Free Response Questions for Unit I

2010
The framers of the Constitution created a political system based on limited government. The original
Constitution and the Bill of Rights were intended to restrict the powers of the national government.
Later constitutional developments also limited the powers of state governments.
(a) Explain how each of the following limits the powers of the national executive.
• Federalism
• Checks and balances
(b) Explain how each of the following two provisions in the Bill of Rights limits the powers of the national government.
• Establishment clause
• Guarantee of a public trial
(c) Choose one of the following and explain how it limits the power of state governments.
• Citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
• Selective incorporation

2009
In The Federalist paper number 10, James Madison expressed concern over the possibility that both majority and minority factions would have too much power over government, and he presented ways of minimizing that danger. The United States Constitution established a democratic government but also contained several provisions that limited majority rule. Throughout the next two centuries, the role of majority rule in the United States government and politics continued to change.

(a) Identify the part of the national government that was originally most closely tied to citizens and explain how it was tied to citizens.
(b) Explain two ways the United States Constitution limited majority rule.
(c) Choose two of the following twentieth-century developments and explain how each moved the United States from a less democratic system to a more democratic system.
• Primary elections
• The Seventeenth Amendment
• Expansion of suffrage

2007
The framers of the Constitution created a federal system.
(a)Define Federalism.
(b)Select two of the following and explain how each has been used to increase the power of the federal government relative to the states.
• Categorical grants
• Federal mandates
• Selective incorporation
(c) Select two of the following and explain how each has been used to increase the power of the states relative to the federal government.
• Welfare Reform Act of 1996
• Block Grants
• Tenth Amendment

2006
The Farmers of the US Constitution created a legislative system that is bicameral. However, it is not just bicameral; the framers also established two houses of distinctly different character and authority.
(a)Discuss two reasons why the framers created a bicameral legislature.
(b)Identify one power unique to the House of Representatives and explain why the framers gave the House that power.
(c)Identify one power of the Senate and explain why the framers gave the Senate that power.

2005
The power of the federal government relative to the power of the states has increased since the ratification of the Constitution.
(a)Describe two of the following provisions of the Constitution and explainhow each has been used over time to expand federal power.
• The power to tax and spend
• The “necessary and proper” or “elastic” clause
• The commerce clause
(b) Explain how one of the following has increased the power of the federal government relative to the power of state governments.
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Clean Air Act

2001
The United States Constitution has endured for more than two centuries as the framework of government. However, the meaning of the Constitution has been changed both by formal and informal methods.
(a) Identify two formal methods for adding amendments to the Constitution.
(b) Describe two informal methods that have been used to change the meaning of the Constitution. Provide one specific example for each informal method you described.
(c) Explain why informal methods are used more often than the formal amendment process.

The Constitution was an attempt to address problems of decentralization that were experienced under the Articles of Confederation.
(a) List three problems of decentralized power that existed under the Articles of Confederation. For each problem you listed, identify one solution that the Constitution provided to address the problem.
(b) Some have argued that the tensions between decentralized and centralized power continue to exist. Support this argument by explaining how one of the following illustrates the continuing tension.
• Environmental Policy
• Gun Control
• Disability Access

1997
Analyze whether federalism, over the last twenty- five years, has changed due to the increase in federal mandates on state and local governments. Identify one federal mandate and discuss each of the following with respect to the mandate you have identified.
(a) The objectives of the federal government in enacting the mandate.
(b) The impact on state and local government budget priorities as a result of
the mandate.
(c) The potential consequences of the removal of the mandate
(d) Assess the impact of increased federal mandates on federalism.