Civics Review

Which of the following is an advantage of a unitary government?

• The central government and local governments share power equally.
• The local governments hold most of the power.
• The central government holds all of the power.
• The central government is a dictatorship.

Which of the following is an advantage of a presidential government?

• The president is elected independently of the legislature.
• The president is part of the legislative branch of government.
• A system of checks and balances increases legislative power.
• A system of checks and balances increases presidential power.

Which statement accurately explains the key difference between the divine right of kings and a constitutional government?

• The divine right of kings and a constitutional government are based on the idea that leaders are chosen by God and are therefore legitimate.
• The divine right of kings ensures that the monarch will answer to the parliament, while a constitutional government ensures that the parliament will answer to a monarch.
• Neither a constitutional government nor the divine right of kings acknowledges the concept of legitimacy of government.
• The divine right of kings is the belief that a government has legitimacy because it is chosen by God, while a constitutional government has legitimacy because it is bound by the rule of law.

primary author of the Declaration of Independence

• George Washington
• Oliver Ellsworth
• Thomas Jefferson
• William Patterson

Which beliefs and principles in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution helped create a national identity?

• Belief in God, allegiance to popular sovereignty, and states' rights
• Free enterprise system, free trade system, and separation of powers
• Individual freedom, political equality, and unalienable rights
• Powerful executive branch, judicial review, and bicameral legislature

The U.S. Congress is a bicameral branch of government in which each state—

• is represented based on its population in the House of Representatives and is equally represented in the Senate
• elects members of the Senate and the House of Representatives every other year
• is represented based on its population in the Senate and is equally represented in the House of Representatives
• is represented based on its population in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives

Which president led the country through WWII?

• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• George Washington
• Harry Truman
• Herbert Hoover

One of the main reasons the Founding Fathers created federalism was because they believed that—

• dividing power among the states and the national government would prevent any governmental entity from abusing its authority
• local governments, if left unchecked by the national government, would spend so much money that they would go bankrupt
• the national government had to strongly control the activities of state governments
• without a strong national government, the country would never be able to expand its borders

Which is a function of state governments that is NOT a function of the federal government?

• Creation of a public school system
• Collection of taxes
• Regulation of interstate commerce
• Punishment for crimes

When the Framers created the legislative branch of government, why did they decide that this branch would have a bicameral structure?

• They wanted to ensure equal representation for each of the thirteen states.
• The Framers formed a bicameral legislature as a compromise between small states, which wanted equal representation in the legislature, and large states, which wanted representation based on population.
• Fearing a powerful judiciary chosen by the President, the Framers wanted a two-house legislature to balance the other two branches of government.
• Fearing a tyrannical executive branch, the Framers were persuaded to create a bicameral legislature by the arguments of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton.