WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
1. Social Contract An agreement between people and government in which citizens
consent to being governed so long as the government protects their
natural rights.
2. Natural Rights the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to
life, liberty, and property
3. State of Nature A theory on how people might have lived before societies came into
existence. is a condition in which all of us live individually and
solitarily, prior to the existence of society. We are physically and
mentally capable of achieving our own survival.
4. Montesquie contribution in The Spirit of the Laws (1748) regards the structure of
u
political institutions. He argues for a separation of powers: legislative,
(1689-1755)
executive, and judicial. Each will serve as a check on the power of the
other, limiting the harm each might do. separates power to ottset the
power of ditterent social interests: ordinary people, the aristocracy, and
the monarch.
1/
153
,WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
5. Thomas One of the first individuals to contribute to the idea of the social
Hobbes
contract was a pre-Enlightenment English philosopher. Hobbes
(1588-1679):
argues that society is not
something natural and immutable, but rather it is something created by
us. We do this to resolve problems we collectively face, to make our lives
better. State of
2/
153
,WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
Nature: it's "a war of all against all." Basically, the state of nature is a pretty
nasty place where lives are perpetually insecure.
6. John Locke we are autonomous individuals, capable of using reason, and are
(1632- driven to advance our personal interests. Our primary interest is
1704)
survival, which we want to make secure and comfortable. To achieve this
security and comfort, we acquire property. Two Treatises of
Government, disagrees, saying the state of nature is
a relatively decent place. All its inhabitants are rational people, mindful of
the basic law of nature to not harm another, and people will get along
okay. But our relationship in the state of nature is "inconvenient,"
implying an incentive for us to devise a better, more convenient
arrangement.
7. Jean- A French man who believed that humans are naturally good and free
Jacques and can rely on their instincts. He also advocated a democracy
Rousseau because he believed the gov- ernment should exist to protect common
(1712-
good. Like other Enlightenment thinkers, he was passionately committed to
1778)
individual freedom, but he attacked rationalism and civilization as
3/
153
,WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
destroying, rather
than liberating, the
individual. He also
called for a rigid
division of gender
roles, believing
women should be
subordinate
in social life. His
ideals greatly
influenced the
early romantic
movement, which
rebelled against the
culture of the
Enlightenment in
the late eighteenth
century. Rousseau
was both one of
the most influential
voices of the
Enlightenment and,
in
4/
153
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
1. Social Contract An agreement between people and government in which citizens
consent to being governed so long as the government protects their
natural rights.
2. Natural Rights the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to
life, liberty, and property
3. State of Nature A theory on how people might have lived before societies came into
existence. is a condition in which all of us live individually and
solitarily, prior to the existence of society. We are physically and
mentally capable of achieving our own survival.
4. Montesquie contribution in The Spirit of the Laws (1748) regards the structure of
u
political institutions. He argues for a separation of powers: legislative,
(1689-1755)
executive, and judicial. Each will serve as a check on the power of the
other, limiting the harm each might do. separates power to ottset the
power of ditterent social interests: ordinary people, the aristocracy, and
the monarch.
1/
153
,WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
5. Thomas One of the first individuals to contribute to the idea of the social
Hobbes
contract was a pre-Enlightenment English philosopher. Hobbes
(1588-1679):
argues that society is not
something natural and immutable, but rather it is something created by
us. We do this to resolve problems we collectively face, to make our lives
better. State of
2/
153
,WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
Nature: it's "a war of all against all." Basically, the state of nature is a pretty
nasty place where lives are perpetually insecure.
6. John Locke we are autonomous individuals, capable of using reason, and are
(1632- driven to advance our personal interests. Our primary interest is
1704)
survival, which we want to make secure and comfortable. To achieve this
security and comfort, we acquire property. Two Treatises of
Government, disagrees, saying the state of nature is
a relatively decent place. All its inhabitants are rational people, mindful of
the basic law of nature to not harm another, and people will get along
okay. But our relationship in the state of nature is "inconvenient,"
implying an incentive for us to devise a better, more convenient
arrangement.
7. Jean- A French man who believed that humans are naturally good and free
Jacques and can rely on their instincts. He also advocated a democracy
Rousseau because he believed the gov- ernment should exist to protect common
(1712-
good. Like other Enlightenment thinkers, he was passionately committed to
1778)
individual freedom, but he attacked rationalism and civilization as
3/
153
,WGU C963 AMERICAN POLITICS AND US
CONSTITUTION EXAM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS PASSED ALREADY GRADED A+
destroying, rather
than liberating, the
individual. He also
called for a rigid
division of gender
roles, believing
women should be
subordinate
in social life. His
ideals greatly
influenced the
early romantic
movement, which
rebelled against the
culture of the
Enlightenment in
the late eighteenth
century. Rousseau
was both one of
the most influential
voices of the
Enlightenment and,
in
4/
153
