Final Exam 22-23 1st Semester part 1

“that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth…”

from The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln

The excerpt from the Gettysburg Address describes which principle of government?

• separation of powers

• popular sovereignty

• judicial review

• checks and balances

“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.

Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression.”

Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu

According to the passage, what political idea is Montesquieu advocating?

• majority rule

• inalienable rights

• separation of powers

• creation of Supreme Court

“Every man being born free and his own master, no one, under any pretext whatsoever, can make any man subject without his consent… But it is asked how a man can be both free and forced to conform to wills that are not his own. How are the opponents at once free and subject to laws they have not agreed to?

I retort that the question is wrongly put. The citizen gives his consent to all the laws, including those which are passed in spite of his opposition, and even those which punish him when he dares to break any of them. The constant will of all the members of the State is the general will; by virtue of it they are citizens and free.” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Which political theory is described in the passage?

• property rights

• separation of powers

• individual liberty

• social contract

The state of nature and civil society are mutually opposed. In a state of nature men are their own lawmakers and their own judges; they decide the conflicts between themselves and do not look to any other earthly authority. In a civil society, men constitute one body with an agreed-upon authority that is given the responsibility of making laws and executing them. This civil government is only formed by the consent of those who decide to leave the state of nature. It cannot be brought about by force.

John Locke, Two Treatises of Government

In which line from the Declaration of Independence is the idea from the passage best expressed?

• "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

• “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

• “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to

  alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”

• “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to

  reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to

  provide new Guards for their future security.”

Which statement describes the use of an initiative in state government?

• Voters have the opportunity to accept or reject a law on the election ballot.

• Voters petition the state legislature to consider a new law or policy.

• Voters have the right to declare a political party preference when they register to vote.

• Voters petition to have a special vote to remove an official from office.

The Magna Carta (1215) limited the power of the monarchy

in England and made the King subject to the same laws as other Englishmen.

Which principle in the American government was derived from the Magna Carta?

• rule of law

• checks and balances

• popular sovereignty

• separation of powers

How did Thomas Jefferson modify the ideas of John Locke in the Declaration of Independence?

• He argued that government exists only with the consent of the people.

• He did not directly state that property ownership was an inalienable right of man.

• He stated that security through authority was preferable to security through natural rights.

• He did not agree that people had the right to abolish governments that did not secure their rights.

Why did Thomas Jefferson list “quartering” as a grievance in the Declaration of Independence?

• British troops were placed in colonists’ homes and took up their resources.

• British taxes on manufactured goods averaged 25% on the total cost to customers.

• British judges allowed troops to search 1/4 of businesses and warehouses in Boston.

• The British forced the people of Boston to pay back a quarter of the costs of the Tea Party.

How did the government under the Articles of Confederation handle claims to the area on the map labeled Northwest Territory?

• It purchased the land from the states with claims and allowed limited settlement.

• It allowed the states with land claims to trade those for the assumption of their state debts.

• It set aside the land as a federal area for the Indian tribes who were protected from white settlement.

• It passed a land ordinance that provided for the land to be surveyed and sold with the revenue going to the federal government.

Why did the Articles of Confederation not provide for a chief executive?

• Americans feared the establishment of a monarchy.

• Americans had no faith in the leaders of the Revolution.

• Americans believed that states should enforce federal laws.

• Americans had no system for electing one person from all the states.