Unit I – Constitutional Underpinnings of the United States Government

AP Test Prep Quiz

Mrs. Probst

1. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention can best be described as

a. representative of both men and women.
b. a cross section of all crafts, trades and laborers.
c. racially mixed
d. all white male landowners.
2. Most delegates to the Constitutional Convention accepted the idea of
a. balanced government
b. direct democracy
c. majority rule
d. tyranny
3. A plan calling for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature, the lower house to be elected by the
voters and the upper chosen by the lower is known as the
a. New Jersey Plan.
b. Virginia Plan.
c. Connecticut Plan.
d. The Constitutional Convention
4. The compromise designed to set aside differences between the Northern and Southern states is called the
a. Great Compromise.
b. Three-fifths Compromise.
c. The Compromise of 1812
d. Connecticut Compromise.
5. The framers of the Constitution agreed that the president should be elected by the
a. Senate.
b. legislature
c. people.
d. electoral college.
6. Which of the following is not an explanation of natural law?
a. law that defines right from wrong
b. law that is higher than human law
c. law not backed by religious scripture
d. law that is enacted by a legislature
7. The distribution of constitutional authority among the three branches of the government is
a. separation of powers.
b. federalism.
c. checks and balances
d. constitutional democracy.
8. Which of the following is not correct regarding checks and balances?
a. The Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
b. The president can make treaties with the approval of the House of Representatives.
c. The House and Senate have an absolute veto over each other.
d. The Senate confirms presidential appointments
9. A procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.
a. Reform
b. Recall
c. Initiative
d. Referendum
10. Which of the following statements regarding judicial review is correct?
a. It was first asserted in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden.
b. It is defined in legislation passed in 1789.
c. The concept was widely approved at the Constitutional Convention
d. It is not mentioned in the Constitution.
11. Identify a form of government in which a constitution distributes powers between a central government and
subdivisional governments.
a. Confederation
b. Union
c. National supremacy
d. Federalism
12. The attempt to return many functions of government to the state level has been called
a. a return to state control.
b. evolution revolution.
c. devolution revolution.
d. separation of powers.
13. Which of the following is NOT a concurrent power shared by the national government and state governments?
a. to tax citizens and businesses
b. to borrow and spend money
c. to protect civil rights
d. to charter local governments
14. The Federalist paper most clearly associated with the problems of factions and the ideas of federalism is
a. The Federalist, No. 10.
b. The Federalist, No. 58.
c. The Federalist, No. 68.
d. The Federalist, No. 73.
15. The term "federal government" refers to
a. state government.
b. central or national government.
c. state and national governments.
d. Washington, D. C.
16. The term that refers to a system that delivers governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation
among various levels of government in getting the job done is called
a. cooperative federalism.
b. marble cake federalism.
c. new federalism.
d. permissive federalism.
17. The term that refers to a type of federalism in which all levels of government are involved in a variety of issues and
programs, rather than a type in which uniform divisions are found between levels of government, is called
a. cooperative federalism.
b. marble cake federalism.
c. new federalism.
d. permissive federalism.
18. The Chief Justice who gained the important power for the Court to declare laws passed by Congress
unconstitutional was Roger Taney. (True or False)

19. Preemption is the right of a federal law or regulation to prohibit enforcement of a state or local law
or regulation. (True or False)

20. The power to keep executive communications confidential is executive privilege. (True or False)

21. The method most often used to propose amendments to the Constitution is a convention called by
Congress. (True or False)

22. The Equal Rights Amendment would have provided that "equality of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.” (True or False)

23. After the collapse of the Taliban, a new constitution was written for Afghanistan. (True or False)

24. A series of essays used by supporters of the Constitution to encourage ratification are known as The Federalist.
(True or False)

25. Slavery dominated the struggle over the adoption of the proposed constitution. (True or False)

26. The last two states to ratify the Constitution were North Carolina and Rhode Island. (True or False)

27. George Washington supported ratification in Virginia. (True or False)

28. The Constitution requires the national government to guarantee to each state a Republican form of government.
(True or False)
29. In McCulloch v. Maryland, Maryland contended the power to incorporate a bank was not delegated to the
national government. (True or False)

30. States' rights is a position emphasized by centralists. (True or False)

Unit I – Constitutional Underpinnings of the United States Government

AP Test Prep Quiz
Mrs. Probst

18. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention can best be described as

a. representative of both men and women.
b. a cross section of all crafts, trades and laborers.
c. racially mixed
d. all white male landowners.
19. Most delegates to the Constitutional Convention accepted the idea of
a. balanced government
b. direct democracy
c. majority rule
d. tyranny
20. A plan calling for a strong central government with a bicameral legislature, the lower house to be elected by the
voters and the upper chosen by the lower is known as the
a. New Jersey Plan.
b. Virginia Plan.
c. Connecticut Plan.
d. The Constitutional Convention
21. The compromise designed to set aside differences between the Northern and Southern states is called the
a. Great Compromise.
b. Three-fifths Compromise.
c. The Compromise of 1812
d. Connecticut Compromise.
22. The framers of the Constitution agreed that the president should be elected by the
a. Senate.
b. legislature
c. people.
d. electoral college.
23. Which of the following is not an explanation of natural law?
a. law that defines right from wrong
b. law that is higher than human law
c. law not backed by religious scripture
d. law that is enacted by a legislature
24. The distribution of constitutional authority among the three branches of the government is
a. separation of powers.
b. federalism.
c. checks and balances
d. constitutional democracy.
25. Which of the following is not correct regarding checks and balances?
a. The Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
b. The president can make treaties with the approval of the House of Representatives.
c. The House and Senate have an absolute veto over each other.
d. The Senate confirms presidential appointments
26. A procedure for submitting to popular vote the removal of officials from office before the end of their term.
a. Reform
b. Recall
c. Initiative
d. Referendum
27. Which of the following statements regarding judicial review is correct?
a. It was first asserted in the case of Gibbons v. Ogden.
b. It is defined in legislation passed in 1789.
c. The concept was widely approved at the Constitutional Convention
d. It is not mentioned in the Constitution.
28. Identify a form of government in which a constitution distributes powers between a central government and
subdivisional governments.
 a. Confederation
b. Union
c. National supremacy
d. Federalism
29. The attempt to return many functions of government to the state level has been called
a. a return to state control.
b. evolution revolution.
c. devolution revolution.
d. separation of powers.
30. Which of the following is NOT a concurrent power shared by the national government and state governments?
a. to tax citizens and businesses
b. to borrow and spend money
c. to protect civil rights
d. to charter local governments
31. The Federalist paper most clearly associated with the problems of factions and the ideas of federalism is
a. The Federalist, No. 10.
b. The Federalist, No. 58.
c. The Federalist, No. 68.
d. The Federalist, No. 73.
32. The term "federal government" refers to
a. state government.
b. central or national government.
c. state and national governments.
d. Washington, D. C.
33. The term that refers to a system that delivers governmental goods and services to the people and calls for cooperation
among various levels of government in getting the job done is called
a. cooperative federalism.
b. marble cake federalism.
c. new federalism.
d. permissive federalism.
34. The term that refers to a type of federalism in which all levels of government are involved in a variety of issues and
programs, rather than a type in which uniform divisions are found between levels of government, is called
a. cooperative federalism.
b. marble cake federalism.
c. new federalism.
d. permissive federalism.
18. The Chief Justice who gained the important power for the Court to declare laws passed by Congress
unconstitutional was Roger Taney. (True or False)

19. Preemption is the right of a federal law or regulation to prohibit enforcement of a state or local law
or regulation. (True or False)

20. The power to keep executive communications confidential is executive privilege. (True or
False)**however, this is only if the communication related to matters of national security.
21. The method most often used to propose amendments to the Constitution is a convention called by
Congress. (True or False)
22. The Equal Rights Amendment would have provided that "equality of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.” (True or False)

31. After the collapse of the Taliban, a new constitution was written for Afghanistan. (True or False)

32. A series of essays used by supporters of the Constitution to encourage ratification are known as The Federalist.
(True or False)

33. Slavery dominated the struggle over the adoption of the proposed constitution. (True or False)

34. The last two states to ratify the Constitution were North Carolina and Rhode Island. (True or False)

35. George Washington supported ratification in Virginia. (True or False)

36. The Constitution requires the national government to guarantee to each state a Republican form of government.
(True or False)

37. In McCulloch v. Maryland, Maryland contended the power to incorporate a bank was not delegated to the
national government. (True or False)**it was of course,reversed. The Sup Ct did say since the govt was given the
power to tax and spend, that the banks were seen as a proper place for this to occur. So Maryland could not
interfere with the ability of the national govt to establish a bank.

38. States' rights is a position emphasized by centralists. (True or False)