Updated 09/30/2018
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GOVT 2305 Exam 1
Fall 2018
Short Answer Questions (20 points total)
Choose any two (2) of the following short answer questions and PREPARE to answer
them on the exam. Your answers will be written in-class during the exam period; I will
leave space on the exam for you to write your response.
You are encouraged to draft your answers prior to class, but you may NOT bring notes to
help you on the day of the exam. A good answer is about a paragraph (four to five
sentences) in length.
1. What is the social contract that exists between the governed and the government?
Your answer should describe the role of each side in the contract. According to
Thomas Hobbes, what is the role of government? According to John Locke, what is
the role of government? How did the American colonists use the idea of a social
contract to justify their break from Great Britain? (10 points)
2. What is an economic liberal? What is an economic conservative? A social liberal?
A social conservative? Use your text to help you describe these terms. Which of the
term(s) best describes the U.S. government under Donald Trump? Why? (10 points)
3. At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the framers addressed several concerns
with the practice of the slavery. Describe two (2) of the conflicts regarding slavery
and discuss the framers’ resolutions. (10 points)
Updated 09/30/2018
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Short Essay (20 points)
Prepare to write an essay that addresses ALL of the following points. Your essay will be
written in-class during the exam period. I will leave space on the exam for you to write your
response. You are encouraged to draft your essay prior to class, but you may NOT bring
notes to help you on the day of the exam.
The wealthy group of men who met in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of
Confederation came to known as the Federalists, because they favored a strong national
government. Who were the Anti-Federalists? Using your text, identify and explain two
of the arguments that the Anti-Federalists voiced against the new Constitution. Using
your text and lecture notes, explain the Anti-Federalists’ most effective argument. How
did the Federalists respond to their most effective argument?
