1
Constitutional
Democracy
Multiple–Choice Questions
1. __________ was the primary author of the Declaration of
Independence and
a champion of constitutional democracy.
a. Thomas Jeferson
b. George Washington
c. John Adams
d. John Locke
Topic: U.S. Government and Politicians in Context
Learning Objective: LO 1.1: Use the concept of constitutional
democracy to explain U.S. government and politics.
Page Reference: 21
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
2. What is meant by constitutional democracy?
a. government by representative politicians
b. required voting by law
c. simple participatory democracy
d. voting rights tied to property ownership
1
Topic: U.S. Government and Politicians in Context
Learning Objective: LO 1.1: Use the concept of constitutional
democracy to explain U.S. government and politics.
Page Reference: 21
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
3. How is democracy deined?
a. all people must be involved in politics and policy making
b. government by the people
c. the fragmentation of powers
d. government by the few
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful.
Page Reference: 22
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
4. Statism is the idea that the rights of the nation are supreme
over the rights of the __________.
a. region
b. individual
c. community
d. government
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 26
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
5. What is the idea that a just government must derive its powers
from the people it governs called?
a. equality
2
b. popular consent
c. electoral politics
d. statism
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 28
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
6. Governance according to the expressed preferences of the
majority is known as which of the following?
a. tyranny of the majority
b. individual rights
c. majority rule
d. plurality principle
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 29
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
7. What is the term for an election in which a candidate can win by
getting the most votes, even if it is less than 50 percent of the
votes?
a. a runof election
b. a plurality
c. a recall election
d. a majority
Topic: Deining Democracy
3
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 29
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
8. The U.S. government’s commitment to public education through
Head Start, a program for disadvantaged preschool children,
relects Americans’ belief in __________.
a. balanced government
b. political equality
c. individualism
d. equal opportunity
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 26
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
9. Which of the following is a central feature of capitalism?
a. private property
b. separation of powers
c. political equality
d. freedom from poverty
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 27
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
10. What is a favorable condition for democracy?
a. a prosperous upper class
4
b. ideological separation of groups in society
c. instability in society
d. an educated citizenry
Topic: Deining Democracy
Learning Objective: LO 1.2: Diferentiate democracy from
other forms of government, and identify conditions conducive to
a successful democracy.
Page Reference: 30
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
11. What role did George Washington play in the Constitutional
Convention?
a. He represented the views of the Antifederalists.
b. He was the chief negotiator of the three-ifths compromise.
c. He presided over the meeting, but spoke little during
deliberations.
d. He did not attend the convention, though he supported the
creation of a new constitution.
Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 36
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
12. Under the Articles of Confederation, how were disputes
between the states settled?
a. by the Supreme Court
b. by the president
c. by state courts
d. by state legislatures
Topic: The Roots of the American Constitutional Experiment
5
Learning Objective: LO 1.3: Show how politics before 1787
shaped the Constitution.
Page Reference: 34
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
13. Which of the following is true about the Annapolis Convention?
a. It was held in 1777.
b. It issued the call for another convention to consider
amendments to the Articles of Confederation.
c. It was attended by delegates from all of the states.
d. It drafted the Constitution.
Topic: The Roots of the American Constitutional Experiment
Learning Objective: LO 1.3: Show how politics before 1787
shaped the Constitution.
Page Reference: 34
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
14. In the spring of 1787, delegates gathered in Philadelphia to
accomplish which of the following tasks?
a. write the Declaration of Independence
b. amend the Articles of Confederation
c. abolish state laws
d. secede from Great Britain
Topic: The Roots of the American Constitutional Experiment
Learning Objective: LO 1.3: Show how politics before 1787
shaped the Constitution.
Page Reference: 35
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
15. Creating stable and enduring governments that respect basic
human rights is referred to as __________.
a. nation building
b. federalism
c. democratic consensus
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d. constitutionalism
Topic: The Roots of the American Constitutional Experiment
Learning Objective: LO 1.3: Show how politics before 1787
shaped the Constitution.
Page Reference: 34
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Diiculty Level: Easy
16. Historian Charles Beard argued that the primary motive of the
Framers of the Constitution was which of the following?
a. protection from foreign threats
b. the enshrinement of the majority rule principle
c. protection of their own economic self-interests
d. westward expansion of the country
Topic: The Roots of the American Constitutional Experiment
Learning Objective: LO 1.3: Show how politics before 1787
shaped the Constitution.
Page Reference: 35
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
17. What was Shays’ Rebellion?
a. the initial uprising by the Americans against the British in
1753
b. a demonstration of the need for every state to deal with
domestic unrest on its own
c. a revolt by slaves in South Carolina that led to the inclusion of
the three-ifths compromise in the Constitution
d. an uprising by farmers in western Massachusetts protesting
mortgage foreclosures
Topic: The Roots of the American Constitutional Experiment
Learning Objective: LO 1.3: Show how politics before 1787
shaped the Constitution.
Page Reference: 35
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
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Diiculty Level: Moderate
18. Which of the following is true in a balanced government?
a. No single interest dominates.
b. The president and Congress have no shared powers.
c. State governments can veto laws of the national government.
d. The people must approve constitutional amendments by
popular vote.
Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 37
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
19. Which of the following is the best characterization of the
Framers of the Constitution?
a. visionary idealists
b. political philosophers
c. experienced, practical politicians
d. spokesmen for the average person
Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 35 – 36
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
20. Most delegates to the Constitutional Convention accepted the
idea of __________.
a. state supremacy
b. direct democracy
c. republican government
d. executive hegemony
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Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 37
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Diicult
21. The three-ifths compromise was mainly a compromise between
which of the following?
a. Whigs and Democratic Republicans
b. northern and southern states
c. Federalists and Antifederalists
d. large and small states
Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 40
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Diicult
22. Why were the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention kept
secret?
a. to make it diicult for delegates to change their minds after
debate and discussion
b. to encourage delegates to speak freely
c. so that opponents of the convention wouldn’t have easy
arguments against decisions made at the convention
d. so that foreign leaders wouldn’t sabotage the convention
Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 36
Skill Level: Analyze It
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Diiculty Level: Diicult
23. As a delegate from a small state at the Constitutional
Convention, you would have been most likely to support which
of the following as the basis for representation in the
legislature?
a. the Connecticut Plan
b. the bicameral plan
c. the supremacy clause
d. the New Jersey Plan
Topic: The Constitutional Convention of 1787
Learning Objective: LO 1.4: Assess the important
compromises reached by the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
Page Reference: 38 – 39
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
24. What did the Federalists favor?
a. strong state governments, relative to the central government
b. an all-powerful central government
c. a strong central government, relative to the state
governments
d. strong economic ties to Europe
Topic: To Adopt or Not to Adopt
Learning Objective: LO 1.5: Evaluate the arguments for and
against ratiication of the Constitution.
Page Reference: 41
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
25. Why did the Federalists argue against inclusion of a bill of rights
in the Constitution?