Eleventh Grade Review Material and other Terms from the AP Government Course
(11th grade review material comes first and the new terminology from this year is second)
Unit 1 - Intro to Democracy and its application in the United States
(11th Grade content)
Government: A political system that shapes the affairs and policies of a nation.
Democracy: A type of government ruled by the people either directly or through elected
representatives, and enforces an equality of privileges and rights.
Direct Democracy: A type of democracy where the people together as a whole make the
ultimate decision in lieu of an elected official. The people rule the government directly.
Ex: Ancient Athens. Closest things in the United States – Referendum & Initiative
Indirect / Representative Democracy: A form of democracy where the people elect a public
official to represent them in their government to ensure that their best interests and beliefs are secured.
Ex: The United States’ government
Republic is another way to say indirect/representative democracy. What is a characteristic of every republic?
Elected representatives run the government
Activist Judge: (ex. Earl Warren)
An Activist Judge is a judge who advocates decisions more helpful for the public’s
welfare in the court’s opinion or decisions relying upon what the court considers fair based upon the facts presented at the case instead of judicial precedent. (Judicial precedent is a decision used as a an example for similar cases)
Ex: Warren’s decision in Brown v. Board of Educ. required Southern public schools to
integrate their school systems
Other terms & ideas from Unit 1
(12th Grade content)
1) Formal Institutions: The parts of the government that created by the Constitution of the United States. (i.e. the 3 branches, but NOT the congressional committees or the bureaucracy.
2) Fourth branch of government: Bureaucracy makes up the fourth branch of government. It is an unofficial branch that has come to have a lot of power overtime. Bureaucrats are the middle men of a government implementing and affect the decisions officials make. These are the non-elected officials in the government, often appointed by those elected to carry out specific jobs. 2000+ agencies, i.e.: C.I.A., F.B.I., I.R.S.
3) Public Good: They are things done for the good of the group and not of the individual.
“something in which any member of society can share”
4) Single-issue group: are groups of voters who base their decision on one issue only. Pro-Lifers will pay attention to whether a candidate feels the same way on abortion as they do, and if that is not so, will not vote for that candidate. These groups come out to vote in primaries to make sure they have a candidate who will agree with them on the issue. These groups tend to dislike compromise. i.e.: N.R.A.
5) Voter Turnout: the number of registered voters who turn out during an election; Australia has highest (90+ percent because voting is compulsory), US has one of the lowest. Presidential elections have higher voter turnouts than Congressional elections. Primaries have much lower turnouts than the general election. One of the lowest voter turnouts for a presidential general election was in 1996 – 49% (lowest since right after ratification of the 19th Amendment). Highest presidential voter turnout was in 1896 – 80%.
6) Policy agenda: list of ideas and viewpoints that a person or political party want enacted into public policy.
7) Public policymaking institutions: A set of institutions and activities that link together
government, policies, and public policy is a policymaking system. Includes the branches of government and the bureaucracy.
8) Public policy: a choice that government makes in a response to a political issue. A policy is a course of action taken with regard to some problems. (This could be when a government does something to address a problem or when it does nothing to address a problem. Both constitute the government’s public policy.) Ex. President Nixon began a policy of détente – easing of tensions between the US and communist nations, specifically with the Soviet Union. Also, Nixon cutting money from some of LBJ’s Great Society programs was also his public policy.
9) Political issues: the wide variety of issues and subjects which need to be addressed by the government. Ex: raising taxes, to border control, to immigration, abortion.
Importance of specific political issues is influenced by the electorate (the voting citizens), current events, interest groups, party philosophy, and candidate’s personal beliefs.
10) Linkage institutions: The channels or access points through which issues and policy preferences get onto the governments policy agenda. (What connects the people to the government). Ex.: elections, political parties, interest groups, mass media.
11) Traditional Democratic Theory: Idealistic view of democracy. Primary beliefs are: Equality in voting(one person one vote), Effective participation (all people must have adequate and equal opportunities), enlightened understanding (people should be educated in ideas and beliefs of the times), citizen control of the agenda, inclusion (the government must include and extend its rights to all people), majority rules, and minority rights.
12) Pluralist Theory: politics is mainly a competition between political groups, majority rules. Groups like trade unions, interest groups, business organizations, and any other kind of formal and informal coalitions compete with each other to influence the government. The interest group that gets its view on a public issue onto the agenda and made into policy is the one that is supported by the largest block of the electorate (it reflects the will of the majority.)
13) Pluralism: The idea that politics is a competition among groups. Each group is pressing for its own preferred policies.
14) Hyperpluralism: The theory of governments and politics that states that political groups can become too powerful and governments are weakened by them. Interest groups with opposing stances on the same issues both win in different areas of the government. This leads to gridlock. (Ex. Oil interests influenced the Bush Administration to call for the drilling in ANWR as part of their Energy Policy, but conservation groups like the Sierra Group affectively lobby Democratic members of Congress and file lawsuits to stall implementation.)
15) Elite and Class Theory: The idea that society is divided along class lines and the upper class gets dictate what becomes public policy. The upper class is believed to be elite and therefore stronger then any other group of people no matter how large or small they are. Business interests are a dominant power within the elite.
16) Liberal: (typically, these are the Democrats). Policy positions: supports welfare, taxes are necessary, larger government, favors equal rights issues, little use of the military, protecting individual rights is more important than national security, business regulation, Pro-Choice, Pro-Gay Rights, wants gun restrictions
17) Conservative: (typically, these are the Republicans). Policy positions: against welfare & social programs (believes in individual accountability), and taxes; supports laissez faire and supporting business, strong military, prayer in school, smaller government, prayer in school, protection of the “sanctity of life” (Pro-Life). National security is more important than protecting civil liberties.
18) Gridlock: A condition that occurs when no coalition is strong enough to form a majority and establish policy. The result is that no tasks get completed.
19) Purpose / object of government (according to the Constitution): To protect property, secure the country from invasion (provide common defense), domestic tranquility, promote general welfare, and preserve liberties.
Unit 2 – Constitution and Federalism
(11th Grade content)
Revolutionary History:
Key aspects of the Declaration of Independence (DOI):
Inspired by what time period?
The Declaration of Independence was inspired by the Enlightenment period on the 18th century.
What person influenced it the most?
The Declaration of Independence was inspired by John Locke.
State his 3 natural rights?
life, liberty, and property.
Define “consent of the governed”:
“Consent of the governed” alludes to the concept that a government’s power and ability to govern people is granted to the government by the people’s consent.
Define “social contract theory”:
“Social contract theory” is the belief that to achieve a social order people must sacrifice some of their rights to the government.
Who was primary writer of the DOI?
Thomas Jefferson.
What are the 3 inalienable rights?
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
What in the Declaration of Independence makes this document an example
of limited government?
A limited government is a form of government with laws, usually written in a constitution, limit or restrict the government. The Declaration of Independence is an example of a limited government because it discusses how the government is given power through the consent of the people. People are willing to give up some thier rights to the government for the greater good. Therefore, the government’s purpose is to serve and protect the people. When the government ceases to serve the people and become tyrannical then the contract breaks. The people can then break away and form their own government. Thus, the government must serve the people to be granted any power over the people.
Articles of Confederation:
Define confederation – A group of states or communities united for a similar purpose,
especially involving issues like defense, foreign trade, currency, and foreign affairs, with a central government by either a treaty of a constitution.
Who had the power under this system of government?
The power was held by the states because the central government was weak.
Why?: After surviving the despotism of British government, the government created by
the Articles of Confederation weakened the government severely in comparison to Britain’s to ensure the same thing does not occur again. Also, most of the population saw them as citizens of their states not as a citizen of the United States.
The states had the power because people did not want a strong central government. This sentiment was a backlash to the English government that had original ruled the States.
Describe the characteristics of the national government: The national government was
weak, had no separation of powers, no president, and no court system.
# of branches? The government had one branch of government.
Which one(s)? The government had a unicameral legislature. They had Congress
with two representatives from each state; however, each state had only one vote in Congress.
Things the federal government could do: The federal government had the power
to: create laws
Greatest accomplishment (besides seeing the new nation through the war)?
The North West Ordinance of 1787 – created a plan to add new states to
the Union (also outlawed slavery in that region)
Things the central government could NOT do: (at least 4)
- Could not levy taxes
- Had no authority over the states
- Had no authority over the coinage of money
- Could not raise an army or navy
- Had no national court system
- Had no control over interstate commerce
- Could not enforce treaties or taxes
What was Shays’ Rebellion and how did it affect the Articles of Confederation?
Shays’ rebellion was a rebellion led by Daniel Shays in Massachusetts in 1786. Most of the participants were small farmers infuriated by the overwhelming taxes and debt. If a farmer failed to repay their debt they were sent to debtor’s jail or their property would be taken away by the state. The Massachusetts militia, which had been raised as a private army, crushed the rebellion a few months afterwards in 1787. The fact that a rebellion had to be crushed by a state army, and that the federal government could do nothing to thwart the efforts of the farmers scared people. The events of Shays’ Rebellion acted as an impetus for the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. Shays’ Rebellion was the event that contributed to the demise of the Articles of Confederation.
Constitutional Convention:
Explain the Virginia Plan’s method of representation in Congress:
Representation in Congress for the Virginia Plan would be based upon a state’s population. The more people in the state the more representatives would be present in Congress. This method gave larger states the upper hand in Congress.
Explain the New Jersey Plan’s method of representation in Congress:
Representation in Congress for the New Jersey Plan would be equal. Each state would have two representatives in Congress. Population would not affect representation in Congress. This plan was favored by smaller states.
What are the aspects of the Connecticut Compromise (a.k.a. the Great Compromise)?
The Connecticut Plan entailed a bicameral, or two-house, legislature. One house, the Senate, would have two representatives from each state. The second house, the House of Representatives, the number of representatives from each state would be based upon the population of the state. Thus, the plan encompassed both the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan to make people from both large and small states content. Settled the issue of representation in Congress.
What is the 3/5ths Compromise?
The 3/5ths Compromise declared each slave would be worth 3/5ths of a white person for both representation in Congress and taxation. Therefore, five slaves were the equivalent of three white people.
Why needed?
At the time of the creation of the Constitution slavery was still practiced. Slave states who practiced slavery and livelihood depended upon the labor of slaves wanted their slaves to count for representation, but not for taxation. If slaves were counted for representation slave states could have more people in Congress, specifically the House of Representation. Consequently, slave states would possess more power in Congress and could ensure the welfare and intentions of slave states could be secured, explicitly that slavery would not be abolished. Free states wanted slave states to be counted for taxation not representation. Free states did not want slave states to have more power in Congress. However, unlike the South they wanted slave states to be taxed more.
What is the Slavery Compromise?
The Slavery Compromise solved the dilemma of whether or not slavery should exist and if so should the importation of slaves endure. The North wanted slavery to end completely, conversely, the South wished to keep slavery. The Compromise states that slavery will continue. The importation of slaves, on the other hand, would end twenty years after the ratification of the Constitution, which was in 1788.