STUDY GUIDE FOR GOVERNMENT FINAL EXAM

This is a study guide. You do not have to write this out and turn anything in. Use it however you like to prepare for your final. Spend most of your time focusing on what is on these pages but also go back through your notes, quizzes, and old study guides/vocabulary. There are about 150 questions on the scantron and 10 fill-in-the blank questions. No one ever has trouble finishing this test in the time given. Good luck.

UNIT 1 (CHAPTERS 2-4): THE CONSTITUTION AND AMENDMENTS

  1. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
  2. Differentiate between the New Jersey and Virginia Plans.
  3. Identify and give the significance of major compromises at the Constitutional Convention.

Constitution

Be able to classify statements as true or false as to how our government works based on the Constitution. Study your quizzes and know Articles I-VII inside out.

Constitution Amendments

Be able to match the following amendments with their descriptions

1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 25, 26

UNIT 2 (CHAPTERS 11-13, 15: JUDICIAL BRANCH AND CIVIL LIBERTIES)

OBJECTIVES

  1. Explain the structure of the American judicial/court system.
  2. Know the order of how a case is handled by the US Supreme Court from it being put on the docket to being decided by the Court.
  3. Define key judicial branch terms.
  4. statutef. felony k. writ of mandamus
  5. misdemeanorg. petit jury l. precedent
  6. mediationh. grand jury m. de facto segregation
  7. slanderi. tort
  8. seditious speechj. writ of certiorari

p. jurisdictionq. ex post facto law

  1. Match key Supreme Court decisions with their outcomes.

  1. Dred Scott v. Sanford
  2. Engel v. Vitale
  3. Roe v. Wade
  4. Baker v. Carr
  5. Mapp v. Ohio
  6. Brown v. Board of Education
  7. Marbury v. Madison
  8. Miranda v. Arizona
  9. AbingtonSchool District v. Schempp
  10. Plessy v. Ferguson
  11. CA Regents v. Bakke
  12. Miller v. California
  13. New York Times v. United States

UNIT 3 (CHAPTERS 5-7, 8-10, 22): CONGRESS AND EXECUTIVE

  1. Differentiate between the different types of House and Senate Committees and their purposes.
  2. Identify the top leadership positions in both the House and the Senate.
  3. Discuss the process of how a bill becomes a law.
  4. Differentiate between the different roles played by the president: chief of state, chief of party, chief citizen, chief diplomat, chief administrator, chief executive, commander-in-chief, chief legislator.
  5. Describe the powers of the president when it comes to criminal cases involving others and powers relating to other countries.

UNIT 4 (CHAPTERS 16-19): POLITICAL PARTIES/ELECTIONS/

CIVIC PARTICIPATION

  1. Differentiate between splinter and ideological parties.
  2. Differentiate between conservatives and liberals.
  3. Identify which groups of people traditionally vote Republican or Democratic.
  4. Differentiate between open, closed, and runoff primaries and caucuses.
  5. Classify statements as types of propaganda: plain folks, spin, bandwagon, transfer, labeling, testimonial, card-stacking.
  6. Differentiate between the different types of public opinion polls.
  7. Discuss the roles of the FEC and the FCC.