Foundational Documents
What are the 4 ideals of democracy found in the Declaration of Independence?
Popular Sovereignty
Republicanism
Social Contract
Natural Rights
Which SCOTUS case established the precedent of "one person, one vote"?
Baker v. Carr (1962)
The Constitution was created to replace which document?
The Articles of Confederation
Identify TWO formal powers of the President
Veto
Presidential Pardon
Commander in Chief
Appoint justices, exec branch officials, and other gov't officials
Make treaties
The system of using government funding as an incentive to control policies in the states is known as
Fiscal Federalism
Describe 3 weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
Congress had no power to collect taxes
Congress could not raise a national military
Congress could not regulate trade between the states
No national court system (judicial branch)
No central leadership (executive branch)
Any change to the Articles required unanimous consent of all 13 states
The SCOTUS case of Marbury v. Madison (1803) established what major court precedent?
Judicial Review
Article 1 Section 8
Which branch of government is given the authority to declare war on another nation?
Legislative Branch
Block grants provide states with more flexibility on how to spend federal government funds while Categorical grants require states to spend the funds exactly as directed.
Which Federalist paper argues that dividing the powers of the federal government into separate branches will prevent tyranny?
Federalist 51
Which SCOTUS case limited the powers of the federal government by deciding they exceeded their power to legislate under the commerce clause?
US v. Lopez (1995)
Determine whether or not EACH of the following Congressional leadership positions is established by the Constitution.
Speaker of the House
Senate Majority Leader
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Speaker (yes)
Senate Majority Leader (no)
President Pro Tempore (yes)
Bills about raising revenue must be proposed by which part of the federal government?
The House of Representatives
Unfunded mandate
Explain ONE argument Hamilton makes in Federalist 78.
The federal judiciary must be independent to preserve the authority/integrity of the court's power.
Federal judges should serve lifetime terms so they can be insulated from public opinions
The judicial branch is the weakest branch because it cannot attack the other branches or enforce its decisions
The court needs the power of Judicial Review to defend itself from other branches
In the case of McCulloch vs. Maryland, the court was deciding if the state of Maryland had the authority to tax a federal institution and what other issue?
Whether or not Congress had the constitutional authority to establish a national bank.
Article I of the Constitution describes how the number of people who make up Congress will be decided.
Explain how the number of Senators AND the number of U.S. Representatives in the House of Reps is determined.
2 senators for each state (100) and representatives (435) based on the population of each state for a total of 535.
What powers are the federal bureaucracy given in order to implement the laws passed by Congress?
Rulemaking and Discretionary Authority
How does the 10th amendment establish the concept of federalism?
The 10th amendment reserves all powers not listed in the Constitution for the states, creating a system of shared power between the federal and state governments
Which foundational document could be used to support the following claim? Explain your reasoning.
The appropriate balance of power between Congress and the President is that the President should have more power than Congress.
Answers will vary; Easiest choice:
Federalist 70 because this document describes the need for an "energetic executive" or a president who can make quick decisions in a crisis without needing to gain approval from Congress.
What precedent was set by the SCOTUS case of Shaw v. Reno (1993)?
Racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional.
A proposal by 2/3 of each house of Congress and ratification by 3/4 of the state legislatures describes the process for what?
What is one thing that the power of 'oversight' allows Congress to do?
Investigative hearings; make sure the bureaucracy and other executive branch officials are executing federal laws and policies in the way Congress intended; grant or take away rulemaking and/or discretionary power to executive bureaucratic agencies; grant or take away funding to executive agencies
Identify one required SCOTUS case related to federalism and explain how it either expanded or limited the power of the federal government
US v. Lopez, decided that the federal gov't cannot exceed the commerce clause when making laws, ensuring that state gov'ts maintain authority over their reserved powers
McCulloch v. Maryland, established supremacy of the federal government by stating that the necessary and proper clause allowed them to establish a national bank and that "the power to tax is the power to destroy", so states can't tax federal institutions