Quiz 1.3-1.6 Review

Read the passage and answer the following question.

“In a pure democracy the people are the sovereign, and their will is declared by themselves; for this purpose they must all come together to deliberate, and decide. This kind of government cannot be exercised, therefore, over a country of any considerable extent; it must be confined to a single city, or at least limited to such bounds as that the people can conveniently assemble, be able to debate, understand the subject submitted to them, and declare their opinion concerning it.”

-Brutus No. 1

Which of the following political parties would have agreed with the ideological perspectives in the passage when it was written?

• Progressives

• Anti-Federalists

Why are the compromises that were necessary to secure ratification of the Constitution still debated today?

• They left some matters unresolved

• The compromises violated states' rights

"In a single republic, all the power surrendered by the people is submitted to the administration of a single government; and the usurpations are guarded against by a division of the government into distinct and separate departments. In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself."

-Publius (James Madison), Federalist No. 51, 1788

Which of the following principles of US government is most consistent with the author’s argument?

• Consent of the governed

• Separation of powers

Which of the following is one example of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?

• Amending the Articles required a unanimous vote of the states, which was nearly impossible

• The Articles placed too much power in the hands of the central government, which threatened to become tyrannical

Why did the Framers decide to include Article V of the Constitution, detailing an amendment process?

• Concerns about protecting self-government

• Concerns about the central government becoming too powerful

" To what expedient, then, shall we finally resort, for maintaining in practice the necessary partition of power among the several departments, as laid down in the Constitution? The only answer that can be given is, that as all these exterior provisions are found to be inadequate, the defect must be supplied, by so contriving the interior structure of the government as that its several constituent parts may, by their mutual relations, be the means of keeping each other in their proper places."

-Publius (James Madison), Federalist No. 51, 1788

Which of the following principles of US government is most consistent with the author’s argument?

• Natural rights

• Checks and balances

Which of the following is a consequence of the principle of separation of powers?

• There are multiple access points for stakeholders and institutions to influence public policy

• The presidency has become more powerful than the other branches of government

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the concept of “separation of powers” in the US Constitution?

• The president commands the nation’s armed forces, while Congress has the power to ratify treaties

• The president can create an executive order, while the Supreme Court can declare it unconstitutional

Which of the following is the most immediate consequence of impeaching a president?

• The president is tried in the Senate

• The president is removed from office

Why have there been relatively few constitutional amendments?

• They must be voted on as a referendum in three-fourths state legislatures

• A Constitution Amendment Bill requires more than a simple majority to be ratified