AM GOV 2010, Texas Edition

Chapter 3 – Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. The powers necessary to carry out constitutionally enumerated functions of government are referred to as

• a. implied powers.
• b. enumerated powers.
• c. official powers.
• d. national powers.
• e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer: a

Page: 43

2. States utilize this power to protect the health and welfare of their residents.

• a. police powers
• b. enforcement powers
• c. military powers
• d. implied powers
• e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer: a

Page: 43

3.What term describes the arrangement where powers of the state and national governments are distinct and autonomous in their own domains?

• a. cooperative federalism
• b. dual federalism
• c. new federalism
• d. laissez-faire federalism
• e. social federalism

Answer: b

Page: 46

4. “Layer cake” federalism is also known as

• a. cooperative federalism.
• b. dual federalism.
• c. new federalism.
• d. laissez-faire federalism.
• e. social federalism.

Answer: b

Page: 46

5. “Marble cake” federalism is also known as

• a. cooperative federalism.
• b. dual federalism.
• c. new federalism.
• d. laissez-faire federalism.
• e. ocial federalism.

Answer: a

Page: 50

6. A defining characteristic of federalism is that

• a. rather than being held exclusively or primarily by one body, governing authority is divided at different levels among several bodies.
• b. the federal government wields ultimate authority in all matters.
• c. state governments can nullify the exercise of unpopular federal laws within their own states’ boundaries.
• d. state governments exist primarily to enact laws established by the national government.
• e. the federal government cannot pass any laws without the explicit consent of the majority of state governments.

Answer: a

Page: 43

7. The difference between the American federal system and a confederation is that in a confederation, state governments

• a. retain the ability to enact original legislation.
• b. lose the ability to enact original legislation.
• c. retain their full sovereignty.
• d. are fully absorbed within the national government.
• e. do not recognize the existence of a national government.

Answer: c

Page: 43

8. One of the chief weaknesses of the confederated form of government is that it

• a. deprives local governments of the ability to address local concerns.
• b. often cannot act with the alacrity that circumstances require.
• c. stifles the sort of careful deliberation through which wise policies emerge.
• d. cannot be applied to communities existing across large geographical areas.
• e. offers no means by which small states or minority interests can protect themselves from the will of larger states or the majority.

Answer: b

Page: 43

9. Under the United States Constitution, the federal government’s ability to coin money is an example of a.

• a. reserved power.
• b. a concurrent power.
• c. an enumerated power.
• d. n implicit power.
• e. a prohibited power.

Answer: c

Page: 43-44

10. Which of the following statements best captures the meaning of the term “elastic clause,” when applied to the U. S. Constitution?

• a. The federal government can assume authority normally delegated to the state governments whenever it sees fit.
• b. The powers of the federal government can be expanded during national emergencies beyond their constitutional bounds.
• c. The federal government can only push its powers so far before the ties that bind the states together in a union break from the pressure.
• d. The federal government has any and all powers not specifically delegated to the state governments or denied to the federal government.
• e. The federal government can assume additional powers as needed in order to accomplish the functions established for it by the Constitution.

Answer: e

Page: 43

11. In the 1790s, despite a lack of specific constitutional authority to do so, Congress chartered a national bank, arguing that the institution was necessary to regulate the value of currency, a power that the Constitution did grant to Congress. The chartering of a national bank was therefore an example of

• a. an enumerated power.
• b. a reserved power.
• c. a concurrent power.
• d. an implied power.
• e. a prohibited power.

Answer: d

Page: 43-45

12. Based on the U. S. Constitution, the powers to pass ex post facto laws or bills of attainder are both

• a. enumerated powers.
• b. reserved powers.
• c. concurrent powers.
• d. implied powers.
• e. prohibited powers.

Answer: e

Page: 43-44

13. The U. S. Constitution denies certain powers from the national government, and bestows them instead on the state governments. Such powers are called

• a. enumerated powers.
• b. reserved powers.
• c. concurrent powers.
• d. implied powers.
• e. prohibited powers.

Answer: b

Page: 43

14. In the U. S. federal system, the powers to establish courts and to tax citizens are both

• a. police powers.
• b. reserved powers.
• c. concurrent powers.
• d. implied powers.
• e. prohibited powers.

Answer: c

Page: 43-44

15. According to the Tenth Amendment, any powers not delegated to the national government by the Constitution

• a. can be claimed by the national government as necessary.
• b. belong exclusively to the people.
• c. belong exclusively to the states.
• d. are denied to both the national government and the states.
• e. belong to either the people or the states.

Answer: e

Page: 43

16. The supremacy clause, stipulated in Article VI of the Constitution, holds that

• a. in a conflict between federal and state laws, the former will override the latter.
• b. in the federal system established by the Constitution, the true source of sovereignty is in the people.
• c. federal laws will be supreme in the national sphere and state laws will be supreme in local affairs.
• d. as a sovereign institution, the only limits that the federal government need obey are ones that it establishes for itself.
• e. despite temporarily sacrificing certain powers to the federal government, the state governments remain sovereign entities.

Answer: a

Page: 44

17. Which of the following instances best exemplifies the doctrine of nullification?

• a. The Supreme Court overturns a federal law by declaring it unconstitutional.
• b. The president vetoes a congressional law because he believes that its provisions are unconstitutional.
• c. The Supreme Court overturns a state law by declaring it constitutional.
• d. Congressmen repeal a law passed by an earlier Congress because they believe that the law is unconstitutional.
• e. A state government declares that a federal law, which the state legislature believes is unconstitutional, will not be enforced within the state.

Answer: e

Page: 45

18. In the Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), Chief Justice John Marshall argued that

• a. state governments had the power and the duty to protect their citizens from onerous federal legislation.
• b. lthough the federal government could create a national bank, it could not shield the bank’s branches from taxation by the governments of the states in which the branches were located.
• c. although a national bank would have been an effective means with which the federal government could regulate the economy, it was not the only means available, and therefore did not meet the requirements of the “necessary and proper clause. ”
• d. the federal government had the right to charter a national bank, and state governments had no right to impede its functions through taxation.
• e. the will of the people, as expressed through the actions of their state governments, must always take precedence over the whims of the more distant national governing officials.

Answer: d

Page: 46

19. In his famous landmark cases, Chief Justice John Marshall generally

• a. supported the authority of the federal government over that of state governments.
• b. enhanced the power of state governments over that of the federal government.
• c. maintained that the powers of the state and federal governments were identical and inseparable.
• d. eld that no restraints could be placed on a government which derived its authority from the consent of the majority of its citizens.
• e. contended that the Supreme Court had no authority to adjudicate in interstate or intrastate affairs.

Answer: a

Page: 46

20. In the case of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Supreme Court decided that

• a. states retained full authority to regulate commerce within their own borders and among their immediate neighbors.
• b. the federal government had authority to regulate only international commerce, not interstate commerce.
• c. lthough the federal government could regulate interstate commerce, states had sole power to regulate intrastate commerce.
• d. the federal government’s authority to regulate international and interstate commerce bestowed on it some power to regulate intrastate commerce.
• e. the federal government’s limited ability to regulate interstate commerce was sharply curtailed by a narrow definition of “commerce. ”

Answer: d

Page: 46

21. Which of the following Founders was most responsible for developing the political theory that would become known as the doctrine of nullification?

• a. James Marshall
• b. Thomas Jefferson
• c. Alexander Hamilton
• d. John Adams
• e. Andrew Jackson

Answer: b

Page: 45

22. Which of the following statements best captures the meaning of “dual federalism”?

• a. State governments are autonomous and supreme in matters of state affairs, and the national government is autonomous and supreme in matters of national affairs.
• b. State governments must abide by the laws and regulations of the national government as well as the regulations of international bodies, such as the UN, to which the United States is bound by treaty.
• c. The needs of citizens are best met by a system in which citizens can choose between similar services provided by either the national or their state government.
• d. Since federalism frequently results in dual and competing loyalties, the national government must assume supreme authority in all matters in order for the American people to survive as a nation.
• e. The needs of citizens are best met by a system in which state and national governments combine resources to provide them with certain services.

Answer: a

Page: 46

23. During the period from 1875 to 1915, the decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court tended to

• a. affirm the national government’s authority—and duty—to ensure the civil rights of African Americans.
• b. support the right of workers to bargain collectively through labor unions.
• c. avoid ruling on issues related to the emerging industrial national economy, which they believed Congress and the president were more suited to address.
• d. curtail the federal government’s ability to regulate matters related to industrial manufacturing.
• e. require states to conform to regulatory business and industrial standards established by the federal government.

Answer: d

Page: 47-48

24. Which of the following statements best characterizes the attitudes and actions of progressive presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson?

• a. They believed that the domestic interests of the people were best represented by state governments, and the national government should confine itself largely to foreign affairs.
• b. They believed that the best way to regulate the excesses of big business was to leave the free market alone to regulate itself.
• c. They were dismayed by the claims of overarching regulatory powers claimed by previous administrations, and actively worked to pare down presidential intervention in the economy.
• d. In the interests of a vibrant economy, they put the resources of the national government behind the growth of large corporate interests while ignoring the social problems caused by big business.
• e. They believed that the national government should play an active role in regulating domestic manufacture, trade, and other aspects of the economy.

Answer: e

Page: 48-49

25. In the case of Lochner v. New York (1905), the Supreme Court decided that

• a. laws limiting the number of hours that employees could work in hazardous situations unconstitutionally deprived those employees of the opportunity to enter freely into contracts.
• b. the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to protect the rights of African Americans from disenfranchisement and discrimination, and had no bearing on workplace relations.
• c. the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law required state governments to regulate the workplace to maintain safe conditions for laborers.
• d. state governments had to abide by the regulatory guidelines established by the federal government.
• e. the federal government’s authority over interstate commerce included the power to regulate intrastate manufacturing.

Answer: a

Page: 48

26. The Progressive Era witnessed the implementation of all but which of the following measures?

• a. a constitutional ban on disenfranchisement based on sex
• b. a constitutional amendment allowing the government to tax citizens’ income
• c. the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Bill, which established the Food and Drug Administration
• d. a change in voting procedures to allow citizens to elect U. S. Senators directly instead of through their state legislatures
• e. effective federal laws to ensure that African American citizens could exercise their constitutional right to vote

Answer: e

Page: 48-49

27. In political science, the term devolution refers to

• a. the dissipation of power away from a central authority.
• b. the tendency of all republics to degenerate into dictatorships.
• c. the inability of the people to maintain the virtue that a healthy democracy requires.
• d. the process by which national governments, over time, consolidate more and more powers that had previously been reserved to states.
• e. the squabbles between different levels of government that are inevitable in a federal system.

Answer: a

Page: 51

28. How did Franklin Roosevelt respond to Supreme Court challenges to his New Deal programs?

• a. He abandoned his economic interventionism and restored a purely free-market economy.
• b. He threatened to pack the Court with new appointees who would vote in favor of his policies.
• c. He temporarily suspended the Court’s power of judicial review, restoring it only after World War II had lifted the U. S. out of the Great Depression.
• d. He convinced Congress to allow him to replace the existing judges with appointees who were more sympathetic to his political goals.
• e. He worked closely with the Justices in order to develop more moderate programs, on which both he and they could agree.

Answer: b

Page: 49-50

29. Which of the following styles of federalism characterized the immediate pre-Civil War era?

• a. creative federalism
• b. dual federalism
• c. new federalism
• d. devolution
• e. cooperative federalism

Answer: b

Page: 46-47

30. During which of the following president’s administrations did the federal government’s power, especially with regard to the economy, increase the most?

• a. Theodore Roosevelt
• b. Woodrow Wilson
• c. Andrew Jackson
• d. Franklin Roosevelt
• e. Ronald Reagan

Answer: d

Page: 49-50

31. Which of the following presidents was the strongest advocate of devolution?

• a. Ronald Reagan
• b. Franklin Roosevelt
• c. Woodrow Wilson
• d. Theodore Roosevelt
• e. Richard Nixon

Answer: a

Page: 51

32. In such decisions as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Warren Court promulgated a view of federal-state relations that became known as

• a. creative federalism.
• b. dual federalism.
• c. new federalism.
• d. devolution.
• e. cooperative federalism.

Answer: a

Page: 50-51

33. A key feature of creative federalism is that

• a. state governments act as sovereign bodies in local affairs while the national government acts as the sovereign body in national affairs.
• b. he national government provides funding to state governments, which can then use that funding in the manner they see fit.
• c. state governments act as equal partners with the national government in providing services to the American people.
• d. state governments are allowed to develop their own initiatives with minimal interference from the national government.
• e. state governments are expected to meet national standards of citizens’ rights.

Answer: e

Page: 50-51

34. Which of the following presidents developed the policy of revenue sharing?

• a. Ronald Reagan
• b. Franklin Roosevelt
• c. Woodrow Wilson
• d. Theodore Roosevelt
• e. Richard Nixon

Answer: e

Page: 51

35. Which of the following statements most accurately summarizes the trend in federal-state relations from the 1980s to the present day?

• a. With broad support from the people, the federal government has assumed ever greater responsibilities and powers.
• b. Since the end of the 1970s, there have been no notable instances of the federal government imposing national standards upon state governments.
• c. Although the federal government has relinquished much power to the states, it has repeatedly used financial incentives and other means to impose national standards.
• d. Despite a brief revival of liberalism under President Clinton in the 1990s, the Republican presidents consistently opposed any attempt to impose national standards on the states.
• e. While the executive branch has boldly pursued a policy of dispersing power among the states, the judicial and legislative branches have struggled more successfully to keep power in the hands of the national government.

Answer: c

Page: 51-52

36. A federal program that gives a state government federal funds to address a specific need, but gives the state wide latitude in deciding how the funds will be spent, is known as a

• a. ategorical grant.
• b. block grant.
• c. program grant.
• d. formula grant.
• e. unfunded mandate.

Answer: b

Page: 53-54

37. A federal program that gives a state government federal funds to address a specific need within a strict deadline is known as a

• a. categorical grant.
• b. block grant.
• c. program grant.
• d. formula grant.
• e. unfunded mandate.

Answer: c Page: 54-55

38. A proponent of the autonomy of local government would object most strongly to

• a. devolution.
• b. new federalism.
• c. block grants.
• d. formula grants.
• e. unfunded mandates.

Answer: e Page: 55

39. Which type of program requires state governments to spend their own money to meet standards imposed on them by the federal government?

• a. categorical grant.
• b. block grant.
• c. program grant.
• d. formula grant.
• e. unfunded mandate.

Answer: e

Page: 55

40. Which of the following is true of the action President Obama took in his first 100 days with respect to California and the EPA?

• a. He ordered the EPA to allow states to set lower environmental standards than set by the EPA.
• b. He ordered California to abide by the stricter EPA environmental regulations, a move toward devolution.
• c. He ordered California to abide by the stricter EPA environmental regulations, a move away from devolution.
• d. He ordered the EPA to allow California to set its own stricter environmental standards, a move toward devolution.
• e. He ordered the EPA to allow California to set its own stricter environmental standards, a move away from devolution.

Answer: d

Page: 53

41. The Supreme Court would most likely refer to the Eleventh Amendment in a case involving

• a. a private company suing the federal government because federal standards place an onerous burden on the company.
• b. a private citizen suing a state government for alleged violation of federal law.
• c. a state government suing the federal government over an unfunded mandate.
• d. a private citizen suing the federal government for alleged violations of the citizen’s civil liberties.
• e. a private citizen suing a private company which failed to meet the federal guidelines governing that company’s industry.

Answer: b

Page: 56-57

42. The full faith and credit provision of the Constitution requires

• a. state governments to recognize and uphold the legal judgments of other states.
• b. tate governments to share a single set of legal standards, established by the national government.
• c. the federal government to recognize the ultimate authority of state governments in all purely local matters.
• d. the national government to balance its budget at least every ten years.

e. state governments to respect and protect their citizens’ religious beliefs in all cases in which those beliefs present no direct harm to the community.

Answer: a

Page: 57

43. The Supreme Court has ruled that states may not discriminate against non-residents in regard to certain fundamental rights based on which provision of the Constitution?

• a. interstate compacts
• b. privileges and immunities
• c. full faith and credit
• d. devolution
• e. enumerated powers

Answer: b

Page: 57

44. Which of the following attributes is NOT a strong predictor that a state will experiment with innovative policies?

• a. a politically influential urban population
• b. a population with a high average income
• c. long-term political dominance by a single party
• d. competition with neighboring states for business investment
• e. a well-developed government bureaucracy and technological infrastructure

Answer: c

Page: 58-59

45. In the Supreme Court case of New State Ice Company v. Liebmann (1932), Justice Louis Brandeis famously defended

• a. the supremacy of the federal government over state governments.
• b. the right of citizens to seek redress from onerous state laws through federal courts.
• c. the need for the national and state governments to embrace a single, uniform regulatory code.
• d. the right of state governments to experiment with innovative public policies.
• e. the power of the Supreme Court to overturn state policies which are not founded in longstanding legislative tradition.

Answer: d

Page: 58

Essay

46. Discuss the relationship between the nation and the states as laid out in the original Constitution. Which powers were granted to the national government and which were reserved for the states? How did the first eleven amendments to the Constitution alter the federal-state relations?

Answer: Answers will vary.

47. Explain how federal-state relations have changed over time. Consider the different types of federalism that prevailed at different times. What factors seem to have had the most influence in bringing about changes to federalism?

Answer: Answers will vary.

48. Discuss the Supreme Court’s position on federalism from the founding of the republic to the present day. What landmark cases have been most influential in shaping federal-state relations? Has the Supreme Court’s position changed frequently, or has its stance been generally consistent, despite a few anomalous periods?

Answer: Answers will vary.

49. Describe the character of federal-state relations today. How much influence does the federal government wield over the states? What tools can it use to coerce state compliance with federal measures? What means do states have to resist federal initiatives?

Answer: Answers will vary.

50. Discuss the process of devolution. What made devolution a popular principle in the 1980s? How thoroughly was devolution effected? What positions have the different branches of government generally taken toward devolution over the past thirty years? Do you expect the process of devolution to continue or to be reversed in the coming years?

Answer: Answers will vary.

51. Describe the relationship among the states. What constitutional provisions shape their interrelations? What real-world concerns mitigate their interactions? What rights can citizens of one state demand the government of another state to respect? How might the actions of one state affect the policies of its neighbors?

Answer: Answers will vary.

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AM GOV 2010, Texas Edition. (2017, Mar 24). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/federal-state-relations-with-constitution/

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