Exam Review Vocabulary Unit 1

US APGAP Semester 1 Final Review Packet

Unit 1 major concepts you must be able to explain:

q The shortcomings of government under the Article of Confederation and how the Constitution solved these problems

q The Virginia and New Jersey plans and how they led to the “Great Compromise”

q Why separation of powers and federalism became key parts of the Constitution

q The compromises made about slavery in the Constitution

q Criticisms that the Antifederalists had of the Constitution

q Checks and balances among the three branches of government; what powers does each branch have over the others?

q Methods of Amending the Constitution, including procedures for proposing and ratifying amendments

q Major arguments in the Federalist Papers, particularly #10 and #51

q What is a federal type of government? How does this type of government operate? How does this serve as an added check on the power of government?

q The ways in which national and state powers have been interpreted by the courts and how this has changed over the years, which has gained more power over the years?

q How has the interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause (elastic clause) affected the balance of power between the national and state governments

q How has the interpretation of the Commerce Clause affected the power of the national government?

q The different types of grants and their effects

q Examples of concurrent, enumerated (delegated), reserved, and implied powers in the Constitution

q What are the differences between cooperative, competitive, and dual federalism?

q Important provisions of the Bill of Rights, you should know what protections are included in each of the following:

Individual Rights

q 1st Amendment

q 2nd Amendment

q 9th Amendment

q 10th Amendment

q 14th Amendment

Rights of Accused/Criminal Procedure

q 4th Amendment

q 5th Amendment

q 6th Amendment

q 8th Amendment

Extending the Franchise

q 15th Amendment

q 19th Amendment

q 24th Amendment

q 26th Amendment

Exam Review Vocabulary – Unit 1

Constitutional Underpinnings

amendment process

Anti-Federalists

Articles of Confederation

Bill of Rights

direct democracy

elite theory

electoral college

Federalist Papers

Federalists

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)

judicial review

John Locke

majoritarian

natural rights

New Jersey Plan

Pluralism

hyperpluralism

ratification

representative democracy

Shay’s Rebellion

Three-fifths Compromise

Virginia Plan

Federalism

Commerce clause

Concurrent powers

Confederal systems

Dual federalism

Cooperative federalism

Marble-cake federalism

Competitive federalism

Delegated powers

Federalism

Federal grants

Categorical-formula grants

Project grants

Block grants

Full faith and credit clause

National supremacy

Necessary and Proper Clause

Nullification

Reserved powers

Unitary governments

Unfunded mandate

Unit 2 concepts you must be able to explain:

American Political Culture

q The dominant aspects of political culture in the U.S.; the major values that are shared by most Americans. Is economic equality a component of American political culture?

q Processes by which citizens learn about politics (political socialization). Which factor is most important?

q Assess the relationship between political values and economic change (such as industrialization and depression). How have economic crises influenced political values?

q What are the differences between the beliefs of liberals and conservatives about each of the following issues?

1. Military spending

2. Taxes

3. Social programs, such as welfare

4. Size of national government

5. Power of state governments vs. power of national government

6. Role of government in the economy

Public Opinion

q What is public opinion?

q The significance of race, ethnicity, education, and gender in explaining political attitudes

q Distinguish between reinforcing cleavages and cross-cutting cleavages.

q Explanations for cross-cutting cleavages between liberals and conservatives in the U.S.

q Use of polls and problems with polls

Political Participation

q The significance of different turnout statistics in the U.S. and other countries

q Different forms of participation and how people can participate in politics

q The factors that are associated with high or low political participation, such as race, education, income, age

q Factors why political participation has declined over the past century and factors explaining why turnout stays low in the U.S.

q Describe generational and life cycle effects in politics.

The Media

q How the electronic media affects the actions of public officials and candidates for national office

q The impact of the “national press;” how the media’s coverage influences elections and the public agenda (including horse-race journalism, agenda-setting, and gate-keeping)

q The difference in media coverage of the president and members of Congress.

q Is Congress or the President able to use the media more effectively? Why?

Exam Review Vocabulary – Unit 2

Political Culture and Ideology

political culture

social capital

natural rights

majority rule

popular sovereignty

American dream

capitalism

suffrage

political ideology

liberalism

conservatism

socialism

libertarianism

The American Political Landscape

ethnocentrism

political socialization

demographics

political predisposition

reinforcing cleavages

cross-cutting cleavages

manifest destiny

gender gap

fundamentalists

socioeconomic status (SES)

Polling and Public Opinion

attentive public

Australian ballot

exit polls

margin of error

party identification

public opinion polls

random sample

sampling error

straw polls

Media

gatekeeper

issue advocacy

horserace reporting

media effects

muckraking

scorekeeper

selective exposure

selective perception

watchdog

Exam Review Vocabulary – Unit 3

Political Parties

coattail effect

divided government

issue-oriented politics

minor party

national convention

national party platform

party identification

political consultant

political party

proportional representation

spoils system

straight-ticket voting

third parties

ticket-splitting

Interest Groups

527 organizations

amicus curiae brief

bundling

free rider problem

interest group

issue advocacy

issue network

iron triangle

lobbying

lobbyist

revolving door

PAC

soft money

hard money

independent expenditures

Voting and Elections

closed primary reapportioning

critical election redistricting

electoral college realigning election

electoral mandate referendum

electorate voter turnout

front-loading single-member district

general election winner-take-all system

gerrymandering

incumbency

initiative

midterm election

motor voter law

open primary

party realignment

primary election

proportional representation

recall

Unit 3 Questions:

· What is an interest group? What do interest groups try to do?

· How have interest groups changed over the course of American history? Interest groups/PACs representing what group have grown the most in recent decades?

· What is a lobbyist?

· What role does money play in the relationship between interest groups and political decision makers?

· How do interest groups/lobbyists shape the political decision-making process?

· What efforts have been made to limit the influence of interest groups on elections and political decision-making?

· Why is it so difficult for a viable third party to emerge in the American political system?

· Requirements for voting, provisions of major federal election laws

· What role do political parties play in the election process?

· How are the two largest American political parties organized?

· How have the nature and function of American political parties changed over the course of American history? Have they become more or less powerful?

· Examples of critical/realigning elections in US history

· Differences between winner-take-all (single-member districts) and proportional representation systems, effects of each system on minor parties

· Why are so few congressional elections competitive? What is the term for this?

· What is the purpose of gerrymandering?

· What are the two main phases of a presidential campaign?

· How does turnout differ between primary and general elections?

· Effects of the electoral college on how candidates campaign. What sort of states will candidates focus on? Why?

· How does campaigning during the primaries differ from campaigning during the general election? What sort of voters do candidates cater to in the primaries? During the general election?

Exam Review Vocabulary – Unit 4

Legislative

marginal district

majority-minority district

impeachment

gerrymandering

franking privilege

seniority

Speaker of the House

president pro tempore

majority leader

minority leader

whips

filibuster

hold

cloture

pork barrel

logrolling

standing committee

conference committee

CBO

House Rules Committee

House Ways and Means Committee

legislative rider

discharge petition

senatorial courtesy

Executive

roles of the president

crisis manager

symbolic leader

recruitment of officials

priority setting

coalition building

program implementation

party leadership

OMB

White House Office

impoundment

executive agreement

executive order

executive privilege

impeachment

pardon

War Powers Act

budget making

veto power

pocket veto

confirmation process

legislative veto

line-item veto

22nd Amendment

25th Amendment

Bureaucracy

spoils system

merit system

entitlements

executive departments

independent executive agencies

regulatory agencies

government corporations

Hatch Act

civil service system

iron triangles

issue networks

rule making

executive order

oversight

uncontrollable spendinga

Judiciary

amicus curiae brief

appellate court

appellate jurisdiction

criminal law

civil law

judicial activism

judicial restraint

judicial review

Judiciary Act of 1789

Marbury v. Madison

original jurisdiction

opinions: majority, concurring, dissenting

precedent

Rule of Four

solicitor general

stare decisis (precedent)

strict constructionist/doctrine of original intent

writ of certiorari

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Unit 4 Questions:

· How can Congress check the power of the President?

· How can Congress check the power of the judicial branch?

· How can the President check the power of Congress?

· How can the President check the power of the judicial branch?

· How can the Supreme Court check the powers of the president and Congress?

· Why was the legislative veto declared unconstitutional?

· Why was the President’s line-item veto declared unconstitutional? What Supreme Court did this happen in?

· Who still has the power of the line-item veto? What types of bills was the line-item veto mainly used for?

· How have past presidents used executive orders? What advantage do executive orders have over other means of implementing policy?

· What are the formal powers of Congress?

· How are congressional districts drawn?

· Who controls the apportionment and redistricting process?

· How do bills become laws?

· Why do incumbents have such a great advantage over challengers in congressional elections?

· Why is it often so difficult for Congress to act quickly and decisively?

· What are the differences between how the Senate and the House operate? Which operates by more formal rules? What practices are unique to each house?

· Why is the Rules Committee so important in the House? What does it do?

· What are the formal and informal powers of the president?

· What roles does the president perform in the legislative process?

· What role does Congress play in oversight of the executive branch and the bureaucracy?

· What role does the federal judicial system play in contemporary American government?

· What is “judicial activism”? People of what political ideology support judicial activism?

· What is “strict constructionism” (aka the doctrine of original intent)? People of what political ideology support strict constructionism?

· What sort of people does the President appoint to the Supreme Court?

· How does the Supreme Court decide if it will hear a case? What sort of cases will it choose to hear?

· What happens with the majority of cases that are appealed to the Supreme Court?

· How can interest groups influence the decisions of the Supreme Court?

· What powers do judges have to ensure that their rulings are enforced?

· Why do federal judges have lifetime terms?

· What evidence is there that the selecting of federal judges has become too “politicized”?

· How are federal judges appointed?

· What is the bureaucracy?

· Why do bureaucracies have such a bad reputation?

· How is the federal bureaucracy organized?

· What are the most important responsibilities of the federal bureaucracy?

· How are positions in the federal bureaucracy filled?

· To whom is the federal bureaucracy accountable?

· What sorts of things are considered to be part of uncontrollable spending? What composes the largest portion of uncontrollable spending?

· What are examples of entitlement programs? What are arguments for and against such programs?

· What constraints are there on the actions and policies of the federal bureaucracy?

Exam Review Vocabulary – Unit 5

Civil Liberties

bad tendency test

Clear and present danger test

commercial speech

commerce clause

Due process clause

Equal protection clause

-14th Amendment

Establishment clause

Exclusionary rule

eminent domain

Fighting words

Free exercise clause

writ of habeas corpus

ex post facto law

grand jury

petit jury

bill of attainder

Libel

Miranda Rights

nonprotected speech

Prior restraint

racial profiling

Right to privacy

Selective incorporation

sedition

Substantive due process

Procedural due process

Symbolic speech

vouchers

Civil Rights

affirmative action

Civil Rights Act of 1964

de facto discrimination

de jure discrimination

due process clause

equal protection clause

franchise

grandfather clause

Jim Crow laws

racial gerrymandering

restrictive covenant

majority-minority district

strict scrutiny

suffrage movements

suspect classification

literacy test

poll tax

White primary

Unit 5 Questions:

· What do we mean by “equality” in the context of American society, law, and politics?

· What is meant by “affirmative action”?

o What are the most important arguments for and against affirmative action programs?

o What Supreme Court cases have dealt with affirmative action?

· What is the purpose of the Bill of Rights?

· Which two clauses in the 1st amendment to the Constitution deal with freedom of religion?

o What does the Constitution guarantee in regard to religion?

· What kinds of speech are protected under the Constitution?

o What kinds are not protected?

· Are there limits on the freedom of the press? What are they?

· What arguments have been made for and against a constitutional right to privacy?

o What kinds of behavior are covered by a constitutional right to privacy?