Quiz: American Democracy

Which word describes the type of democratic government we have in the U.S.?*

Direct
Parliamentary
Authoritarian
Representative

As Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, a group of citizens reportedly asked him what sort of government the delegates had created. What did he answer?*

Union
Confederation
Republic
None of the above

Which civilization had one of the first forms of representative government?*

Egypt
Greece
Rome
Mesopotamia

The first democratically elected legislature in colonial America was the:*

New York State Senate
Virginia House of Burgesses
Provincial Council of Rhode Island
General Assembly of Maryland

Which of the following groups are examples of pluralism in American democracy?*

Political parties
Federal and state governments
Special interest groups
None of the above

Which of the following is an example of elitism in our political system?*

The Electoral College
Majority rule
The Supreme Court
The House of Representatives

When did Americans begin electing senators by popular vote?*

1789
1812
1865
1914

Who wrote that because human life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” people must invest power in governments that can keep them safe?*

Thomas Hobbes
Niccolo Machiavelli
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Charles Montesquieu

Which philosopher’s writings inspired much of the thought behind the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence?*

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
John Locke
John Stuart Mill
Charles Montesquieu

What role did the Constitution assign to political parties?*

Control over the primary system
Control over committee appointments
Control over procedural rules in the House and Senate
None of the above

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