AP Semester II Review Part VIII

A constitutional convention in 1787 created a blue print for American government. The Founding Fathers settled upon a republican form of government, also called a

• Representative democracy

• Parliamentary polity

• Direct democracy

• Confederation of elites

In Federalist 10 James Madison argued that the “mischief of factions” could best be controlled by

• An energetic president

• A large republic

• Expanding suffrage

• Frequent elections

Who felt that the constitution should be revisited every generation?

• James Madison

• Thomas Jefferson

• George Washington

• John Adams

The U.S. Supreme Court has attempted to limit presidential power in a number of cases. How was the presidency limited in the case U.S. v. Nixon (1974)?

• Executive Orders were unconstitutional

• Signing statements had limits

• Cabinet authority was diminished

• Executive Privilege had limits

In Federalist #70 Alexander Hamilton wrote:

Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government…Every man the least conversant in Roman story, knows how often that republic was obliged to take refuge in the absolute power of a single man…

Hamilton was arguing for

• A king

• A weak president

• A strong president

• The abolition of the Executive Branch

In Federalist 78 Alexander Hamilton wrote, “Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must perceive, that, in a government in which they are separated from each other, the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them.”

What is the main idea of this passage?

• The Congress is the most powerful branch

• The Courts will be the least dangerous branch

• The President will have supreme power over the courts

• The separation of powers divides authority equally

Which of the following scenarios characterizes a judge who practices judicial restraint?

• The judge chose to wait in making a decision due to a change in public opinion

• The judge deferred to Congress by choosing to deny jurisdiction in the case

• The judge felt it necessary to help low income workers in the absence of any other public policy

• The judge chose to give meaning to a vague portion of Congress’ new law on marriage

In the beginning the federal bureaucracy was compromised of patronage appointments that were friends and patrons of the president. The Civil Service Act of 1883 changed all of that. Today the vast majority of federal bureaucrats are chosen by

• Merit

• Partisan elections

• Non-partisan elections

• The majority party in Congress

Independent regulatory agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

• Are typically staffed by highly partisan patronage jobs

• Work from secret budgets that even the Congress cannot control

• Exist outside Cabinet authority and often act free of presidential influence

• Are checked much more closely then Cabinet related functions

Case that ruled the legislative veto unconstitutional

• Wesberry v Sanders

• INS v Chadha

• US v Nixon

• NY Times v US