AP US Government : AP US Government

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP US Government

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Example Questions

Example Question #81 : Constructing The Constitution

The authors of the Federalist Papers directed their influence and persuasion toward one state in particular which had not yet ratified the Constitution. What was that state?

Possible Answers:

None of the answers are correct

NY

GA

DE

MA

Correct answer:

NY

Explanation:

NY is the correct answer. Essentially, NY fought ratification because the Anti-Federalist governor, George Clinton, stood to lose a massive amount of political influence and power if NY joined the union. Remember: under the AoC states were MUCH more powerful than the ‘central’ government, thus making governors close to modern-day presidents in their own right. Moreover, because NY was already a hub for commerce, it was functioning well (relative to the other states in the AoC, many of which were floundering).

For that reason, and several others, the founders knew that they needed NY to join, if the Constitution were to actually work. So Madison and the others focused their pen—and attention—on NY and began writing the Federalist Papers.

Example Question #82 : Constitution And Government Foundations

Federalist 10 (the 10th Federalist Paper) is Madison’s response to the Anti-Federalists objection that large republics cannot survive for long, due to competing “factions.” What are “factions”?

Possible Answers:

Different, and often competing, interest groups

All of the answers are correct

The political parties of the time

A figment of George Clinton’s imagination

A rampant disease amongst free countries

Correct answer:

Different, and often competing, interest groups

Explanation:

Factions were more politically prevalent during ratification than they are now, only because now we have well-recognized political parties that have more or less subsumed factions. At any rate, factions were essentially competing interests—this is often difficult to wrap your mind around, so the easiest way to envision it is this: would a northern merchant and a southern planter have the same interests? How about a merchant and an artisan? An artisan and an unskilled laborer? A planter and a plantation owner? All of these would belong to different “factions” in a sense, because they have different interests. The anti-federalists attempted to stir up fear by saying “well, what if ONE of those factions got control of the government! We’d be toast!” (Do you see why? What’s good for a planter is not necessarily good for a merchant, and vice versa).

Example Question #83 : Constitution And Government Foundations

Which of the following correctly defines the purpose of positive rights?

Possible Answers:

Positive rights act to enable governmental entanglement with civil liberties

Positive rights act to provide all subjective individual rights and liberties

Positive rights act positively to ensure economic and social entitlements

Positive rights act to protect constitutional rights by enacting limitations

Positive rights are the rights guaranteed in the Constitution

Correct answer:

Positive rights act positively to ensure economic and social entitlements

Explanation:

The Constitution contains both positive and negative rights.  Positive rights act positively to ensure economic and social entitlements.  Negative rights on the other hand place constitutional limitations on government interference with an individual's right.  These rights make sure that people can enjoy their political and civil liberties with minimal government interference.

Example Question #84 : Constitution And Government Foundations

The necessary and proper clause states that ______________.

Possible Answers:

The president can implement any programs deemed necessary and proper for national welfare

The president has the power to do anything necessary and proper in times of emergency

Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers

Congress has the power to make all laws it deems necessary and proper for national welfare

Congress has the power to do anything necessary and proper in times of emergency

Correct answer:

Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers

Explanation:

The necessary and proper clause states that Congress has the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying out its enumerated powers. Any and all necessary and proper laws must be implemented in order to achieve constitutional results.

Example Question #85 : Constructing The Constitution

Please identify the main goal sought by the colonial American revolutionaries in their fight against Great Britain.

Possible Answers:

The destruction of the British Empire

The restoration of the colonists’ rights and pre-war way of life

A peacefully mature reconciliation between the two adversaries

Equitable colonial representation in the British Parliament

Correct answer:

The restoration of the colonists’ rights and pre-war way of life

Explanation:

Throughout the course of the American Revolution, the colonists clung tightly to their dominant aim: the restoration of their rights and a return to their way of life before Great Britain’s abuses and the War. This goal was expressed most eloquently in the Declaration of Independence, in which the Founders gave voice to the colonists’ frustrations over the increasingly worsening pattern of disregard, violation, and presumption forced upon them by King George III and Parliament. In truth, many of the colonists had been reluctant to formally separate from England at first, believing instead that the King might be persuaded to acknowledge his government’s wrongdoings and restore them a respected position, with political and economic freedoms, within his Empire. But after the King and Parliament both summarily rejected this prospect and, indeed, continued to abuse the American colonies even further, the colonists knew that their treasured rights and laissez-faire lifestyle could only be won back through revolt. In this manner, the Revolution was actually rather conservative (as far as uprisings go), because the colonists did not desire radical or wide-sweeping changes.

Example Question #86 : Constructing The Constitution

Please select the controversial event that helped convince many people that the Articles of Confederation needed immediate reformation.

Possible Answers:

Shays' Rebellion 

The Annapolis Meeting 

The Whiskey Rebellion 

Punitive tariffs passed by many states 

Correct answer:

Shays' Rebellion 

Explanation:

Shays’ Rebellion, which broke out in 1786, was a collection of small armed uprisings by Massachusetts farmers, coordinated by ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays. Shays and his fellow rebels were indebted farmers whose lands had been confiscated by creditors under Massachusetts’ inequitable debtor laws. Desperate to keep their lands, Shays and his men attacked several courthouses, preventing judges from finalizing foreclosure proceedings and generally inspiring other similarly disadvantaged farmers in other states to do the same. The government of Massachusetts was incapable of stopping the Rebellion, which was popular with many of the state’s citizens. In these dire straits, Massachusetts appealed to Congress for aid, but under the Articles, Congress was unable to call together a militia, let alone gather the necessary supplies and funds to sponsor such a force. Hampered by the Articles, Congress was forced to stand aside and watch the Rebellion proceed. Eventually, the Rebellion was halted by a militia put together by a private force funded by Massachusetts’ wealthy citizens, but the interval of chaos that had ensued, in which Shays and his rebels ran about unchecked, convinced many people across the new nation that the Articles of Confederation were seriously flawed and needed to be amended as soon as possible.

Example Question #21 : Concerns And Fears

        

Article One of the United States Constitution is based on The Great Compromise of the Founding Fathers. What was the “Great Compromise”?

Possible Answers:

A compromise among the Founding Fathers to create a legislature similar to the Articles of Confederation

An agreement to limit the length of the term of the Senate to avoid an aristocratic upper class taking control of the upper house of Congress

A compromise to limit the term of office of all elected officials

A compromise to settle the dispute regarding representation in a bicameral legislature in a fair and equitable manner for all states regardless of population

A plan to set the term of office for the House of Representatives at two years to make the Representatives responsive to the public more frequently

Correct answer:

A compromise to settle the dispute regarding representation in a bicameral legislature in a fair and equitable manner for all states regardless of population

Explanation:

During the Constitutional Convention, the Founding Fathers were faced with a debate between the large and small states. The larger states wanted representation based on population because they had more population they felt they would then also have more governmental power. The smaller states felt slighted by this concept. The debate was settled by what is called The Great Compromise creating a bicameral legislature. In one house, the House of Representatives, representation would be based on population. In the other house, the Senate, representation was set at two members per state. It is called The Great Compromise because of the balance of representation it created.

Example Question #1 : Separation Of Powers

Which of these is not a check on the power of the Executive that is specified in the Constitution?

Possible Answers:

Congress can override a Presidential veto.

Congress can impeach a President.

All of these are checks on the power of the Executive.

Congress must approve treaties with foreign nations.

The Supreme Court can declare Executive acts unconstitutional.

Correct answer:

All of these are checks on the power of the Executive.

Explanation:

All of these powers are considered checks and balances provided, an attempt to prevent the Executive Branch from devolving into a tyrannical body. All of these powers have limits, in order to prevent tyranny from any of the other branches as well. This separation of powers, and checks and balances, is a fundamental concept of the United States Constitution and the Federal Republic system that prevails in America.

Example Question #1 : Separation Of Powers

Passage adapted from Baron de Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws (1748)

When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates [government officials], there can be no liberty; because apprehensions [fears] may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner…

Given the passage provided, which solution would Baron de Montesquieu offer to avoid the enactment of tyrannical laws? 

Possible Answers:

Granting freedom of speech

Reinstating absolute monarchies

Separating the branches of government

Limiting natural laws

Correct answer:

Separating the branches of government

Explanation:

Montesquieu wrote about how to best organize government to avoid the abuse of power. His writings are the influence to separate our government into separate branches, each with its own responsibility and power to keep the others from becoming more powerful than the others. His thinking was inflential on, and largely in line, with many early constitutional thinkers, who focused on placing systems of checks and balances within the governmental framework they set up.

Example Question #81 : Constitution And Government Foundations

What is the main purpose of auxiliary precautions?

Possible Answers:

Auxiliary precautions divide and separate power among government institutions

Auxiliary precautions limit governmental power

Auxiliary precautions serve as a check on legislative decisions

Auxiliary precautions counterbalance majority ruling

Auxiliary precautions provide the structure of governmental institutions

Correct answer:

Auxiliary precautions divide and separate power among government institutions

Explanation:

While auxiliary precautions do limit governmental power, there is a better answer available. The main purpose of auxiliary precautions is to divide and separate power among government institutions. They serve as a system of checks and balances to ensure that one branch of government does not attain too much power.

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