WGU C963 - Learning Checks & Quizzes,
100% Correct answers. Verified.
What is it called when people make an agreement between themselves and the government? - ✔✔-A
social contract
According to the social contract t
...
WGU C963 - Learning Checks & Quizzes,
100% Correct answers. Verified.
What is it called when people make an agreement between themselves and the government? - ✔✔-A
social contract
According to the social contract theory, what is the origin of society? - ✔✔-Society is the product of
human desire and effort
Which of the following did John Locke view as the most important protections under the social contract?
- ✔✔-Liberty and property
Which of these accurately describes John Locke's view on the state of nature? - ✔✔-The state of nature
was peaceful and consisted of rational human beings
According to John Locke, how much authority should society have over its citizens under the social
contract? - ✔✔-Limited authority, the social contract should provide a society in which the society has
no more power than is necessary to regulate the natural rights and co-existence of its citizens
Describe the characteristics of a social contract. - ✔✔-A social contract is a collective expression of a
collectively shared interest, a definition of human nature, and a specification of natural rights.
In what way is the state of nature important for constructing a social contract? - ✔✔-Society should be a
reflection of what it means to be human, and natural rights must be acknowledged and protected in a
social contract.
Why is it important to know what the quality of life is like in the state of nature? - ✔✔-How bad or good
life is in the state of nature will guide the need to cooperate with others, and the subsequent social
contract will help overcome the drawbacks experienced in the state of nature.
What is the purpose of a social contract? - ✔✔-Social contracts are created to acknowledge and protect
natural rights.
What is an important weakness of a social contract? - ✔✔-Social contracts require consensus, which is
difficult to obtain in any society.
What do natural rights let you do? - ✔✔-Natural rights let you do what you need to survive and be
secure, and they impart an equality of all people.
What did the Enlightenment philosophers used the state of nature for? - ✔✔-Enlightenment
philosophers used the state of nature to define human nature and argued for a proper society and
government based on that nature.
What conditions are required for a social contract to work? - ✔✔-The conditions needed for a social
contract to work include consensus among those involved in the social contract and a uniformity of
ability and purpose among those who agree to it.
What does the theory of a social contract acknowledge? - ✔✔-The social contract acknowledges that
the people are in relationship with the government and there are obligations the citizens have to a
society.
What are social contracts constructed to be compatible with? - ✔✔-The social contract recognizes both
human nature and natural rights and when constructed, natural rights are a central part because they
are too important to our individual lives.
What natural right was explicitly protected in the Declaration of Independence? - ✔✔-Liberty. Thomas
Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence based on the ideas of John Locke who argued that one
of our most important natural rights is liberty.
Which Constitutional principle, suggested by Montesquieu, lessens the potential harm of the national
government over the people? - ✔✔-Separation of Powers. By separating the legislative, executive, and
judicial power and placing each branch into the control of different political actors this would prevent
government tyranny over the people by limiting the harm any one branch might do on its own.
Which Constitutional mechanism, suggested by Montesquieu, balances the national government and
prevents any one section of government from having sole/complete power? - ✔✔-Checks and Balances.
Prevents any one branch from gaining complete power and control over the government by allowing
each branch to monitor and influence what happens in the other branches.
Which of the following protects Locke's idea of natural rights and provides Montesquieu's protections
known as due process of law? - ✔✔-The Bill of Rights. This addition to the Constitution focuses on
protecting the liberties or freedoms by protecting such rights as freedom of speech and providing due
process.
Which was designed with a concern for the tyranny of factional majority? - ✔✔-The Constitution. The
potential for the tyranny of factional majority was a key consideration at the time of the drafting of the
Constitution.
What is the Enlightenment? - ✔✔-A period of Western European history following the Middle Ages
(1650-1800) that occurred mainly in Great Britain, France, and Germany. Its philosophy produced the
idea of natural rights.
Why does the Enlightenment influence American politics and government? - ✔✔-Those who settled the
American colonies were seeking freedom and opportunity, and Locke's ideas about the consent to be
governed and the right to rebellion had a major influence in the establishment of American government.
Early Americans were not drawn to the idea of the divine right of kings.
How do conflicting ideas of the Enlightenment influence government and politics? - ✔✔-Separation of
powers in the Constitution works to undermine popular democratic input and control, but even when
dealing with important social needs, protection of private property limits the government's actions.
What ideas are embodied in the Declaration of Independence? - ✔✔-The Declaration specifically
mentions life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as well as the idea that people have the right to
create or abolish governments if their natural rights are at risk.
In what key ways does the Constitution differ from the Declaration of Independence? - ✔✔-While the
Declaration emphasized liberty and expressing the popular will, the Constitution was designed to control
popular will and support justice.
What type of rights are contained in the Bill of Rights? - ✔✔-The Bill contains both natural rights and
procedural rights.
The Constitution's first three articles create separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches, is
consistent with? - ✔✔-Montesquieu's theory for the separation of political power.
The Constitution's demotion of liberty, and lack of protections for natural rights, suggests the framers
were what? - ✔✔-The framers were interested in creating a national government that worked.
How is unicameral Congress different from a bicameral Congress? - ✔✔-A unicameral Congress has one
chamber while a bicameral Congress has two.
What was the basis of representation in Congress under the Articles of Confederation? - ✔✔-All states
were viewed as equal, so each state had one vote in the Congress.
Powers of the National Government under the Articles of Confederation? (5) - ✔✔-Borrow and coin
money, declare war, make treaties and alliances with other nations, regulate trade with Native
Americans, settle disputes among other states.
Why were the powers of the national government severely limited under the Articles of Confederation?
- ✔✔-This was a concern when creating the Articles of Confederation as the US government did not
want to create a government similar to the oppressive British government they had just declared
independence from.
Why was limiting the powers of the national government under the Articles of Confederation a major
concern? - ✔✔-Limiting the powers of the national government meant that the power of the states
remained protected and would serve to prevent the national government from becoming too powerful.
Although the national government had the power to declare war under the Articles of Confederation,
how was this specific power limited? - ✔✔-There was no national army from which to pull soldiers. The
national government had to ask the individual states to send soldiers from their state militias to fight in
any war.
Why was the national government given power to regulate trade with the Native Americans under the
Articles of Confederation? - ✔✔-Because Native Americans were not considered citizens of the US and
were treated as foreign nations.
Which system of government allows states to retain most of their power and authority while delegating
few defined powers to the national government? - ✔✔-A confederation. Under a confederation, the
national government derives its power solely through what the states allow it to do.
Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? - ✔✔-The Articles limited the powers of the national
government too much, making it weak and ineffective. The Articles also gave the states too much
authority.
How did creating a republican form of government in the United States ease the fears of the national
government becoming too powerful? - ✔✔-A republican form of government gave the power to the
people while still allowing the states to have their own elected officials to enforce laws and policies
within each state.
Why was it so difficult to change the Articles of Confederation? - ✔✔-The Articles of Confederation
required unanimous consent by all the 13 states for any changes.
Even though the national government had the power to declare war under the Articles of
Confederation, why was the power limited and ultimately ineffective? - ✔✔-There was no national
army, so the national government had to rely on the individual states to allow their soldiers to
participate.
Why did the United States have currency problems under the Articles of Confederation? - ✔✔-The new
government had to rely on states to provide funds for backing a currency and paying back loans.
Why was the inability to regulate trade among the states a weakness of the national government under
the Articles of Confederation? - ✔✔-It allowed the states to make their own agreements with foreign
countries without the national government knowing.
Why were foreign government reluctant to loan money to the US during the time of the Articles of
Confederation? - ✔✔-Due to the inability to tax its citizens, the national government had no money to
pay any potential loans and they had no way to back up the value of its currency which increasingly
became worthless.
During the Constitutional Convention, how did the Virginia Plan differ from the New Jersey Plan? - ✔✔-
The Virginia Plan provided for greater representation, but only for some states, while the New Jersey
Plan provided for equal representation for all states.
What characteristics does the New Jersey Plan have? - ✔✔-Unicameral legislature, smaller states would
be given the same amount of power, legislature gave each state one vote regardless for their
population.
What characteristics does the Virginia Plan have? - ✔✔-A bicameral legislature, larger states would have
more power, and legislature gave votes to states based on their population.
The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) sought to balance? - ✔✔-Whether the people or the
states are to be represented in the national government.
Under the terms of the original Constitution, what would happen to a slave who escaped and fled to
another state? - ✔✔-Runaway slaves could be reclaimed by their owners and taken back.
As a check on the power of Congress to pass laws, the president was given power to? - ✔✔-Veto power
allows presidents to restrain Congress from passing legislation unless they have a large enough majority
to override the presidents veto.
As a check on the power of the Supreme Court, Congress has the power to? - ✔✔-Increase the number
of justices on the Supreme Court.
In what ways does Article 1 of the Constitution prevent the national government from engaging in
taxation without representation? - ✔✔-All bills to raise revenue must begin in the House of
Representatives and both the House and Senate must approve of all revenue bills.
To reinforce representational differences in the national bicameral legislature, the Great Compromise
required that? - ✔✔-Members of the House of Representatives be selected by the voters, and members
of the Senate be selected by the state legislatures.
The Anti-Federalist insistence on a Bill or Rights resulted from? - ✔✔-The view that the Constitution
offered little protection for liberty or natural rights. Anti-Federalists felt a more positive assertion of
individual liberty and rights was necessary.
As a compromise to win support to ratification of the Constitution from the Anti-Federalists, the
Federalists agreed to? - ✔✔-Add a bill of rights to the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists worried that the
Constitution didn't do enough to protect individual rights, and the Bill or Rights was intended to fix that
limitation.
What group would have been least likely to support ratification of the Constitution? - ✔✔-Small farmers
and planters. Many small farmers and planters worried that taxes from the federal government could be
difficult to pay, and that tariffs would make it harder for them to market their agricultural products
overseas.
What is the name of the series of essays published beginning in 1787 that argued in support of a strong
federal government and the ratification of the Constitution was? - ✔✔-The Federalist Papers, authored
by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, made a public case for the importance of ratifying the constitution.
What are the reasons James Madison found it necessary to write Federalist no. 10? - ✔✔-To address the
fears of the Anti-Federalists who were suspicious of a government run by elites, to get more states to
support ratification of the Constitution, to inform the states that factions could be contained by a
representative government.
What are of trade does Congress control? - ✔✔-Congress controls all international and interstate trade.
What does the power of judicial review permit the courts to do? - ✔✔-Judicial review gives the judicial
branch the power to invalidate an act of Congress if it violates the US Constitution.
What statement is true concerning the powers of the president as chief diplomat? - ✔✔-The president
or his/her people negotiate the treaties, but they still must be approved by the Senate.
Who has the most important in foreign policy? - ✔✔-The president. There are few limits on the ability of
the president to conduct foreign policy.
On which branch of government does the Constitution provi
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