POLS 2302 COMPREHENSIVE EXAM UPDATED
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Great Compromise - ✔✔a compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New
Jersey Plan that created a twohouse Congress; representation based on population in
the House of Representatives and equal representation of states in the Senate
✔✔appellate courts - ✔✔a court that reviews cases already decided by a lower or trial
court and that may change the lower court's decision
✔✔Declaration of Independence - ✔✔"a document written in 1776 in which the
American colonists proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and listed their
grievances against the British king"
✔✔republic - ✔✔a form of government in which political power rests in the hands of the
people, not a monarch, and is exercised by elected representatives
✔✔federal system - ✔✔a form of government in which power is divided between state
governments and a national government
✔✔oligarchy - ✔✔a form of government where a handful of elite society members hold
political power
✔✔totalitarianism - ✔✔a form of government where government is all-powerful and
citizens have no rights
✔✔monarchy - ✔✔a form of government where one ruler, usually a hereditary one,
holds political power
✔✔direct democracy - ✔✔a form of government where people participate directly in
making government decisions instead of choosing representatives to do this for them
✔✔democracy - ✔✔a form of government where political power rests in the hands of
the people
✔✔representative democracy - ✔✔"a form of government where voters elect
representatives to make decisions and pass laws on behalf of all the people instead of
allowing people to vote directly on laws"
✔✔majority rule - ✔✔a fundamental principle of democracy; the majority should have
the power to make decisions binding upon the whole
✔✔confederation - ✔✔a highly decentralized form of government; sovereign states form
a union for purposes such as mutual defense
, ✔✔judicial restraint - ✔✔a judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to let
stand the decisions or actions of the other branches of government
✔✔judicial activism - ✔✔a judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to overturn
decisions or rule actions by the other branches unconstitutional, especially in an attempt
to broaden individual rights and liberties
✔✔criminal law - ✔✔a law that prohibits actions that could harm or endanger others,
and establishes punishment for those actions
✔✔unicameral legislature - ✔✔"a legislature with only one house, like the Confederation
Congress or the legislature proposed by the New Jersey Plan"
✔✔bicameral legislature - ✔✔a legislature with two houses, such as the U.S. Congress
✔✔associate justice - ✔✔a member of the Supreme Court who is not the chief justice
✔✔civil law - ✔✔a non-criminal law defining private rights and remedies
✔✔Virginia Plan - ✔✔a plan for a two-house legislature; representatives would be
elected to the lower house based on each state's population; representatives for the
upper house would be chosen by the lower house
✔✔Rule of Four - ✔✔a Supreme Court custom in which a case will be heard when four
justices decide to do so
✔✔checks and balances - ✔✔a system that allows one branch of government to limit
the exercise of power by another branch; requires the different parts of government to
work together
✔✔brief - ✔✔a written legal argument presented to a court by one of the parties in a
case
✔✔social contract - ✔✔an agreement between people and government in which
citizens consent to be governed so long as the government protects their natural rights
✔✔majority opinion - ✔✔an opinion of the Court with which more than half the nine
justices agree
✔✔concurring opinion - ✔✔"an opinion written by a justice who agrees with the Court's
majority opinion but has different reasons for doing so"
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Great Compromise - ✔✔a compromise between the Virginia Plan and the New
Jersey Plan that created a twohouse Congress; representation based on population in
the House of Representatives and equal representation of states in the Senate
✔✔appellate courts - ✔✔a court that reviews cases already decided by a lower or trial
court and that may change the lower court's decision
✔✔Declaration of Independence - ✔✔"a document written in 1776 in which the
American colonists proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and listed their
grievances against the British king"
✔✔republic - ✔✔a form of government in which political power rests in the hands of the
people, not a monarch, and is exercised by elected representatives
✔✔federal system - ✔✔a form of government in which power is divided between state
governments and a national government
✔✔oligarchy - ✔✔a form of government where a handful of elite society members hold
political power
✔✔totalitarianism - ✔✔a form of government where government is all-powerful and
citizens have no rights
✔✔monarchy - ✔✔a form of government where one ruler, usually a hereditary one,
holds political power
✔✔direct democracy - ✔✔a form of government where people participate directly in
making government decisions instead of choosing representatives to do this for them
✔✔democracy - ✔✔a form of government where political power rests in the hands of
the people
✔✔representative democracy - ✔✔"a form of government where voters elect
representatives to make decisions and pass laws on behalf of all the people instead of
allowing people to vote directly on laws"
✔✔majority rule - ✔✔a fundamental principle of democracy; the majority should have
the power to make decisions binding upon the whole
✔✔confederation - ✔✔a highly decentralized form of government; sovereign states form
a union for purposes such as mutual defense
, ✔✔judicial restraint - ✔✔a judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to let
stand the decisions or actions of the other branches of government
✔✔judicial activism - ✔✔a judicial philosophy in which a justice is more likely to overturn
decisions or rule actions by the other branches unconstitutional, especially in an attempt
to broaden individual rights and liberties
✔✔criminal law - ✔✔a law that prohibits actions that could harm or endanger others,
and establishes punishment for those actions
✔✔unicameral legislature - ✔✔"a legislature with only one house, like the Confederation
Congress or the legislature proposed by the New Jersey Plan"
✔✔bicameral legislature - ✔✔a legislature with two houses, such as the U.S. Congress
✔✔associate justice - ✔✔a member of the Supreme Court who is not the chief justice
✔✔civil law - ✔✔a non-criminal law defining private rights and remedies
✔✔Virginia Plan - ✔✔a plan for a two-house legislature; representatives would be
elected to the lower house based on each state's population; representatives for the
upper house would be chosen by the lower house
✔✔Rule of Four - ✔✔a Supreme Court custom in which a case will be heard when four
justices decide to do so
✔✔checks and balances - ✔✔a system that allows one branch of government to limit
the exercise of power by another branch; requires the different parts of government to
work together
✔✔brief - ✔✔a written legal argument presented to a court by one of the parties in a
case
✔✔social contract - ✔✔an agreement between people and government in which
citizens consent to be governed so long as the government protects their natural rights
✔✔majority opinion - ✔✔an opinion of the Court with which more than half the nine
justices agree
✔✔concurring opinion - ✔✔"an opinion written by a justice who agrees with the Court's
majority opinion but has different reasons for doing so"
