American government homework two student answers
Place the questions with your answers here, then place a line between each student and sign your entry
WALLY
1. Look up “dual federalism” in the textbook glossary. The adjective “dual” refers to __________ and _________.
state and federal?
2. Explain briefly the difference between “cooperative federalism” and “new federalism,” and their dates.
cooperative fed. is where the national state and local governments work together on issues new fed is where some folks in congress are trying to return power to the states where the state is more important then that federal.
3. Identify by name and section the four main clauses of the Constitution that gives the federal government so much power.
4. What is an “unfunded mandate” and why is it criticized? Provide an example.
an unfunded mandate is where the governemnt require's someone to do something without giving out money to do it. example: americans with disabilities act.
5. Provide and briefly explain one advantage and one disadvantage of federalism.
advantage: a uniform code of laws and operations that keep all the states running fairly smooth dis-adv.: to much power in one central authoritative body leads to dicatatorships.
The next four questions are based on the Bill of Rights, pages 330-31.
6. If the police demanded to search a home, which Amendment would protect the owner? Explain.
ammendment 4, this creates the requirement that the police need a warrant before searching and a warrant can not be issued without probable cuase that a crime has been committed and that the warrant must be specific about who and what is being search and searched for.
7. Which two Amendments provide the states some protection against federal interference? Explain.
ammendment 2 and ammendment 10, A2 gives a state the right to have its own militia A10, in effect says anything not already listed in the constitution that give the fed. authority is given to the states, or to the poeple.
8. Does a criminal defendant have to testify at his trial? Explain. Can you think of reasons why he might not want to testify, even if innocent? (Many possible answers here.)
no, per ammendment 5, your are innocent until proven guilty all the burden should rest on the prostecution to prove you guilty there is no sense in giving them anything that could be construed to your dis-favor.
9. Read the Second Amendment. Do you think it protects an individual right to own a gun, or only a collective right by a militia to be armed? Explain.
simply from the fact no country ever "gave" permission to its armed forces "to be armed" for one belies they meant the common citizen not an armed soldier. Then the fact that how they put it into practice shortly thereafter...anyone could buy a firearm if they could afford it...there were NO restrictions, no databases, no adjudications, no exams or any measure to track or register weapons. there are so many more things one could list but i hope this suffices. you have the individual right to own a firearm.
Extra Credit (worth 5 points):
10. Your opinion please: is it better to free 50 guilty defendants rather than convict one innocent defendant? Whether your answer is “yes” or “no”, how do you rationalize the injustice that results from your answer? Explain with references to Amendments Four through Eight.
--Wally 20:09, 29 September 2007 (EDT)