Multiple Choice

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Chapter 2: The Constitution

Multiple Choice

This activity contains 20 questions.

A major purpose of the economic provisions in the Constitution was to

	guarantee the states a significant economic role.
	preserve and strengthen the farm economy to the disadvantage of manufacturing.
	create a strong national government so as to bring stability out of economic chaos.
	develop economic equality by protecting property.

According to John Locke

	natural law was considered superior to human law.
	natural law was less important than human law.
	human law and natural law were unimportant after revolution.
	human law protected property rights, making human law equal to natural law.

At the top of the political agenda during the period of the Articles of Confederation were

	military issues.
	social-equality issues.
	economic issues.
	voting rights issues.

During the colonial period

	Americans experienced less freedom than citizens of most European nations.
	Britain was involved in all aspects of American politics.
	the king and Parliament generally confined themselves to governing the colonies' foreign and trade policies
	Americans were burdened with cumbersome feudal and hierarchical restraints.

Opposition to ratification of the Constitution was based on the belief that it would

	give too much power to the states.
	promote pluralism, which would threaten liberty.
	produce more democratic elements than desirable for a strong central government.
	provide for elite control, endanger liberty, and weaken the states.

Politically, the Declaration of Independence was primarily

	a polemic, announcing and justifying a revolution.
	a philosophical treatise on politics.
	an outline for a new government.
	a treaty with France for war against Britain.

Regarding voter eligibility, the Constitution

	set strict guidelines.
	left it to Congress to decide.
	has been amended several times to expand the electorate.
	limited voting to white adult males with property.

The Constitutional Convention dealt with slavery by

	prohibiting it after twenty years.
	recognizing it by requiring the return of escaped slaves.
	counting the slaves as a full part of the population for the purposes of representation in the House.
	leaving the subject out of the Constitution so that the states could decide the issue.

The founding fathers believed that the primary source of political conflict was the

	unequal distribution of property.
	absence of majority rule.
	racial and social inequalities.
	religious differences in society.

The Madisonian requirement that each branch of government acquire the consent of the others for many of its actions created a system of

	separation of powers.
	checks and balances.
	constitutional republic.
	confederated government.

The most important effect of the constitutional amendments has been to

	strengthen the capitalist economy.
	expand liberty and equality.
	expand the powers of the states.
	reinforce elite control of government.

The presidency has increased in significance and power as a result of

	judicial review.
	increased demands for new policies.
	the diminished role of the electoral college.
	checks and balances.

The primary goal of the American Revolution was to

	establish a new political system based on democracy.
	create a new economic order.
	institutionalize new social values based on equality.
	restore rights the colonists felt were already theirs as British subjects.

The separation of powers and the checks and balances established by the Constitution

	create so many obstacles that groups have no place for their policy demands to be heard.
	allow almost all groups some place in the political system where their demands for public policy can be heard.
	are basically undemocratic since only elites can formulate policies within the system.
	have acted to discourage the growth of groups in American society.

The U.S. Constitution

	is one of the longest constitutions in the world.
	gives particular detail to the function of the judiciary.
	does not prescribe the function and structure of government in detail.
	lists the executive departments that are required to advise the president.

The Virginia and New Jersey Plans introduced at the Constitutional Convention differed mainly over whether

	slavery should be permitted in the country.
	there should be a legislative branch at the national level.
	the states or the national government should regulate interstate commerce.
	the legislative branch should represent the population or the states.

Two key elements of the Madisonian model were to

	keep as much of the government as possible beyond the control of a popular majority and extend the right to vote to everyone.
	promote state power while separating the powers of different national institutions.
	require a system of checks and balances and extend political equality.
	place most of the government beyond the control of a popular majority and separate the powers of different institutions.

Under the Articles of Confederation, most authority rested with the

	state legislatures.
	Continental Congress.
	president.
	U.S. Senate.

Under the Articles of Confederation, power in the states began to shift to the hands of

	elite merchants and lawyers.
	low-income landowners.
	middle-class farmers and craftworkers.
	new industrialists.

Which of the following would NOT be considered an informal constitutional change?

	the two-party system
	the income tax
	legal abortions
	members of the electoral college honor-bound to vote for their state's preference

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