Quiz questions for presentation 5 – Constitutional Framework
Multiple Choice
1. The branch of government most likely to have dominated the framers' debate was the
a. bureaucracy
b. executive
c. judicial
d. legislative
Answer D – Article 1 is the longest, most detailed, and took most of the time negotiating
during the convention.
2. The Founding Fathers created a system that
a. encouraged participatory democracy.
b. favored the popular majority.
c. restricted decision making by popular majority.
d. emphasized prompt, decisive government action.
Answer C – the people are as far removed as possible from actual decision-making power.
Madison feared public opinion, referring to it as “the Mob.”
3. The power of the president to veto an act of Congress is an example of
a. checks and balances.
b. federalism.
c. faction.
d. expressed powers.
Answer A – Each branch of government has the ability to check, or stop, the other
branches from doing something that would jeopardize the Republic.
4. According to James Madison, why did all democracies in history prior to America's
fail?
a. Because citizens of those earlier democracies were less noble or pure than Americans.
b. Because the earlier experiments were not direct democracies.
c. Because they were divided by factions which resorted to tyranny in a crisis.
d. Because they were weak and were destroyed in warfare.
Answer C – This is referred to as Madison’s Dilemma and is discussed in Federalist #10.
His solution was a large, representative Republic.
5. A key idea underlying the U.S. Constitution is the concept that
a. each state can set all of its own rules.
b. it created an unchangeable framework.
c. powers are shared among the branches of government.
d. states can ignore each others’ directives.
Answer C – Federalist 51 argues that by splitting power and requiring it to be shared
among several entities, we can have a strong central government yet avoid tyranny.
Essay Question
Would American government be more efficient if power were concentrated within a
single branch of government? Would it be more effective?
Discussion Questions
Constitutional relevance
What part of the Constitution is the most important? Is there a component that is
cumbersome or inappropriate given the politics of the 21st century?
The Mob
Madison designed a government that removes most of the policy making decisions as far
from the people as possible. Some examples of this are the electoral college and the fact
that Senators were originally appointed by state legislators, not elected. Is Madison’s
distrust of “the mob” well-founded, or should we have a more direct democracy?
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumm
Is the constitutional framework idiot-proof? Both parties loudly proclaimed in the past
election that the future of the Republic was at stake. Republicans like to argue that
Democrats are traitors and cowards who can’t be trusted to defend the constitution and
Democrats like to argue that Republicans are closet dictators who are eager to throw out
the constitution when it is inconvenient. Of course, only partisan extremists make these
claims, but it raises the question, can any one election have constitutional consequences?
Links
American Constitution Society
to keep track of constitutional debates
http://www.acsblog.org/
National Archives
For information on the founding documents and people.
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/charters.html
The Constitution with commentary by the Founders
An HTML copy with links to explanations by the first generation of Americans.
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/