Multiple Choice Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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The Formal Process of Amending the
Constitution
The Constitution has endured for over two hundred years with only
twenty-seven added amendments. One reason that the number of amendments is small is that the
framers, in Article V, made the formal amendment process extremely difficult. There are two
ways to introduce an amendment and two ways to ratify one. The result is that there are only four
possible ways for an amendment to become law.
| INTRODUCE AN
AMENDMENT | RATIFY AN
AMENDMENT | 2/3 Vote in House + 2/3 Vote in
the Senate | 3/4 of States Approve | OR | OR | 2/3 Vote of States in National Convention | 3/4
of States in National Convention Approve | | |
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1.
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The writer suggest that one of
the reasons the Consitution has lasted so long is that
a. | there have been many
changes | c. | it is easy to make
changes | b. | there have been very few changes | d. | the Constitution has not changed |
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2.
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How many ways are there to
introduce a change in the Constitution?
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3.
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After a change in the
Constitution has been introduced, it must be ratified (approved) by three-quarters of the
states
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4.
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Congress can introduce a change
in the Constitution?
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Methods of Introducing an Amendment
The two methods of introducing an amendment are as
follows:
1. An amendment may be introduced by a two-thirds vote in the Senate and in the
House of Representatives. All of the twentyseven existing amendments have been introduced in this
way.
2. Two-thirds of the state legislatures may request that Congress call a national
amendment convention. Congress may then call one, and the convention may propose amendments to the
states for ratification.
The notion of an amendment convention is exciting to many people. On
two separate occasions, calls for a national amendment convention almost became reality. Between 1963
and 1969, thirty-three state legislatures (out of the necessary thirty-four) attempted to call a
convention to amend the Constitution to eliminate the Supreme Court's "one person, one
vote" decisions in regard to congressional elections Between 1975 and 1998, thirty-two states
asked for a national convention to introduce an amendment requiring that the national government
balance its budget-that it spend no more than it receives in revenues.
Other people are
fearful of calling a neational convention. At a national convention the members could re-write the
entire constitution and institute an entirely new form of government. The key to our success as a
nation is moderation and compromise. There is no telling what could happen at a consitutional
convention if radicals took control of the agenda.
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5.
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What method has been used to
introduce all of the constitutional amendments?
a. | 3/4 vote in both the house and
senate | c. | 2/3 vote in the house and 3/4 in the
senate | b. | 2/3 vote in both the house and senate | d. | 2/3 vote in the senate and 3/4 in the
house |
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6.
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If the states want to amend the
constitution and the congress refuses to do so, what would the states have to do to introduce an
amendment?
a. | Call a national
convention | c. | Get 3/4 of the
state legilatures to request a change | b. | There is nothing they could do | d. | Get 2/3 of the state legislatures to request a
change |
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7.
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Why are some people fearful of
calling a national convention?
a. | A national convention is against the
law | c. | A dictator and his people could take
over the convention | b. | The states might boycott the convention | d. | It might be too hard to get anything
done |
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8.
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What is the main idea that the
above passage is trying to communicate.
a. | The ways of ratifying the
constitution | c. | The methods for
organizing a new government | b. | The methods for proposing a new constitution | d. | The ways that a constitutional amendment can be
proposed |
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Methods of Ratifying an
Amendment
There are two methods of ratifying an amendment that has been introduced:
1.
An amendment is ratified when three-fourths of the state legislatures vote in favor of ratification.
This method is considered the "traditional" one and has been used twenty-six times.
2. The states can call special conventions to ratify the amendment. If three-fourths of the
states approve, the amendment is ratified. The second method was used only once, in 1933, to ratify
the Twenty-first Amendment. That amendment repealed-made void-the Eighteenth Amendment, which
prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors."
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9.
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What happens when an amendment
is ratified?
a. | It becomes the
law | c. | It goes to the President for his
signiture or veto | b. | It goes to the states for approval | d. | It dies an is discarded |
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10.
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What is/are the methods for
ratifying an amendment.
a. | 2/3 vote of the
legislatues | c. | 3/4 vote of state
legislatures and 3/4 vote of states in convention | b. | 3/4 vote of the state
governors | d. | 3/4 vote of state legislatures or
3/4 vote of states in convention |
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11.
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The Eighteenth Amendment
brought “Prohibition” to the U.S. which outlawed the consumption or sale of alcohol.
Which Amendment overturned the Eighteenth Amendment?
a. | Bill of
Rights | c. | 21 st
Amendment | b. | 22 nd Amendment | d. | Amendment 1933 |
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Why So Few Amendments?
More than
eleven thousand amendments to the Constitution have been considered by Congress. Yet only
twenty-seven have been ratified. The process, therefore, must be difficult.
The competing
social and economic interests in this nation guarantee one thing. The two-thirds approval required
from both the House and the Senate to introduce an amendment is difficult to achieve. It takes only
thirty-four of the one hundred senators to block the introduction of an amendment, for example. That
means the senators from seventeen sparsely populated states, voting together, could keep any
amendment from being introduced. The ratification process is even more difficult. Three-fourths
(thirty-eight) of the states must approve the amendment in one of the two manners described
previously. As you can imagine, to be ratified, any amendment must have wide popular support in both
parties and in all regions of the country. There is also a time-limit problem. The Constitution does
not specify a time limit for ratification. In 1917, however, Congress set a seven-year deadline on
the ratification of what was to become the Eighteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court later ruled in
favor of Congress on the constitutionality of this time limit in the case of Dillon v. Gloss. Since
then, most amendments have included a seven-year time limit on ratification. Some amendments, after
being successfully introduced, have failed because they did not meet this deadline.
In
contrast, the newest amendment was ratified 203 years after its introduction. On May 7, 1992,
Michigan became the thirtieth state to ratify the Twenty-seventh Amendment, which deals with
congressional salaries. This amendment was one of the twelve that were originally sent to the states
in 1789. Given the seven-year time limit specified by Congress for most recent amendments, some
people questioned whether the amendment would become effective even if the necessary number of states
ratified it. Is 203 years too long a lapse of time between the introduction and the final
ratification of an amendment? It apparently is not, because the amendment was certified as legitimate
on May 18, 1992
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12.
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Amending the Constitution
is
a. | easy | c. | frequent | b. | hard | d. | impossible |
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13.
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What is the accepted time limit
for ratifying a change to the Constitution?
a. | 4 years | c. | 7 years | b. | 6 years | d. | 203 years |
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Check all of the readings
for answers
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14.
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A simple majority of Congress
can ratify an amendment
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15.
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The process of amending the
Constitution calls for proposing and ratifying
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16.
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No amendment has ever been
repealed
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17.
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Most amendments proposed in
Congress are sent to the state legislatures for ratification
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18.
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Only 27 Amendments have been
adopted
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19.
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The twenty seventh Amendment
was ratified after being considered for more than 200 years
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Multiple Response Identify one
or more choices that best complete the statement or answer the question.
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Informal Methods for
Amending the Constitution
For the most part, the Constitution provides the skeleton for our system
of government. The details of that system have been established over the years as the various
branches of government have fulfilled their duties. Formal amendments have played an important role in making the Constitution a
living document. The Constitution, however, has kept pace with the times and grown as an instrument
of government through informal changes as well. It has proved itself to be a remarkably flexible
document, adapting itself time and again to new events and concerns
The methods by which the
Constitution has been informally amended are numerous. They include:
• Congressional
legislation. • Presidential actions. • Judicial review and
interpretation. • Political parties. • Custom and usage.
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20.
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Which statements are true about
“informal” methods of changing the constitution? (pick 2)
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21.
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Which statement is
true?
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Congressional
Legislation
We might say that the Constitution gave Congress the
ball and Congress carried it. For example, the Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce
(business dealings that cross national and state boundaries) in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3,
called the commerce clause. But there is no clear definition of what either foreign commerce or
interstate commerce includes. Under the commerce clause, Congress has passed thousands of
laws, which by their nature have defined the meaning of foreign and interstate commerce. In so
doing, Congress has informally added to the Constitution.
Consider another example. In Article
III, Section 1, the Constitution says that our national judiciary shall consist of one supreme court
and "such inferior courts, as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Through
a series of acts, Congress has indeed established a federal court system, one that you will in later
lessons.
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22.
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Which statement is true about
the commerce clause in the Constitution? (pick 2)
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23.
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What is responsible for
creating the federal courts system?
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24.
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Which president started the
tradition of proposing new laws to congress?
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25.
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The constitution gives which
branch of government the power to declare war?
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26.
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How can the president send
American troops to battle without a formal declaration of war?
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27.
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What is it called when the
president makes a legally binding agreement with the head of a foreign
government?
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28.
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Is it legal for the president
to make agreements with foreign governments
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Judicial Review and
Interpretation
Another way of
informally changing the Constitution is through the power of judicial review. Through judicial review, the Supreme Court adapts the
Constitution to current situations. For example, in recent years, the Court has had to make
decisions in cases involving government use of wiretapping and other electronic eavesdropping
methods. Although electronic technology did not exist when the Constitution was ratified, the Supreme
Court has used the Fourth Amendment to place limits on these practices. Thus the Fourth Amendment
protects citizens from such "unreasonable searches and seizures."
2000 U.S. Supreme Court | The Supreme Court has changed
its interpretation of the Constitution in accordance with changing times. A good example has to do
with a ruling in 1896, Plessy v Ferguson. At that time, the Court said that providing
separate-but-equal public facilities for African Americans did not violate the equal protection
clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. By 1954, times had changed, and the Supreme Court reversed that
decision. It ruled that facilities for blacks and whites could never be truly equal if they were
separate. | | |
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29.
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In which of the following
situations would the Supreme Court be likely to exercise judicial review to keep the constitution
current. (pick all that apply)
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30.
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Which statement is
true
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31.
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Which Amendment did the Supreme
Court re-interpret to outlaw separate but equal schools?
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Political
Parties
The activities of
political parties have had a profound effect on the American political system. Political parties
today are responsible for nominating candidates, for organizing campaigns, and for placing employees
in our government. Political parties provide the government with policy positions and political direction. Members
of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the president, often base their
decisions on the positions of the political parties to which they belong.
Political Party Convention
![nar010-1.jpg](gov_ch_3_4-5_amendi_files/nar010-1.jpg) | We might say the government of the
United States is a government
organized by political parties. The Constitution does not, however, refer to those parties. The
Constitution specifies the requirements a candidate must have to hold office. It says when elections
are to be held but does not explain how candidates should be chosen. The national conventions
for the Republican and Democratic parties that occur every four years are not mentioned in the
Constitution but they are used to pick the candidates to run for President and Vice
President. | | |
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32.
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Which statements are true (pick
all that apply)
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33.
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Where do they pick the
candidates who will represent their party and run for President and Vice
President?
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34.
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Even though political parties
are not mentioned in the written constitution, they are important to the way the government
functions.
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Custom and
Usage
Over time, a certain number of unwritten customs have
taken on the strength of written laws. Today, for example, we accept the existence of a
presidential cabinet, made up of the heads of the departments in the executive branch, as an
official organization within the presidency. The Constitution, however, does not mention a
cabinet.
Tradition sometimes evolves to become written law. For example, for many
years, no president ran for a third term. This tradition was started by George Washington. Franklin
D. Roosevelt defied the tradition by running for office and winning a third presidential term in 1940
and then winning a fourth term in 1944. Many politicians and other citizens believed that Roosevelt
was creating a permanent presidency, almost as if he were setting himself up as a king. As a result,
the Twenty Second Amendment was added to the Constitution. This amendment limits the president's
tenure (the period of holding office) to two four-year terms.
![nar011-1.jpg](gov_ch_3_4-5_amendi_files/nar011-1.jpg) Vice President Johnson sworn in after death of
President Kennedy | Until the Twenty-fifth Amendment was passed in 1967, the Constitution did not
say that the vice president would take office after the president's death. Yet on eight
occasions, that is exactly what happened. The Constitution, though, gave only the powers and duties
of the president to the vice president in such instances. It did not give the vice president the
office itself (Article II, Section l, Clause 6).
In other words, the Vice President would
remain the VP but carry out the duties of the President. The 25th Amendment made it official that the
VP would become President. | | |
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35.
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The presidents cabinet and
department heads came about because
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36.
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Which statements are true (pick
2)
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37.
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Which statements are true (pick
2)
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Matching
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THE
ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION (WHEN CONSTITUTION WAS RATIFIED) | NOW | Slavery was
permitted.
| Slavery was
abolished (by the Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 and subsequent laws). | There
was no mention of judicial review. | The
doctrine of judicial review is well established (first stated by the Supreme Court in Marbury v.
Madison in 1803). | No limit on presidential terms had been officially
established. | Presidential
terms are limited to two elected terms (by the Twenty-second Amendment in
1951) | Voting rights were severely restricted (to property-owning
white males). | There are only
minimal restrictions, such as Age and residency requirements, on voting
rights. | | | Which action changed
the original constitutiona. | 22nd Amendment | d. | Almost no restrictions today | b. | 13TH Amendment | e. | Marbury v Madison | c. | 14th Amendment | f. | Miranda Rights |
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38.
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Voting rights were severely
restricted (to property-owning white males).
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39.
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No limit on presidential terms
had been officially established.
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40.
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Slavery was
permitted
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41.
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There was no mention of
judicial review
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