L77-78: Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

Open Ended

What would you do if you were given unlimited power?

Open Ended

How did the failures of the Articles of Confederation lead to changes in the framework of government?

Multiple Choice

Why was the idea of separating government powers into different branches significant for the development of the United States government?

• We needed a strong central government but one that didn't threaten our liberties by becoming too powerful.

• We decided that we wanted three leaders to have all the power in the United States.

• This wasn't all that significant. It was kind of an accident that we just created and then stuck with afterwards.

• By breaking the government into 3 branches, the founders insured that the federal and state governments had their own powers.

Multiple Choice

What does tyranny mean?

• It's another word in English for a king

• Cruel and oppressive rule by a leader

• The biggest and scariest person in a country

• A leader people don't like

Open Ended

What did James Madison mean when he said, "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny"?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes the main purpose of separating the powers of the federal government into three branches, as explained in Federalist 47?

• To make government more efficient

• To prevent any one person or group from gaining too much control

• To allow the President to have more power

• To reduce the number of laws passed

Multiple Choice

Which responsibilities are correctly matched to their respective branches of government?

• Congress - Interprets laws; President - Declares war; Supreme Court - Signs laws

• Congress - Makes laws; President - Commander in Chief; Supreme Court - Interprets laws

• Congress - Signs laws; President - Coins money; Supreme Court - Declares war

• Congress - Pardons people; President - Approves treaties; Supreme Court - Appoints ambassadors

Open Ended

How did the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers, particularly Baron de Montesquieu, influence the development of the principle of checks and balances in the U.S. Constitution?

Multiple Choice

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary" is another way of saying...

• if humans can, humans will

• people are infinitely good

• governments are created because good people exist

• humans can become angels

Multiple Choice

How does the separation of powers prevent a tyranny?

• It doesn't.

• It prevents any one person or group from having all power.

• It allows the people to vote for their leader, so they don't choose a tyrant.

• It's just like the Articles of Confederation designed it to be.

Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of checks and balances?

• It gives each branch a way to make sure the others don't gain too much power.

• It's the principle that gives us the right to vote for our leaders.

• It's a mystery as to why the Founding Fathers did this.

• It gives one branch a tyrannical power.