Constitutional Democracy
Chapter Overview
Americans have long been skeptical of
politicians and politics. Yet politics is a
necessary activity for a democracy.
 Politics and politicians are essential and
indispensable in making our system of
separated institutions and checks and
balances work.

Chapter Overview
"Democracy" is an often misused term,
and it has many different meanings. Here
it is used to refer to a system of
interacting values, interrelated political
processes, and interdependent political
structures.
 The vital principle of democracy is that a
just government must derive its powers
from the consent of the people, and that
this consent must be regularly renewed
at free and fair elections.

Chapter Overview

Stable constitutional democracy is
encouraged by various conditions,
 an educated citizenry
 a healthy economy
 overlapping associations and
groupings within a society in which
major institutions interact to create a
certain degree of consensus.
Chapter Overview



There is some concern about a recent
decline in social capital - the experiences
people gain in working together in
community groups.
Lessons about compromise,
accommodation, and participation are
important building blocks for democracy.
Some experts say there is a decline in civic
engagement while others see a healthy level
of voluntary and charitable engagement that
is making our communities and nation better.
Chapter Overview



Despite a myriad of social ills, optimism
breaks through.
Constitutionalism is a general label we apply
to arrangements such as checks and
balances, federalism, separation of powers,
due process, and the Bill of Rights that force
our leaders and representatives to listen,
think, deliberate, bargain, and explain before
they act and make laws.
A constitutional government enforces
recognized and regularly applied limits on the
powers of those who govern.
Chapter Overview
Constitutionalism is a general label
applied to arrangements such as
checks and balances, federalism,
separation of powers, rule of law, due
process, and the Bill of Rights that force
our leaders and representatives to
listen, think, bargain, and explain before
they act and make laws.
 A constitutional government enforces
recognized and regularly applied limits
on the powers of those who govern.

Chapter Overview
Constitutionalism is a general label
applied to arrangements such as
checks and balances, federalism,
separation of powers, rule of law, due
process, and the Bill of Rights that force
our leaders and representatives to
listen, think, bargain, and explain before
they act and make laws.
 A constitutional government enforces
recognized and regularly applied limits
on the powers of those who govern.

Chapter Overview
Democracy developed gradually.
 A revolution had to be fought before a
system of representative democracy in
the United States could be tried and
tested.
 It took several years before a national
constitution could be written, and almost
another year to be ratified.
 It took still another two years before a Bill
of Rights could be adopted and ratified.

Chapter Overview
It has taken more than two hundred
years for democratic institutions to be
refined and for systems of competition
and choice to be hammered out.
 Democratic institutions such as free and
fair elections and equal protection of the
laws in the United States are still a work
in progress, still in the process of being
refined and improved.

In a democracy, government
drives its authority from its
a.
b.
c.
d.
residents.
citizens.
political leaders.
business leaders.
True of false:
The word Democracy is not
used in the Declaration of
Independence or in the
Constitution.
a.
b.
True
False
Democracy as a theory of
government is centered on
a.
b.
c.
d.
The individual
Political parties
Interest groups
An independent judiciary
Which of the following is not an
essential condition for the
establishment and maintenance of
democracy?
A relatively prosperous nation, with an
equitable distribution of wealth, provides
the best context for democracy.
b. The exercise of voting privileges takes
some level of education on the part of the
citizenry.
c. A nation that embraces a highly
centralized government-run economy and
little private ownership of property.
a.
Framers of the Constitution
favored the use of _____ rather
than democracy.
a.
b.
c.
d.
League of Nations
Confederation
Republic
Monarchy
A representative democracy is
commonly called a(n)
a.
b.
c.
d.
direct democracy.
aristocracy.
republic.
oligarchy.
How many presidential and
midterm elections have
occurred in the United States?
a.
b.
c.
d.
226
112
92
104
Which of the following is not
required of citizens living in a
democratic political system?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Open-mindedness
Skepticism
Optimism
Unanimous participation
Power, in the American political
system, is
a.
b.
c.
d.
Concentrated in Congress
Concentrated in the state legislatures
Concentrated in the federal judiciary
Fragmented
One of the following words is
not at the heart of American
beliefs.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Competition
Freedom
Liberty
equality
What does a constitutional
democracy require?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Active participation
Faith in common human enterprise
Skepticism of leaders
All of the above
The best characterization of
the framers of the Constitution
would be
a.
b.
c.
d.
Visionary idealists
Political philosophers
Experienced practical politicians
Spokesmen for the average person
The Founding Fathers favored
all but one of the following
ideas.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A unicameral legislature
A strong executive
An independent judiciary
A more powerful Congress
To secure ratification,
supporters of the Constitution
promised
a.
b.
c.
d.
Presidential veto power
A Bill of Rights
A federal income tax
A Homestead Act
Adoption of the new
Constitution required
ratification by _____ states.
a.
b.
c.
d.
nine
thirteen
ten
seven
The biggest contribution of the
Anti-federalists was ____.
a.
b.
c.
d.
The Federalist
The Bill of Rights
New York’s support
All of the above
Under the Virginia Plan,
representation in both houses
would be based on
a.
b.
c.
d.
equal representation
population
the geographic size of a state
the electoral college
The New Jersey Plan called
for
a.
b.
c.
d.
equal representation
legitimacy derived from citizens, based
on popular representation.
Congress to be given the right to tax
and regulate commerce
a bicameral legislature
The Connecticut Compromise
found middle ground on the
issue of
a.
b.
c.
d.
representation
slavery
the court system
the electoral college
Which compromise was
between the North and
South?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Compromise
Three-fifths Compromise
Which of the following was of
least concern to Southern
delegates at the Constitutional
Convention?
a.
b.
c.
a desire to count slaves to enlarge its
representation in Congress
abolition of slavery by a northern
majority in Congress
a northern majority in Congress might
discriminate against southern trade
To break the deadlock over
representation, the Connecticut
Compromise provided that one
house of Congress be based
on _____; and the other on
______.
a.
b.
c.
d.
population, equality
seniority, strength
popularity, loyalty
autocracy, capital
The authors of “The
Federalists,” a series of essays
urging adoption of the
Constitution included all but
one of the following.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
John Jay
The Articles of Confederation
was _______.
a.
b.
c.
d.
A strong national government
The way Britain ruled the colonies
A loose friendship between the
original states
Made up of a strong president and
legislature, but no judiciary