AP Constitution Review

Below is the Course Description for Constitutional Underpinnings. If you know everything about this paragraph, you will know everything on your AP Exam concerning the Constitutional Underpinnings. I will break it down to help you study.

Constitutional Underpinnings-

The study of modern politics in the United States requires students to examine the kind of Government established by the Constitution, paying particular attention to, Federalism, Separation of Powers, and Checks and Balances.

  1. Federalism
  2. Division of Powers between State and Federal Government
  3. Delegated
  4. Article 1 Section 8
  5. Reserved
  6. 10th Amendment
  7. Concurrent
  8. Shared Powers
  9. Types of Federalism
  10. Dual
  11. Layer Cake. Federal and State operate in their own sphere of influence.
  12. Cooperative
  13. State and Federal work together to accomplish goals
  14. Fiscal Federalism-Taxing and Spending grants in the Federal System
  15. Type of Cooperative
  16. Block Grants- Block of Money. Welfare Reform act of 1996 (States Prefer Block)
  17. Categorical Grant-Strings attached
  18. Mandates- Rule telling the states what they must do to comply with Federal Guidelines
  19. Funded
  20. Unfunded- ADA 1990
  21. Devolution
  22. New Federalism
  23. Transferring power back to the States from the Federal Government
  24. Welfare Reform Act 1996
  1. Checks and Balances
  2. Congress and President
  3. Congress Makes law, President vetoes
  4. Congress can override a a presidential veto
  5. President negotiates treaties that must be ratified by the Senate
  6. House may Impeach the President (majority vote) and 2/3rds of Senate may convict
  7. Congress, President and Judicial
  8. Congress establishes Courts
  9. Congress can propose a constitutional amendment to reverse ruling
  10. President appoints Supreme Court Judges
  11. Congress Approves Presidential Appointments
  12. House may Impeach the Supreme Court Justice (majority vote) and 2/3rds of Senate may convict
  13. Judicial Branch can rule laws or actions Unconstitutional

Understanding these developments involves both knowledge of the historical situation at the time of the Constitutional Convention and an awareness of the ideological and philosophical traditions on which the framers drew. Such understanding addresses specific concerns of the Framers, for example; Why did Madison fear factions? What were the reasons for a swift adoption of the Bill of Rights? Familiarity with the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation of key provisions of the Constitution will aid student understanding of theoretical and practical features of federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances. Students should be familiar with a variety of theoretical perspectives relating to the Constitution, such as democratic theory, theories of republican government, pluralism, and elitism.

  1. Historical Situation at the Time.
  2. Articles of Confederation
  3. “League of Friendship”
  4. Scared of a Monarchy so we created a loose confederation of states. Each state retained its sovereignty, freedom, and independence
  5. Weaknesses- 1. Congress lacked the power to levy taxes. 2. Government lacked a strong central government. 3. Congress had no power to regulate trade. 4. Amendments required unanimous vote of all 13 states 5. Congress could not raise an Army
  6. Shays Rebellion- “Farm War”- This event convinced our Framers the Articles of Confederation were too weak to preserve the Union.
  7. Ideological and Philosophical Traditions
  8. John Locke- (Not the Guy from Lost) Believed in “Natural Rights” and consent of the Governed. Wrote the Second Treatise of Government which introduced the Social Contract Theory. Popular Sovereignty
  9. Hobbes- Men were inherently evil, which is why we need a government.
  10. Montesquieu- Created Separation of Powers. Madison uses this idea in Federalist 51- “If all Men were angels, no government would be necessary…”
  1. Such understanding addresses specific concerns of the Framers, for example; Why did Madison fear factions? What were the reasons for a swift adoption of the Bill of Rights?
  2. Federalist 10-Fear of Factions (FRQ)
  3. Federalist 51-Seperation of Powers
  4. Natural Rights- Swift adoption of the Bill of Rights
  1. Familiarity with the United States Supreme Court’s interpretation of key provisions of the Constitution will aid student understanding of theoretical and practical features of federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances
  2. Marbury vs. Madison
  3. McCulloch vs. Maryland
  4. Gibbons vs. Ogden
  5. Students should be familiar with a variety of theoretical perspectives relating to the Constitution, such as democratic theory, theories of republican government, pluralism, and elitism
  6. Democratic Theory
  7. Theories of Republican Government
  8. Pluralism
  9. Elitism