agency from spending funds previously authorized and
appropriated by Congress.
Test Bank Item Title: TB_Q2.4.98
Topic: Informal Change: The Unwritten Constitution
Learning Objective: LO 2.4: Assess how the Constitution has
evolved through changes in the informal, unwritten
Constitution.
Page Reference: 62 – 63
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
99. Explain James Madison’s claim that “Ambition must be made to
counteract ambition.”
1. Indicate that Madison was discussing the need for
separation of powers.
2. Describe the three distinct branches of government:
legislative, executive, and judicial.
3. Explain why each branch is separately stafed.
4. Discuss the constitutional equality and independence of
each branch.
Topic: Checking Power with Power
Learning Objective: LO 2.2: Analyze how the Constitution
grants, limits, separates, and balances governmental power.
Page Reference: 53 – 55
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
100. Explain the actions that led to the case of Marbury v. Madison
and why the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case was signiicant
for the judiciary.
1. Explain that the Federalists tried to hang on to power
following the election of Thomas Jeferson by “packing”
the judiciary and that when Jeferson refused to deliver all
the commissions, one of the proposed judges who did not
receive his commission, William Marbury, sought action
from the courts.
2. Identify how Justice Marshall’s ruling in the case made
justices the oicial interpreters of the Constitution, which
opened the door to laws enacted by Congress and
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approved by the president being challenged in court and
to litigation not only supplementing, but sometimes taking
precedence over, legislation as a way to make public
policy.
Topic: Judicial Review and the “Guardians of the Constitution”
Learning Objective: LO 2.3: Explain how the use of judicial
review strengthens the courts in a separation of powers system.
Page Reference: 58 – 60
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
101. Describe the Equal Rights Amendment.
1. Discuss the content of the proposed amendment—that
equality of rights under the law shall not be denied on the
basis of sex.
2. Explain that the amendment was approved
overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress in 1972.
3. Note that the amendment failed to gain approval in
three-quarters of the state legislatures.
Topic: Changing the Letter of the Constitution
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Describe the processes by which
formal changes to the Constitution can be made.
Page Reference: 67 – 68
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
102. Since the proposal of the Equal Rights Amendment, what
changes have occurred for women in the workplace?
1. Note that although the ERA was not ratiied, the role of
women in society has changed greatly.
2. Describe important trends regarding women in the
workplace, including the fact that the percentage of
women employed has increased since the 1970s.
3. Note that income equality has not been achieved, with
women still earning less than men in similar occupations.
Topic: Changing the Letter of the Constitution
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Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Describe the processes by which
formal changes to the Constitution can be made.
Page Reference: 67
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
Essay Questions
103. Explain the basic structure of the U.S. Constitution.
1. Identify that the Constitution is comprised of the seven
original articles, the Bill of Rights, and 17 subsequent
amendments.
2. Describe each of the irst three articles and the basic
powers given to each branch of government.
3. Briely discuss the remaining articles and the attempt of
the Framers to identify potential future problems and lay
out a solution to those problems.
4. Discuss the role of the Bill of Rights in securing
individual civil liberties.
5. Discuss the major amendments since the Bill of Rights.
Topic: Views of the Constitution; Checking Power with Power
Learning Objective: LO 2.1: Describe the basic structure of
the Constitution and its Bill of Rights; LO 2.2: Analyze how the
Constitution grants, limits, separates, and balances
governmental power.
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Diiculty Level: Moderate
104. Discuss which political group had the most impact on the
formation of the Constitution and why.
1. Recognize the profound impact of the Federalists on the
form and content of the Constitution.
2. Discuss the role of the Federalist Papers in the
ratiication debate.
3. Explain some of the ways in which Federalist ideas
persist in our government to this day.
Topic: Judicial Review and the “Guardians of the Constitution”
Learning Objective: LO 2.3: Explain how the use of judicial
review strengthens the courts in a separation of powers system.
Page Reference: 51 – 55
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
105. Describe changes in technology since the Constitution was
written and how they have afected both the public’s view of
government and the operation of government. Provide
examples.
1. Identify changes such as television, electronic
communications, and cellular phones that now provide
instant communication around the world.
2. Explain that these changes have afected the public by
allowing people to be more aware of governmental
operations through, for example, televised congressional
committee hearings, talk shows, presidential press
conferences, and live coverage of wars.
3. Note that these changes have made it possible for
interest groups to expand their inluence on government
by, for example, giving them the ability to target large
amounts of communication at members of Congress and to
organize and mobilize on the Internet.
4. Discuss how these changes have given power to those
in government, since they now have the ability to appeal
directly to millions of people and can get access to public
opinion through polls.
Topic: Checking Power with Power
Learning Objective: LO 2.2: Analyze how the Constitution
grants, limits, separates, and balances governmental power.
Page Reference: 56 – 57
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Diiculty Level: Diicult
106. Identify two amendments to the U.S. Constitution that are not
part of the Bill of Rights and explain the impact of each on
government and society.
1. Select two amendments other than the irst 10.
2. Provide a detailed explanation of the historical
circumstances that led to the adoption of the selected
amendments.
3. Discuss how the selected amendments changed the U.S.
4. Provide a basic argument as to why the selected
amendments were an important development.
Topic: Changing the Letter of the Constitution
Learning Objective: LO 2.5: Describe the processes by which
formal changes to the Constitution can be made.
Page Reference: 66
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
107. Why is Marbury v. Madison considered to be the most inluential
Supreme Court decision in American history?
1. Explain the ruling of Marbury v. Madison.
2. Discuss the importance of judicial review established by
the case.
Topic: Judicial Review and the “Guardians of the Constitution”
Learning Objective: LO 2.3: Explain how the use of judicial
review strengthens the courts in a separation of powers system.
Page Reference: 58 – 60
Skill Level: Analyze It
Diiculty Level: Diicult
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