PSCI 1101 Chapter 2 Exam Questions With
Correct Answers.
Rule of law - answer✔✔a system in which all people in a society, including governing officials,
are subject to legal codes that are applied without bias by independent courts
Articles of Confederation - answer✔✔the constitution drafted by the Second Continental
Congress in 1777 and ratified by the states in 1781. It set up a weak central government
consisting of a congress with limited legislative power and virtually no authority over the
execution of its laws
Virginia Plan - answer✔✔a plan proposed at the Constitutional Convention by Edmund
Randolph of Virginia, which outlined a stronger national government, with an independent
executive and bicameral legislature whose membership in both houses would be apportioned
according to state population
New Jersey Plan - answer✔✔a plan proposed at the Constitutional Convention by William
Paterson of NJ to amend, rather than replace, the standing Articles of Confederation. The plan
called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation among states, along with a plural
(multi-person) executive appointed by the legislature
Connecticut Compromise - answer✔✔an agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention
that there would be a bicameral legislature, with an upper house (Senate) composed of equal
representation from each states and a lower house (the House of Representatives) composed
of representation from each state in proportion to its population
Cleavage 1 of Constitutional Convention - answer✔✔Strength of National Government: some
delegates favored a weak national government and some favored a strong national government
Cleavage 2 of Constitutional Convention - answer✔✔Representation in the Legislature: states
with a large population wanted a system based on state population, and vice versa, states with
a small population wanted equal representation for all states
Cleavage 3 of Constitutional Convention - answer✔✔Slavery: slave states wanted slaves
counted fully when apportioning seats in the legislature and non-slave states insisted that
slaves also be counted fully in apportioning costs associated with national government