questions
1. False
3. False
5. True
7. False
9. True
11. False
13. False
15. True
Multiple Choice Questions
1. c
3. b
5. a
7. d
9. b
11. c
13. d
15. d
17. b
19. c
21. a
Fill-in Questions
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1. a) taxes, b) military, c) juries
3. a) judiciary, executive, b) states, c) one, d) nine, e) agreed
5. a) strong, needs, b) existence, states, c) liberty, d) consent
Woll, pgs. 41-46
1. a) political power, b) limited, c) legal
Federalist 47
1. legislative, executive, judicial, same
3. False
Federalist 48
1. b
Federalist 51
1. b
3. True
A:AG2-15
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