American Government

100 Concepts
& Trimester Exam Preparation Fall Semester

THE 100 CONCEPTS

1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 2 12 22 32 42 52 62 72 82 92 3 13 23 33 43 53 63 73 83 93 4 14 24 34 44 54 64 74 84 94 5 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 6 16 26 36 46 56 66 76 86 96 7 17 27 37 47 57 67 77 87 97 8 18 28 38 48 58 68 78 88 98 9 19 29 39 49 59 69 79 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

89 90 99 100

Number 1:
QUESTION:
What is government?

ANSWER:
Institution that determines and enforces a societys laws.

Number 2:
QUESTION:
What is public good?

ANSWER:
The common interests of the members of a society; also known as the public interest.

Number 3:
QUESTION:
What is State?

ANSWER: A territory whose

population maintains an organized governmental body that regulates internal and external affairs.

Number 4:
QUESTION:
What is Citizen?

ANSWER:
An officially recognized member of a state.

Number 5:
QUESTION:
What is sovereignty?

ANSWER:
The absolute authority that a government has over its citizens.

Number 6:
QUESTION:
What is Law?

ANSWER:
A set of rules, issued and enforced by a government that binds every member of society.

Number 7:
QUESTION:
What is public policy?

ANSWER: Decisions and laws tahat a

goevernment makes ina particular area os public concern.

Number 8:
QUESTION:
Which is the theory that rulers receive their authority to govern from God?

ANSWER:
Divine right of kings

Number 9:
QUESTION:
What is a territory whose population maintains an organized governmental body that regulates internal and external affairs?

ANSWER:
A state

Number 10:
QUESTION: What is Social Contract

ANSWER: The theory that people give

up their individual sovereignty in exchange for peace and order provided by the state.

Number 11:
QUESTION:
What did Thomas Hobbes believe about man?

ANSWER:
government is necessary to prevent "the war of every man against every man." (man is inherently evil)

Number 12:
QUESTION:
What did John Locke believe about man?

ANSWER:
We give up certain rights and freedoms to promote the safety and well-being of all (man is naturally good)

Number 13:
QUESTION:
Which theory of the origins of government claims that states form when one person or group forces others under their control?

ANSWER:
The Force Theory

Number 14:
QUESTION:
Which theory of the origins of government claims that states developed naturally out of the early family?

ANSWER:
The Evolution Theory

Number 15:
QUESTION:
Which theory of the origins of government claims that God created the state and gave those of royal birth a right to rule?

ANSWER:
The Divine Right Theory

Number 16:
QUESTION:
Which theory of the origins of government claims that people within an area gave up power to the state to promote safety of all?

ANSWER:
The Social Contract Theory

Number 17:
QUESTION:
In which type of government does a single person hold unlimited political power?

ANSWER:
An autocracy

Number 18:
QUESTION:
In which type of government the political power and control is held by a small group of political elite?

ANSWER:
An oligarchy

Number 19:
QUESTION:
In which type of government decisions are made directly by the people rather than by their elected representatives?

ANSWER:
A direct democracy

Number 20:
QUESTION:
What is a Republic?

ANSWER:
A system of government in which governmental power comes from the people, who elect individuals to represent them in decision making.

Number 21:
QUESTION:
Which type of government the people choose political leaders to make policy decisions on their behalf?

ANSWER:
A representative democracy

Number 22:
QUESTION:
Which type of system has a legal power held by the national, or central government?

ANSWER:
A unitary system

Number 23:
QUESTION:
In which type of government power is shared among central, state, and regional levels?

ANSWER:
A federal system

Number 24:
QUESTION:
What term refers to governmental powers being divided on a geographic basis?

ANSWER:
Division of powers

Number 25:
QUESTION:
Which government is an alliance of independent states with a weak central government?

ANSWER:
A confederation

Number 26:
QUESTION:
Which government has executive and legislative branches that are separate, independent, and coequal?

ANSWER:
Presidential government

Number 27:
QUESTION:
Which government has the power concentrated in a legislature?

ANSWER:
Parliamentary government

Number 28:
QUESTION:
Which characteristic of democracy states that each person, no matter what his or her station in life, is a separate and distinct being?

ANSWER:
Worth of individuals

Number 29:
QUESTION:
Which characteristic of democracy states that all are entitled to equality of opportunity and equality before the law?

ANSWER:
Equality of persons

Number 30:
QUESTION:
Which characteristic of democracy states that the largest portion of a group should prevail in electing leaders and making policies, but cannot ignore small groups?

ANSWER:
Majority rule, minority rights

Number 31:
QUESTION:
Which characteristic of democracy states that democracy can only exist when parties work to find the most acceptable position?

ANSWER:
Necessity of compromise

Number 32:
QUESTION:
Which characteristic of democracy states that each individual is as free to do as he or she pleases as far as the freedom of all will allow?

ANSWER:
Individual freedom

Number 33:
QUESTION:
In which system private business operates with minimal government regulation?

ANSWER:
Free enterprise system

Number 34:
QUESTION:
What economic law states that when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop?

ANSWER:
Law of supply and demand

Number 35:
QUESTION:
What economic system combines elements of the traditional, market, and command economic models.?

ANSWER:
Mixed economy

Number 36:
QUESTION:
What type of government is restricted in what it may do, and each individual has certain rights that government cannot take away?

ANSWER:
Limited government

Number 37:
QUESTION:
What is a system of government in which people choose political leaders to make policy decisions on their behalf?

ANSWER:
Representative democracy

Number 38:
QUESTION:
Which document, prepared by English nobles granted certain rights to English citizens ? It was signed under the threat of force by King John of England un 1215

ANSWER:
The Magna Carta

Number 39:
QUESTION:
Which document was prepared by the English Parliament and signed by King Charles I in 1628? This document, like Magna Carta, limited the ability of the monarch to act on his or her sole authority?

ANSWER:
Petition of Right

Number 40:
QUESTION:
Which document was a law passed by Parliament in 1689 that forms one of the foundations of Britains unwritten constitution?

ANSWER:
English Bill of Rights

Number 41:
QUESTION:
What is a bicameral legislature?

ANSWER:
A legislature composed of two houses

Number 42:
QUESTION:
What is a unicameral legislature?

ANSWER:
A legislature composed of one house

Number 43:
QUESTION:
Which group served as the nations first national government?

ANSWER:
The 2nd Continental Congress

Number 44:
QUESTION:
What is to reverse or cancel an existing law or regulation?

ANSWER:
repeal

Number 45:
QUESTION:
What document was signed on July 4, 1776, listing grievances against England?

ANSWER:
Declaration of Independence

Number 46:
QUESTION:
What is Popular sovereignty?

ANSWER:
It means that the governments authority comes from the people.

Number 47:
QUESTION:
A legal document to form a single national government in the United States.

ANSWER:
Articles of Confederation

Number 48:
QUESTION:
Which is the process of giving formal approval of an action by an agency or governement?

ANSWER:
ratification

Number 49:
QUESTION:
What is the name given to the group of delegates who drafted the Constitution?

ANSWER:
The Framers

Number 50:
QUESTION:
Which plan was created for establishing a one-house legislature in which each state would have proportional representation based on its population?

ANSWER:
The Virginia Plan

Number 51:
QUESTION:
Which proposal was presented as a plan for establishing a one-house legislature in which each state would have an equal vote?

ANSWER:
The New Jersey Plan

Number 52:
QUESTION:
Which plan was a compromise that formed our final system of government?

ANSWER:
The Connecticut Compromise

Number 53:
QUESTION:
What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

ANSWER:
Agreement at the Constitutional Convention to count a slave as three-fifths of a person when determining the population of a State.

Number 54:
QUESTION:
What was the Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise?

ANSWER:
Agreement during the Constitutional Convention protecting slave holders. It denied Congress the power to tax the export of goods from any State, and, for 20 years, the power to act on the slave trade.

Number 55:
QUESTION:
What name was given to someone who supported the proposed U.S. Constitution in the late 1780s and favored a strong national government?

ANSWER:
Federalists

Number 56:
QUESTION:
What name was given to those who opposed the adoption of the U.S. Constitution in the late 1780s?

ANSWER:
Anti-federalists

Number 57:
QUESTION:
Which Constitutional concept and basic principle of government states that those who govern must obey the law?

ANSWER:
Constitutionalism

Number 58:
QUESTION:
Which Constitutional concept states that government leaders must act according to set laws?

ANSWER:
Rule of law

Number 59:
QUESTION:
Which Constitutional concept provides the distribution of political power among the branches of government,giving each branch a particular set of responsabilities?

ANSWER:
Separation of powers

Number 60:
QUESTION:
Which Constitutional concept provides limitations placed on a branch of governments political power by giving the other branches some control over its affairs?

ANSWER:
Checks and balances

Number 61:
QUESTION:
Which Constitutional concept gives power to the court to determine whether laws and other government actions are constitutional or otherwise lawful.

ANSWER:
Judicial review

Number 62:
QUESTION:
Which is the law or government action that violates provisions set forth in the U.S. Constitution.?

ANSWER:
unconstitutional

Number 63:
QUESTION:
Which is the form of government in which power is shared among central, state, and regional levels?

ANSWER:
Federal system

Number 64:
QUESTION:
What is a change in the written language of the Constitution?

ANSWER:
Formal amendment

Number 65:
QUESTION:
What is a change made by experience, not the actual words of the Constitution?

ANSWER:
Informal amendment

Number 66:
QUESTION:
What is another name for the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution?

ANSWER:
The Bill of Rights

Number 67:
QUESTION:
What is a pact between the President and the heads of other nations?

ANSWER:
An executive agreement

Number 68:
QUESTION:
What is a formal agreement between two or more sovereign states?

ANSWER:
Treaty

Number 69:
QUESTION:
What is the advisory board that is made up of the heads of the governments executive departments and reports to the chief executive.

ANSWER:
cabinet

Number 70:
QUESTION:
Which are all powers granted to the National Government by the Constitution?

ANSWER:
Delegated powers

Number 71:
QUESTION:
Which is the governmental power that is specifically granted in a constitution; also called an enumerated or delegated power?

ANSWER:
Expressed power

Number 72:
QUESTION:
Which is the power that is implied, or suggested, by the expressed powers in a constitution.

ANSWER:
Implied power

Number 73:
QUESTION:
Which is the power that is not specifically granted in or implied by a constitution, but that belongs to the governments of all sovereign nations?

ANSWER:
Inherent power

Number 74:
QUESTION:
Which are the powers not granted to the National Government nor denied to the States?

ANSWER:
Reserved powers

Number 75:
QUESTION:
Which is the power or authority that is held by more than one level of government?

ANSWER:
Concurrent powers

Number 76:
QUESTION:
What clause states that the Constitution stands above all other forms of law?

ANSWER:
The Supremacy Clause

Number 77:
QUESTION:
Which is the formal organization of people who seek to influence government actions and policies by electing its members to public office?

ANSWER:
Political party

Number 78:
QUESTION:
What is government action based on firm allegiance to a political party called?

ANSWER:
partisanship

Number 79:
QUESTION:
What is the party that controls the executive branch called?

ANSWER:
Party in power

Number 80:
QUESTION:
What word describes any government action that is supported by two parties?

ANSWER:
bipartisan

Number 81:
QUESTION:
How is called the political candidate who currently holds an elected or appointed office?

ANSWER:
incumbent

Number 82:
QUESTION:
What is the right to vote?

ANSWER:
suffrage

Number 83:
QUESTION:
Who are the people entitled to vote in a given election?

ANSWER:
electorate

Number 84:
QUESTION:
In the United States, the list included citizenship, residence, and age.

ANSWER:
Voter qualifications

Number 85:
QUESTION:
What is a Congressional election that occurs between presidential election years?

ANSWER:
Off-year election

Number 86:
QUESTION:
Divided between personal characteristics (age, race, etc) and group affiliation (family, co-workers, friends, etc.).

ANSWER:
Factors effecting voting

Number 87:
QUESTION:
What is the practice of voting for candidates of only one party in an election?

ANSWER:
Straight-ticket voting

Number 88:
QUESTION:
What is the practice of voting for candidates of different parties for different offices?

ANSWER:
Split-ticket voting

Number 89:
QUESTION:
What is the nominating device composed of a group of like-minded people?

ANSWER:
caucus

Number 90:
QUESTION:
What is the date of national elections?

ANSWER:
Tuesday-after-the-first Monday in November

Number 91:
QUESTION:
What is the effect when a strong candidate at the top of a ballot helping attract voters to lower offices?

ANSWER:
Coattail effect

Number 92:
QUESTION:
What is the smallest unit of election administration?

ANSWER:
precinct

Number 93:
QUESTION:
What is the political extension of special-interest groups?

ANSWER:
Political action committee (PAC)

Number 94:
QUESTION:
What is the complex collection of the opinions of many different people?

ANSWER:
Public opinion

Number 95:
QUESTION:
What are those means of communication that reach large audiences (TV, radio, etc.)?

ANSWER:
Mass media

Number 96:
QUESTION:
What are the instructions or commands a constituency gives to its elected officials?

ANSWER:
mandate

Number 97:
QUESTION:
What is a private organization whose members share certain views and work to shape public policy?

ANSWER:
Interest group

Number 98:
QUESTION:
What is a technique of persuasion aimed at influencing individual or group behaviors to create a particular belief, regardless of its validity?

ANSWER:
propaganda

Number 99:
QUESTION:
What are those activities by which group pressures are brought to bear on legislators, the legislative process, and all aspects of the public policy-making process?

ANSWER:
lobbying

Number 100:
QUESTION:
What term refers to issues, beliefs, or pressures that arise from the average voters?

ANSWER:
Grass roots

Score and Graph