US Gov Unit 1 (Chapter 1 and 2) – Flashcards

How does the Preamble to the Constitution begin?

What was the most common initial reason for settlement in North America by the first colonists?

In a direct democracy, decisions are made collectively by citizens using __________.

The ancient Greeks considered representative government to be __________.

Indirect democracy uses which of the following?

What are republics?

In an oligarchy, rule is by which of the following?

Which function of government stated in the Preamble is consistent with the notion of having government-provided police protection?

Which of the following expanded Americans' conceptions of personal liberty?

The idea that governments draw legitimacy and power from the governed is referred to as which of the following?

Which of the following is the doctrine that society should be governed by certain ethical principles that are part of nature and can be understood by reason?

The Framers agreed that the new nation had to be founded on notions of which of the following?

How many citizens did the Constitution initially mandate that each member of the House of Representatives should represent?

In general, which of the following is true about the U.S. population?

What percentage of Americans are immigrants?

Which accurately compares Southerners to Northerners?

Approximately what percentage of children live in a household with both parents?

Based on the average age of the state's population, which issue would you expect to be least important to voters in Florida, which has the oldest state population in the U.S.?

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

Members of which of the following groups are most likely to be social conservatives?

Which of the following is a true statement about liberals?

Which of the following is a true statement about moderates?

Over time, Americans' expectations of government have generally __________.

Americans' confidence in government institutions in the United States has __________.

Americans generally have the lowest levels of confidence in which of the following institutions?

Which of the following was expected of the federal government 200 years ago?

Which of the following did NOT lead to American settlement in the seventeenth century?

A social contract theory of government was proposed by

Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government sets out a theory of

Who was the major author of the Declaration of Independence?

According to the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution, which of the following is NOT an example of a function of American government?

The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is

The more or less consistent set of values that are reflected in the political, economic, social, and moral order of society is called

All of the following are among the functions that political scientists attribute to ideologies EXCEPT

Conservatives generally believe that

Politics, as defined in the text, is

The House and Senate in 1994 and 1996 experienced unprecedented numbers of retirements due to

Hobbes argued that the only protection for the rights of the weak in a polity was a

A direct democracy is a system in which

Adam Smith argued that free trade produced the wealth of nations through

Many citizens opt not to go to the polls because

It is important to remember that politics often involve

The idea that governments draw legitimacy and power from the governed is often referred to as

The single most important characteristic of American democracy is

Attitudes toward the political system and its various parts are often called

One year after the Constitution was ratified, the population of the United States was about __________ million.

Most Americans in the early republic shared some characteristics including

The Constitution mandated that each member of the House of Representatives should represent __________ citizens.

From the 1880s to 1910s, many of the immigrants who came to the United States were from

Originally demographers did not anticipate _________ would surpass African- Americans as the largest minority until 2050.

In 1997, 54 percent of Americans said that the ideal family size was __________ children.

In the 1840s, there were a number of people opposed to the immigration of Roman Catholics to the U.S. Many of these people got together and formed the

The single biggest reason Americans gave for not voting in a 1996 Census Bureau Report was that

Our system of government often changes in response to

At the Constitutional Convention, the delegates agreed that slaves would be counted as __________ of a person for determining population for representation in the House of Representatives.

__________ is an economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade.

In what year was the Declaration of Independence signed?

How many constitutions has the United States had in its history?

The U.S. Constitution was adopted in response to the weaknesses of which document?

The colonists rebelled against the imposition by the British government of which of the following?

Who was the author of the Declaration of Independence?

Which of the following debated and drafted the Declaration of Independence?

Which clause provides that the Constitution shall be the supreme law of the land?

Which of the following people generally favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution?

How many amendments comprise the Bill of Rights?

In what year was the U.S. Constitution ratified?

Which of the following imposed a tax on paper items such as cards and books?

How many of the thirteen colonies voted for independence?

In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution contains __________ powers.

During the Constitutional Convention, which states generally opposed an unelected federal judiciary?

The Constitution required consent from __________ for ratification.

Many of the Founders believed that government legitimacy is derived from __________, which holds that governments exist based on the consent of the governed.

What type of legislature did the United States have under the Articles of Confederation?

Which of the following specifies the procedure for amending the Constitution?

The First Continental Congress was called partially in response to which of the following?

The executive branch is in charge of which of the following?

What was the subject of the Great Compromise?

What does the Ninth Amendment say?

The publication of which of the following galvanized the colonists' belief that reconciliation with Great Britain was impossible?

Which of the following was a problem under the Articles of Confederation?

What did supporters of the New Jersey Plan want to do to the Articles of Confederation?

Prior to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, how were senators selected?

Which of the following is a reason for the separation of powers?

Which of the following was part of both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution?

Which of the following can be found in Article I?

Which of the following can be used to help determine the intent of the Framers?

Which of the following is a method of ratifying constitutional amendments?

To facilitate communication and the flow of information among independence-minded colonists, colonial leaders formed the

Great Britain used the principle of mercantilism to justify

Eighteen to 21-year-olds received the right to vote with ratification of the

In 1765, the American colonists initiated a major protest against the

Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were among the leaders of the

The "shot heard round the world" was fired at

Which of the following BEST describes the relationships among states under the Articles of Confederation?

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

The original purpose of the Constitutional Convention was to

A committee was appointed at the Constitutional Convention to work out the differences between the proposals of large and small states; the result was the

The Electoral College system created by the Framers was designed to give

The system of government in which power is divided between the state and national governments is called

A type of government in which the national government is weaker than the sum of its parts is called

The ________ is empowered by the Constitution to make all federal laws.

The Virginia Plan called for a national system with

The smaller states presented a plan at the Constitutional Convention advocating the strengthening of the Articles of Confederation. The plan was presented by

The most serious disagreement in the debate between large and small states at the Constitutional Convention was the issue of

The sole responsibility of investigating and charging a president or vice president with "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" falls to the

The Legislative Branch is established in

Article VI is also known as the

The series of 85 political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the new constitution are called the

The amendment process for the Constitution is set out in Article V and creates a

The only Amendment passed and ratified that repealed a prior amendment was the

Of the more than 10,000 amendments introduced in Congress, __________ have been sent to the states for debate and ratification.

The amendment process for the Constitution is set out in Article V and sets up a

The 18th Amendment was added to the Constitution in order to enable

The Madison Amendment that prohibits Congress from raising their own salaries during the term of Congress was passed many years after it was proposed. It is also known as the __________ Amendment.