GOVT 404 Final Examination
◉ Assume that three or more of your classmates have signed
Constitution 2.0. Is this Constitution the Supreme Law of the Land?
Answer: No because no text is self-legitimating and there is no way that
the people of the United States would recognize this document or its
ratification procedure as legitimate.
◉ What is the strongest institutional argument for allocating primary
decision-making authority over education policy to the federal
government? Answer: Education policy affects the nation as a whole and
the federal government is best suited to take all of the affected interests
into account.
◉ What is the strongest institutional argument for allocating primary
decision-making authority over education policy to the state
governments? Answer: States are closer to the people and more likely to
be responsive to the widely varying preferences of popular majorities in
different parts of the country.
◉ Who is often called the "Father of the Constitution"? Answer: James
Madison
◉ What was the first constitution of the United States? Answer: The
Articles of Confederation.
,◉ What was one of the main objections to the Constitution during the
ratification process? Answer: The lack of a Bill of Rights.
◉ What does IRAC stand for? Answer: Issue, Rule, Application,
Conclusion
◉ In a hard case, there are .. Answer: Plausible arguments on both sides
◉ The presidential minimum age question explored in the reading is an
example of ... Answer: an easy case
◉ Which of the following is NOT a standard type of legal argument
used in hard constitutional cases? Answer: Arguments based on political
partisanship
◉ The central question in EVERY constitutional case is ... Answer:
which institution should be understood to possess decision-making
authority over the subject at hand.
◉ The three big questions of institutional choice in American
constitutional law are ... Answer: Federalism, separation of powers, and
individual rights
◉ The question of federalism typically arises in disputes over ...
Answer: The Article I powers of Congress.
,◉ Under the U.S. Constitution, those powers not granted to the United
States are ... Answer: Reserved to the States.
◉ Easy federalism cases are clearly resolved by ... Answer: The
constitutional text and
previous decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court
◉ By broad consensus, the greatest weakness of the federal government
is ... Answer: its remoteness from the people and consequent
susceptibility to tyranny of the minority.
◉ According to Anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution, state
governments are ... Answer: more responsive to popular majorities than
the federal government and thus less vulnerable to powerful special
interests.
◉ The most important advantage of the federal government over the
states is ... Answer: its greater ability to handle interstate spillovers--that
is, problems that affect more than one state.
◉ The President's greatest strengths include ... Answer: the ability to act
quickly and decisively in a crisis.
◉ Most constitutional disputes over the separation of powers are really
disputes about whether a particular constitutional power should be
entrusted ... Answer: to the President alone or to the President and
Congress acting jointly.
, ◉ James Madison's maxim that "ambition must be made to counteract
ambition" is ... Answer: famous but wrong.
◉ Most individual rights questions involve ... Answer: The Bill of
Rights or the 14th Amendment
◉ What is the political process? Answer: A collective term for state and
federal institutions that are directly or indirectly responsible to the
people.
◉ What is the question of institutional choice in every individual rights
case? Answer: The federal courts vs. the political process
◉ Which of the following best describes Thomas Jefferson's views on
the first bank of the United States? Answer: Jefferson opposed the
creation of a national bank as beyond the powers of Congress.
◉ The proper scope of national power ... Answer: has always been
controversial.
◉ In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court upheld the power of
Congress to create a national bank because ... Answer: The bank was an
appropriate means of carrying into effect the enumerated powers of
Congress under the Necessary and Proper Clause.
◉ Assume that three or more of your classmates have signed
Constitution 2.0. Is this Constitution the Supreme Law of the Land?
Answer: No because no text is self-legitimating and there is no way that
the people of the United States would recognize this document or its
ratification procedure as legitimate.
◉ What is the strongest institutional argument for allocating primary
decision-making authority over education policy to the federal
government? Answer: Education policy affects the nation as a whole and
the federal government is best suited to take all of the affected interests
into account.
◉ What is the strongest institutional argument for allocating primary
decision-making authority over education policy to the state
governments? Answer: States are closer to the people and more likely to
be responsive to the widely varying preferences of popular majorities in
different parts of the country.
◉ Who is often called the "Father of the Constitution"? Answer: James
Madison
◉ What was the first constitution of the United States? Answer: The
Articles of Confederation.
,◉ What was one of the main objections to the Constitution during the
ratification process? Answer: The lack of a Bill of Rights.
◉ What does IRAC stand for? Answer: Issue, Rule, Application,
Conclusion
◉ In a hard case, there are .. Answer: Plausible arguments on both sides
◉ The presidential minimum age question explored in the reading is an
example of ... Answer: an easy case
◉ Which of the following is NOT a standard type of legal argument
used in hard constitutional cases? Answer: Arguments based on political
partisanship
◉ The central question in EVERY constitutional case is ... Answer:
which institution should be understood to possess decision-making
authority over the subject at hand.
◉ The three big questions of institutional choice in American
constitutional law are ... Answer: Federalism, separation of powers, and
individual rights
◉ The question of federalism typically arises in disputes over ...
Answer: The Article I powers of Congress.
,◉ Under the U.S. Constitution, those powers not granted to the United
States are ... Answer: Reserved to the States.
◉ Easy federalism cases are clearly resolved by ... Answer: The
constitutional text and
previous decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court
◉ By broad consensus, the greatest weakness of the federal government
is ... Answer: its remoteness from the people and consequent
susceptibility to tyranny of the minority.
◉ According to Anti-Federalist critics of the Constitution, state
governments are ... Answer: more responsive to popular majorities than
the federal government and thus less vulnerable to powerful special
interests.
◉ The most important advantage of the federal government over the
states is ... Answer: its greater ability to handle interstate spillovers--that
is, problems that affect more than one state.
◉ The President's greatest strengths include ... Answer: the ability to act
quickly and decisively in a crisis.
◉ Most constitutional disputes over the separation of powers are really
disputes about whether a particular constitutional power should be
entrusted ... Answer: to the President alone or to the President and
Congress acting jointly.
, ◉ James Madison's maxim that "ambition must be made to counteract
ambition" is ... Answer: famous but wrong.
◉ Most individual rights questions involve ... Answer: The Bill of
Rights or the 14th Amendment
◉ What is the political process? Answer: A collective term for state and
federal institutions that are directly or indirectly responsible to the
people.
◉ What is the question of institutional choice in every individual rights
case? Answer: The federal courts vs. the political process
◉ Which of the following best describes Thomas Jefferson's views on
the first bank of the United States? Answer: Jefferson opposed the
creation of a national bank as beyond the powers of Congress.
◉ The proper scope of national power ... Answer: has always been
controversial.
◉ In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court upheld the power of
Congress to create a national bank because ... Answer: The bank was an
appropriate means of carrying into effect the enumerated powers of
Congress under the Necessary and Proper Clause.
