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AP Government Exam Review
Format
|
% of Grade |
Number of Questions |
Time Allotted |
| Section I |
50 |
60 Multiple Choice |
45 minutes |
| Section II |
50 |
4 Mandatory Essays |
1 hour, 40 minutes |
What To Study
The
Constitution
The Federalist Number
10
The Federalist Number
51
AP Questions 1988 - 2005
Multiple
Choice
Free Response
Below are the free-response questions (FRQs) from the past three AP U.S.
Government & Politics Exams, and for each, the rubrics used to score the
essays at the AP Reading, sample student responses, and commentary on those
responses.
AP
Central Web Site
You will need to register in order to access the features on this site.
Acorn Book - This provides all the
information about the AP exam.
The Textbook Web
Site - Click on the title of each chapter listed below. Read
the Chapter Overview and answer the questions in the Chapter Objectives.
Answer some or all of the questions in the Review section. Do this for
each chapter.
Table of Contents
Political
Parties, Interest Groups and Mass Media
Institutions of Government (35-45%)
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (5-15%)
Review the terms and links listed under the title of each chapter on this
page. Use your textbook or the Government
Glossary to look up any terms or concepts you do not know.
Constitutional Underpinnings
(5-15%)
Chapter One-Constitutional
Democracy
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What are the defining features of democracy? Also, why is
constitutional democracy not a spectator sport? Finally, why are politicians
indispensable for making the American system of democracy work?
2. What conditions are conducive to constitutional
democracy?
3. What are America's constitutional roots?
4. What were the main philosophical and political
assumptions guiding the framers in creating the new Constitution? What
compromises were reached at the Constitutional Convention?
5. What arguments for and against ratification of the
Constitution were used by the Federalists and Antifederalists?
Learning Objectives
1. Distinguish between direct and representative democracy.
2. Explain the interacting values that comprise the democratic faith,
such as popular consent, respect for the individual, equality of
opportunity, and personal liberty; and examine how democratic values may
conflict with one another.
3. Analyze the interrelated political processes that comprise
democracy.
4. Identify the interdependent political structures that make up the
American system of democracy.
5. Discuss the educational, economic, social, and ideological
conditions conducive to establishing and maintaining democracy.
6. Trace the historical roots of the American Revolution.
7. Explain the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
8. Discuss the impact of the Annapolis Convention and Shays Rebellion
on the calling of the Constitutional Convention.
9. List the major issues on which the delegates to the Constitutional
Convention had consensus as well as those issues on which the delegates
had conflicts and compromise.
10. Debate the arguments against ratification.
11. Summarize the steps involved in ratifying the Constitution.
12. Discuss the major challenges for the American system of
constitutional democracy.
13. Define key terms.
Democracy in all its forms
Constitutionalism
Statism
Popular Consent
Majority Rule
Plurality
Social Capital
Ideology
Theocracy
Articles
of Confederation
Annapolis
Convention
Constitutional
Covention
Shays' Rebellion
Virginia Plan
New
Jersey Plan
Great
or Connecticut Compromise
Three-Fifths
Compromise
Federalists
Anti-federalists
The
Federalist Papers
Table of Contents
Chapter Two-The
Living Constitution
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. How does power check power in America's constitutional
government?
2. What are the origins of judicial review, and what
consequences follow from the acceptance that judges are the official
interpreters of the Constitution?
3. What developments have modified the way the system of
checks and balances works?
4. How have changes in our informal, unwritten Constitution
kept our constitutional system up to date?
5. How can the Constitution be amended?
6. Why and how was the Equal Right Amendment for women
eventually defeated?
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the various ways the framers tried to limit government,
including federalism, free elections, and checks and balances.
2. Describe the concept of separation of powers and its relationship to
checks and balances.
3. Define judicial review.
4. Explain how the case Marbury v. Madison established the principle
of judicial review.
5. Explain how the checks and balances system has been modified by the rise
of national political parties, creation of an independent
regulatory commission, changes in the electoral system, changes in technology, and in
international affairs.
6. Contrast the British and American political systems.
7. Explain the process of the impeachment and removal power.
8. List presidential practices, and discuss how such practices have
evolved.
9. Explain the two methods for proposing and for ratifying amendments to
the Constitution.
10. Explain various theoretical perspectives relating to the Constitution.
11. Define key terms.
Natural Law
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Divided Government
Judicial Review
Impeachment
Executive Privilege
Amending the Constitution
Table of Contents
Chapter Three-Federalism
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What are the advantages of American federalism? Also,
why is federalism strained in other regions such as Canada (Quebec), Russia (relationships with its 21
autonomous republics), and the United Kingdom (devolution in Scotland and Wales)?
2. What powers are delegated to the national government,
what powers are reserved for the states and what concurrent powers are shared by the national and state
governments? What are the limitations of national and state governments? Finally, how
does secessionism still live on in contemporary America?
3. How have the federal courts affected the system of
federalism? How and why is the U.S. Supreme Court's record on federalism mixed?
4. What has been the role of federal grants in helping
state and local governments find solutions to their problems?
5. What are federal mandates? What are some of the new
techniques of federal control?
6. What are reasons for the growth of big government? Why
is Congress pressured to reduce national programs?
7. What is the future of federalism? How will the
devolution revolution affect that future?
Learning Objectives
1. Define federalism and its constitutional basis between the national
and state governments.
2. Examine various interpretations of federalism, such as dual,
cooperative, marble cake, competitive, permissive, and "New
Federalism."
3. Identify and describe alternatives to federalism.
4. List advantages of federalism as they relate to the needs of a
heterogeneous people.
5. Examine powers of the national government, powers reserved for the
states, and concurrent powers shared by the national and state
governments.
6. Identify limits and obligations on both national and state powers.
7. Describe the federal systems found in Canada, Germany, and
Switzerland.
8. Discuss the changing role of federal courts in national-state
relations, especially following McCulloch v. Maryland.
9. Describe the expanding role of the federal courts in reviewing state
and local government activities through the Fourteenth Amendment,
federal mandates, and federal preemption.
10. Explain the historical growth in national governmental powers
relative to the states, including the debate between the centralists and
decentralists.
11. Identify and describe four types of federal grants, and state the
goals of federal grants.
12. Examine the politics of federal grants, including how the battle
over the appropriate level of government to control the funds tends
to be cyclical.
13. Analyze the impact of federal mandates on state and local
government.
14. Identify and describe new techniques of federal control.
15. Examine reasons for the growth of big government and reasons why
Congress is pressured to reduce national programs.
16. Discuss why federalism has grown increasingly complicated, with
changing political power distribution, and the reemergence of the
states.
17. Define key terms.
Federalism
Express Powers
Implied Powers
Necessary
and Proper Clause
Inherent Powers
Commerce
Clause
Concurrent Powers
Full
Faith and Credit Clause
Extradition
Interstate Compact
Centralists
Decentralists
National
Supremacy Clause
Types of Federal Grants
Federal Mandates
Revenue Sharing
Table of Contents
Political Beliefs and
Behaviors
Chapter
Four-Political Culture and Ideology
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What are the dominant values of the American
political culture? Also, what does political scientist Robert Putnam mean by social capital? Finally, how and
why are U.S. citizens more satisfied with their democracy than are the citizens of other countries?
2. In what ways have our political values been affected
by historical developments and by economic and technological growth?
3. What are the key philosophical assumptions of
liberalism, conservatism, socialism, environmentalism, and libertarianism?
4. Why are Americans not deeply ideological?
5. What is the nature of the relationship between
ideology and tolerance?
6. What role did ideology play in the 2000 elections?
Learning Objectives
1. Define political culture. Also, explain where we
learn the American political culture.
2. Identify and describe the major values that are
shared by most Americans, in the tradition of classical liberalism.
3. Assess the relationship between political values and
economic change (such as industrialization and depression).
4. List Franklin Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights.
5. Analyze what is meant by the "American Dream"
and its impact on American political, economic, and social life. Explain how Oprah Winfrey
achieved the American Dream.
6. Define ideology and identify five schools of political
thought.
7. Examine liberalism and criticisms of this school of
political thinking.
8. Examine conservatism and cite criticisms of this school
of political thought.
9. Examine socialism, environmentalism and libertarianism
in American politics.
10. Explain the distribution of ideologies in the American
population and what those ideologies mean to most Americans. Explain why few Americans consider
themselves political extremists.
11. Compare the differences between liberals and
conservatives on tolerance and support for civil liberties.
12. Define and explain the significance of Putnam's social
capital.
13. Define key terms.
Political Culture
Majority Rule
Popular Sovereignty
American Dream
Capitalism
Ideology
Liberalism
Conservatism
Socialism
Libertarianism
Table of Contents
Chapter
Five-The American Political Landscape
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What is the importance of geography, sectionalism, state
and local identity, and the kinds of places
in which we live vis-à-vis the American political
landscape?
2. Why is America considered a "land of
diversity"? What is the relationship of this diversity to the conduct of American politics?
3. What accounts for American unity in the midst of
diversity?
4. What was the significance of California's Proposition 187
involving the restriction of public services to illegal immigrants.
5. Why is family structure important to the American
political landscape?
6. Why and how have differences in sexual orientation become
more politically important in recent years?
7. What is the difference between the salad bowl and melting
pot concepts?
Learning Objectives
1. Define ethnocentrism.
2. Define political socialization and demographics.
3. Distinguish between reinforcing cleavages and
cross-cutting cleavages.
4. Assess the impact on the development of American
democracy of geographic isolation and a large land area.
5. Evaluate sectional differences in the United States.
Include the sunbelt/frostbelt idea.
6. Examine the effect of state and local identity on
politics.
7. Identify and describe the four kinds of places in which
Americans live.
8. Examine the impact on American politics of race and
ethnicity.
9. Outline the agenda of the Women's Movement in American
politics and the current gender issues and the impact of sexual orientation as
well.
10. Examine the significance of the FAIR ad in Iowa and
Proposition 187 in California.
11. Explain how family structure impacts upon the American
political landscape.
12. Identify ways in which religion can be important in
American politics.
13. Evaluate the impact of religious diversity and of the
clustering of religious population groups on politics.
14. Describe income and wealth distribution in the United
States.
15. Analyze how aside from race, income may be the single
most important factor in explaining views on issues, partisanship, and ideology.
16. Explain what is meant by the post-industrial American
society.
17. Analyze the reasons why social class appears not to have
as strong an impact in explaining political behavior in the U.S. as it does in other
countries.
18. Describe the political agenda of older Americans.
19. Analyze generational and life cycle effects in politics.
20. Examine the relationship between differing educational
levels and political behavior.
21. Discuss reasons for the remarkable national unity and
identity that exists in a land of such demographic diversity.
22. Distinguish between the melting pot and salad bowl
analogies.
23. Define key terms.
Ethnocentrism
Political
Socialization
Demographics
Reinforcing and Cross-cutting Cleavages
Manifest Destiny
Sectional Differences
Race and Ethnicity
Gender Gap
Socioeconomic Status
Table of Contents
Chapter
Six-Interest Groups: The Politics of Influence
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What are interest groups and where do they commonly have
their beginnings? Why did James Madison call them factions?
2. What are the various types of interest groups? More
specifically, how would you characterize the power of labor unions compared to corporations?
3. What factors strengthen or weaken the political
effectiveness of interest groups?
4. What techniques are most frequently used by interest
groups?
5. What influence do lobbyists have? Who are the lobbyists?
6. How do PACs influence political outcomes and why have
they increased in number? How do they invest their money?
7. How could one argue that single-issue interest groups are
less democratic than large, multi-interest organizations?
8. What efforts have been made to regulate interest groups?
Is reform possible?
9. How did issue advocacy ads hurt Senator John McCainÕs
2000 primary campaign?
10. What was the significance of the 1999 Seattle protests
and what specific issues were the ten
thousand
protesters concerned about?
Learning Objectives
1. Explain Madison's analysis of the problems of faction and
possible solutions.
2. Discuss why Americans organize and join groups so
readily.
3. Define interest group and movement.
4. How did anonymous issue ads hard Senator McCain's
presidential candidacy.
5. Indicate the most influential economic interest groups,
and their primary concerns relative to government.
6. Discuss the special role played by public interest
groups.
7. Provide examples of foreign policy interest groups.
8. Provide examples of government interest groups.
9. Discuss the factors that make an interest group
politically potent.
10. Summarize the major techniques of interest groups,
including e-mail and litigation.
11. Define key terms.
Factions
The Federalist Number
10
Interest Groups
Movement
Types
of Interest Groups
Characteristics and Techniques of Interest Groups
The Federal Register
Amicus Curiae Briefs
Lobbying and Lobbyists
Revolving Door
Iron Triangle
Political Action Committee (PAC)
Bundling
Campaign Finance
Reform
Historical Background for Campaign
Finance Laws
Administering and Enforcing the
FECA
Key Issues Before the FEC
Debate Over Reform
Federal Election Commission
Federal
Corrupt Practices Act of 1925
Federal Elections
Campaign Laws
State Campaign Finance
Laws
Buckley v.
Valeo (1976)
Buckley
in a Nutshell
Table of Contents
Chapter
Seven-Political Parties: Essential to Democracy
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What do political parties do for American democracy?
2. How has the nomination of candidates changed throughout
history? Also, what role do national nominating
conventions play in contemporary politics?
3. How does our electoral two-party system compare with
multiparty parliamentary systems?
4. What role have minor parties had in American politics?
5. What have been the major historical stages in the
evolution of American political parties?
6. What is the current state of political parties in the
United States today?
7. How are political parties affected by partisan
realignment and dealignment?
8. Are political parties dying? Also, what party reforms
have been enacted among both Republicans and
Democrats?
9. Why are the issues of soft money and accountability
important for political parties?
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the functions of political parties and the extent
to which they are currently being performed by
American political parties.
2. Describe the methods used by parties to nominate
candidates and how these methods have changed over
time.
3. Compare the American two-party system with the multiparty
system.
4. Discuss factors that are associated with the emergence of
third parties and independent candidates.
5. Explain how closed and open primaries work.
6. Trace the development of political parties and the
two-party system in America.
7. Explain why the electorate prefers divided government.
8. Identify key characteristics of American political
parties today.
9. Define the main function of the national committees and
the main job of the national party chair.
10. Outline party organization below the national level.
11. Analyze how the public perceives the parties to be
different and the role of party platforms in revealing
or concealing those differences.
12. Explain the structure and function of parties in
government.
13. Examine why parties remain important in the electorate.
14. Evaluate whether the United States is experiencing party
dealignment or realignment.
15. Debate whether political parties are dying.
16. Trace the development of the political parties,
especially as a response to changing ideas of party
reform.
17. Examine the problems of soft money and outside issue
advocacy as they relate to the principle of
accountability.
18. Review the seven categories of party identification.
19. Explain how and why the parties were so evenly divided
in the 2000 presidential election.
20. Explain how party systems work in Israel and Canada.
21. Define key terms
Party Functions
Party Column Ballot
Office Block Ballot
Nonpartisan
Patronage
Honeymoon
Caucus
Party Conventions
Direct Primary
Open Primary
Closed Primary
Blanket Primary
Crossover Voting
Proportional Representation
Winner-Take-All
Political Parties
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Minor Parties
Communist Party
Constitution Party
Green Party
Libertarian Party
Natural Law Party
Reform Party
Socialist Party
Workers World Party
Parties of the World
Realigning Elections
1824
1860
1896
1932
Laissez-Faire
Keynesian Economics
Divided Government
Parties as Institutions
Party Platforms
Parties in Government
Parties in the Electorate
Soft Money
Party Identification
Dealignment
Table of Contents
Chapter
Eight-Public Opinion, Participation, and Voting
Public Opinion
Political
Socialization
Attentive Public
Fifteenth
Amendment
Nineteenth
Amendment
Native Americans Get Vote in 1924
Twenty-third
Amendment
Twenty-fourth
Amendment
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Twenty-sixth
Amendment
Voter Registration
Australian Ballot
Motor Voter Act (National Voter Registration Act of 1993)
Voter Turnout
Prospective Voting
Retrospective Voting
Chapter
Nine-Campaigns and Elections
Term Limits
Lame Duck
Winner-Take-All
Majority
Plurality
Single-Member District
Proportional Representation
Electoral College
1800
1824
1876
1888
2000
Safe Seat
Advantages of Incumbency
Franking Privilege
Redistricting
Coattail Effect
Running for President
Nomination
Convention
General Election
Money in Elections
Campaign Finance Reform
Chapter
Ten-The Media
Influence of the Media on Politics
Pervasiveness of Television
Issue Ads
Persistence of Radio
Continuing Importance of Newspapers
Rise of the Internet
Changing Role of the Media
Partisan Mouthpieces
Penny Press
Objective Journalism
Wire Services
Impact of Broadcasting
Radio
Television
Investigatory Journalism
Pentagon Papers
Watergate
Media Conglomerates
Regulation
Broadcast
Fairness Doctrine
Cable
New Mediator in American Politics
Public Opinion
Agenda Setting
Issue Framing
Press and Politicians Use Each Other
Factors That Limit Media Influence
Political Socialization
Selectivity
Selective Exposure
Selective Perception
Needs
Recall and Comprehension
Are Media Biased?
Connections to Business
Connections to Politicians
Liberal Reporters
More Conservative Lately?
The Media and Elections
Choice of Candidates
Campaign Events
Photo Ops
Media Technology
Image Making
Media Consultants
Voter Choice
Information About Issues
Making A Decision
Election Night Reporting
The Media and Governance
Coverage of President and Congress
Institutions of Government
(35-45%)
Chapter
Eleven-Congress
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz - Use
this to record your answers before actually taking the quiz and to keep a
record of the quiz and the correct answers. You must still enter your
answers online though. There are seven more questions on this quiz than
on the online version. Again, the online quiz is the one that counts.
Essay Questions
1. What are the politics of representation and how does
Congress organize itself to do the work of
law making and representation?
2. What are the major job responsibilities of a member
of Congress? Also, what are the personal
characteristics of congressional representatives?
3. Why is the passage of a bill considered to be a
legislative obstacle course? What are the
factions that influence congressional decision-making?
4. Why are committees so important to the proper
functioning of Congress?
5. What are specific criticisms directed at Congress and
what reforms are suggested to remedy
institutional defects?
6. How is Congress unique among the world's
legislatures?
Learning Objectives
1. Assess the factors that go into redistricting,
reapportionment, and gerrymandering,
and their impact on House elections.
2. Describe the professional qualifications and profile
the typical member of
Congress.
3. Explain the importance of bicameralism.
4. List differences between the House of Representatives
and the Senate.
5. Identify and define the basic functions of Congress.
6. Identify the major leadership positions in the House
and Senate.
7. Examine the political environment in the Senate.
Explain why some consider the
job of U.S. senator to be more prestigious.
8. Indicate the role of unlimited debate and the
filibuster in Senate proceedings.
9. Explain the role of and procedures used in the Senate
confirmation powers.
10. Distinguish between Congress as a law-making
institution and as a representative
assembly.
11. Distinguish between the delegate and trustee roles
of legislators.
12. Analyze the types of pressures and influences a
member of Congress is subject to
in the decision-making or law-making role.
13. Evaluate the impact and power of congressional
staff.
14. Trace the pathway of a bill through both houses of
Congress.
15. Analyze the importance of committee and subcommittee
chairs and the process by
which they are chosen, especially the impact of seniority.
16. Explain why so many congressional incumbents win.
17. Explain how the congressional impeachment process
works by referring to
Clinton's impeachment.
18. List and define four types of representation.
19. Suggest ways that Congress could become more
efficient and effective.
20. Define key terms.
Article I
The Legislative
Branch
Elections
Safe Seat
Redistricting
Reapportionment
Gerrymandering
Structure and Powers
Bicameralism
Separation of Powers
House of Representatives
Leadership
Law Making
Rules
Senate
Leadership
Law
Making
Power to Confirm
Senatorial Courtesy
Filibuster
Cloture
Contrasting
Procedures of the House and Senate
Divided Government
How a Bill
Becomes a Law
Tying It All
Together
Members
Profile
Decision Making
Delegate v. Trustee
Factors
Committees
Table of Contents
Chapter
Twelve-The Presidency
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What factors constitute effective presidential
leadership?
2. What are the roots of divided government in the United
States?
3. What roles does the president have that are not clearly
defined in the Constitution?
4. What are the roles of the vice president and what two
constitutional amendments have
significantly affected the vice presidency?
5. What constraints exist upon presidential power?
6. What does presidential leadership mean in a
constitutional democracy?
7. How do we judge presidential greatness or failure?
Learning Objectives
1. Evaluate what the public expects of the president in the
"unwritten presidential
job description."
2. Describe the office of the presidency as established in the
Constitution.
3. Explain the positive qualities that the public wants their president
to have.
4. Explain why the media and the president are so often in conflict.
5. Evaluate why Congress and the Supreme Court have often been willing
partners
in the expansion of presidential power and identify factors that have
strengthened
the presidency.
6. Identify and summarize roles of the president.
7. List the functions of the vice president.
8. Examine two constitutional amendments that significantly affected
the vice-presidency.
9. Evaluate the constraints on the ability of the president to act,
such as the media
and international pressures.
10. Debate whether the powers of the presidency are both too powerful
and too weak.
11. Discuss the presidential legacy of Bill Clinton.
12. Discuss what factors make for a "great" president and
what factors contribute to
a failed presidency.
13. Define key terms.
Table of Contents
Chapter
Thirteen-Congress and the President
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz
Essay Questions
1. Why do policy perspectives frequently differ between the
President and members of
Congress? Also, why has conflict been a typical historical pattern between the
two
branches?
2. Why are some presidents more successful in handling
Congress than others? Also, under
what circumstances can the two branches cooperate?
3. What constitutional controversies exist over war powers
between the two branches?
4. How and why has the confirmation process become
politically destructive in recent
years?
5. What is the meaning of executive privilege and executive
orders?
6. How have the veto/item veto and budget/spending problems
complicated relationships
between the president and Congress?
7. Why is coalition building so important?
8. What lessons about presidential-congressional
relationships can be discerned from the
Clinton impeachment process?
Learning Objectives
1. Explain those factors that promote both cooperation and conflict
within the
congressional-presidential relationship.
2. List specific reasons why some presidents are more effective with
Congress than
others.
3. Explain what the president tries to accomplish in his State of the
Union Address.
4. Explain why members of Congress have different political perspectives
from that
of the president.
5. Discuss why most presidents seem to have greater legislative success
when their
own party controls both houses of Congress. Conversely, explain how divided
government is often preferred by large numbers of the American people.
6. Explain the reasons why Congress and the president have clashed over
the war
powers issue. Also, be able to discuss the content of the War Powers
Resolution.
7. Explain why confirmation politics can become destructive and even
mean-spirited at times.
8. List reasons why the presidential use of executive privilege,
executive orders, and
the veto can promote discord between him and Congress.
9. Define impoundment, deficits, and continuing resolutions.
10. Explain the issues involved in the Clinton impeachment process.
11. Discuss why coalition building is important to a president’s
success or failure vis-a-vis Congress.
12. Define key terms.
Table of Contents
Chapter
Fifteen-The Bureaucracy
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz
Essay Questions
1. How big is the federal government?.
2. How did the bureaucracy evolve?
3. Who are the bureaucrats and what do they do?
4. How is the federal bureaucracy formally and informally
organized?
5. How are bureaucrats hired and regulated? What are
principles of bureaucratic management?
6. What does the public think of bureaucrats and the
bureaucracy?
7. What is bureaucratic accountability to the President and
to Congress?
8. How might the bureaucracy be reformed?
9. How does the U.S. bureaucracy compare to other nations?
Learning Objectives
1. Describe the size of the federal bureaucracy.
2. Define bureaucracy and bureaucrat.
3. Describe who bureaucrats are and what bureaucrats do.
4. Describe the formal organization of the bureaucracy.
5. Indicate the importance of the informal organization.
6. Explain the importance and impact of the Hatch Act, old
and new.
7. List the principles of the formal textbook model of
bureaucratic administration.
8. Describe the limitations on bureaucratic power.
9. Assess bureaucratic realities.
10. Analyze how the fictitious George Brown illustrates the
dilemmas faced by
bureaucrats in determining accountability and defining the
public interest.
11. Debate the need for big government and big bureaucracy,
including a discussion
of how to reorganize and eliminate waste in them.
12. Debate the extent to which government should privatize
public services.
13. Examine bureaucratic accountability to the President and
to Congress.
14. Explain the different role that bureaucracy plays in
Japan.
15. Should civil servants be subjected to unannounced drug
testing?
16. How does our bureaucracy compare to other nations?
17. Define key terms.
Table of Contents
Chapter
Fourteen-The Judiciary
Outline
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up. The first time you log in you will have to search for your
class. Click the search tab and choose to search for your teacher's
name. Search for Bob Alley. You should see my name twice at the
bottom of the search results page. Fifth Period students should register
for AP Government I, and Sixth Period should choose AP Government II.
Once you do this, you will see the available quizzes for your class. For
this week, choose The Judiciary Quiz. Follow
the directions and take the quiz. When you are done, submit the quiz,
and you will see what your grade is and which questions you missed, if
any. Remember that once you submit the quiz, you will not be able to go
back and change any answers. Have fun and good luck!
Printable Version of Quiz
Essay Questions
1. How and why do judges make the law?
2. What are the components of the federal court structure in
the United States?
3. What factors influence the selection and eventual
confirmation of federal judges?
4. What are the procedures of the Supreme Court?
5. What is the meaning and significance of judicial
restraint and judicial activism?
6. What are the linkages between what the judges do and what
the people want done?
Learning Objectives
1. Define judicial review.
2. Identify and define eight types of law.
3. Explain how the adversary system shapes the role of judges and the
scope of
judicial power.
4. Describe how judges make law.
5. Analyze the role of stare decisis in the judicial system.
6. Outline the structure of federal courts, identifying the jurisdiction
of each.
7. Describe the relationship between federal and state courts.
8. Describe the roles of federal lawyers, prosecutors, solicitor general,
assistant
attorney general, and public defenders. Also, comment on the role of the Legal
Services Corporation.
9. Describe the process used to select federal judges, including the role
of the
president, the Senate, senatorial courtesy, the American Bar Association, and
the
Judicial Selection Monitoring Project.
10. Analyze the impact of party, race, sex, and ideology on the judicial
selection
process.
11. Compare judicial activism and judicial restraint and their
relationship to political
ideology.
12. Explain how ideology and judicial philosophy affect when sitting
judges choose
to retire.
13. Discuss how partisan politics enters the judicial selection process,
the size of the
federal judiciary, and the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
14. Explain how cases reach the Supreme Court.
15. Discuss the role of briefs and oral arguments in a Supreme Court
case.
16. Describe how the Supreme Court acts in conference.
17. Describe the importance of written judicial opinions.
18. Describe the powers of the chief justice.
19. Explain what happens to a case after the Supreme Court has ruled.
20. Debate the proper role of the courts.
21. Analyze the relationship between the Supreme Court and the people.
22. Define key terms.
Table of Contents
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
(5-15%)
Chapter
Sixteen-First
Amendment Rights
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz
More Information
Essay Questions
1. What was the constitutional significance of Gitlow v.
New York (1925)?
2. What is the three-part Lemon test vis-a-vis the
establishment clause?
3. What test did the Supreme Court use prior to 1990 in
interpreting the free exercise clause? How did the Rehnquist Court alter the
interpretation of the clause in Employment Division v. Smith (1990)?
4. What constitutional tests for limiting freedom of speech,
historically and currently, have been applied by the Supreme Court?
5. What is the prevailing view of freedom of the press?
6. To what degree does the Constitution protect other media,
such as the mails, motion pictures, billboards, radio, television, cable,
telephones, fax machines, and other electronic media? Also, how should
government deal with first amendment issues raised by the World Wide Web?
7. How has the Supreme Court handled how to prove libel and
how to define and how to determine which words are fighting words?
8. What restrictions are placed on freedom of assembly and
freedom of association?
9. How can a democracy handle the problem of subversive
speech?
10. What was the significance of the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act of 1993? Why was the Act ruled unconstitutional by the U.S.
Supreme Court?
11. Which specific issues were involved in the Closer Look
insert dealing with Aid for Children Attending Parochial Schools?
12. What is considered obscene and what is the Miller
standard?
13. How has the E-FOIA helped to place government agencies
on the Internet?
14. What are the rights of individuals to assemble
peacefully?
15. How do First Amendment rights affect abortion clinics?
16. What is the significance of a habeas corpus writ, an ex
post facto law, and a bill of attainder?
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the Nationalization of the Bill of Rights through
selective incorporation.
2. Define the Establishment Clause, including what it does
and does not prohibit; and the prevailing doctrine.
3. Describe the three-part test created in Lemon v.
Kurtzman to determine if a statute violates the Establishment Clause,
and identify and describe various tests advocated by various judges to
interpret the establishment clause.
4. Explain how and when tax funds may be used to fund
educational programs at church-related schools.
5. Analyze the disputes that arise between the Establishment
and Free Exercise clauses.
6. Assess how the Supreme Court altered the interpretation
of the free exercise clause in the compelling interest test, Employment
Division v. Smith (1990), and how the Religious Freedom Restoration Act
of 1993 was explicitly designed to reverse that Court decision.
7. Distinguish among belief, speech, and action.
8. Define the following historic constitutional tests on
freedom of speech issue: bad tendency test, clear and present danger test,
and the preferred position doctrine.
9. Identify and define doctrines currently used by the
Supreme Court to measure the limits of governmental power on freedom of
speech.
10. Explain the prevailing view of the freedom of the press
and the Court's position of the press's right to know.
11. Summarize how the Constitution protects other media.
12. Explain the libel guidelines established by the New
York Times v. Sullivan case.
13. List the standards of obscenity as defined by the Miller
decision.
14. Compare the changing social and judicial interpretations
of obscenity and pornography.
15. Assess the problems involved in regulating
"fighting words."
16. Describe the impact of time, place, and manner
regulations on the freedom of assembly.
17. Explain the significance of sunshine laws, the FOIA, and
the electronic FOIA.
18. Summarize legislative and judicial action toward the
regulation of sedition.
19. Discuss the relationship of the Christian Coalition to a
school prayer amendment.
20. Explain the constitutional implications of hate speech
on campus.
21. Discuss how aid may be provided to children attending
parochial schools.
22. Discuss the rights of Right to Life groups to protest
abortion clinics as well as the rights of pro-choice groups to have those
clinics protected from violence or harassment.
23. Define key terms.
Civil Liberties
Civil Rights
Bill
of Rights
Due
Process Clause
Selective Incorporation
Establishment
Clause
Free
Exercise Clause
Religious
Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
Freedom of Information Act
Libel
Table of Contents
Chapter
Seventeen-Rights
to Life, Liberty, and Property
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz
Essay Questions
1. What is due process?
2. How is American citizenship acquired or lost and what are
the rights of American citizens?
3. What are the rights of and policies directed toward
aliens in America?
4. What are our constitutional protections of property?
5. What are the differences between procedural and
substantive due process?
6. How has the Supreme Court defined the "right of
privacy" in its rulings?
7. What are the rights of persons accused of crimes?
8. What are major criticisms directed at the American system
of justice?
9. Why does the chapter state that juries are on trial?
10. Why has the death penalty come under increasing
scrutiny?
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the meaning of due process.
2. What are the major naturalization requirements?
3. Describe dual citizenship.
4. Explain how citizenship is acquired and lost.
5. Identify and describe rights of American citizens.
6. Examine the rights of aliens.
7. Summarize immigration laws for admission to the United States.
8. Examine the political and practical problems caused by the presence of
undocumented aliens.
9. Examine the constitutional protections of property.
10. Compare and contrast procedural and substantive due process.
11. List three aspects of privacy rights.
12. Analyze the current standing in the courts of the right to privacy,
especially in regard to state power to regulate abortions and sexual
orientation.
13. Distinguish between unreasonable and reasonable searches and
seizures.
14. Identify and describe the exceptions to the general rule against
warrantless searches and seizures.
15. Explain the exclusionary rule, the right to remain silent, and the
Miranda warning.
16. Summarize a criminal case in the federal court system, listing the
major rights to be protected and the procedures to be followed.
17. Specify the connection between the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth
Amendment.
18. Debate whether the American system of justice is unjust, in that it
has too many loopholes, is too unreliable, and is discriminatory.
19. Discuss the role of the Supreme Court in protecting civil liberties
and the
constraints on that role.
20. Discuss the controversy over the death penalty, noting the new
variable of DNA testing.
21. Explain the significance of racial profiling.
22. Define key terms.
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Ex Post Facto Law
Bill of Attainder
Citizenship Rights
Contract
Clause
Eminent Domain
Procedural Due Process
Substantive Due Process
Privacy Rights
Exceptions to the Warrant Rule
Exclusionary Rule
Immunity
Miranda Warning
Grand Jury
Indictment
Plea Bargain
Double Jeopardy
Table of Contents
Chapter
Eighteen-Equal
Rights Under the Law
Outline
Take Home Quiz
Printable Version of Quiz
Essay Questions
1. How does the struggle for civil rights relate to the four
types of equality in America?
2. How has the struggle for equal rights for women been
intertwined with the battle to secure equal
rights for African Americans?
3. What have been the struggles for civil rights for Women,
Hispanics, Asian
Americans and Native Americans?
4. What historic barriers to voting, public accommodations,
employment, and education existed in the past and how have these barriers
been overcome?
5. Is the practice of affirmative action and preference
policies constitutional?
6. What issues regarding equal rights are pertinent today?
Learning Objectives
1. Define human rights and how the Constitution provides for protecting
civil rights. Differentiate between civil rights
and civil liberties.
2. Discuss the various ways equality can be conceptualized.
3. Trace the development of the women's liberation movement from before
the Civil
War to the present. Also, explain the importance of sexual harassment.
4. Summarize the development of the African American struggle for racial
justice
from the Civil War to the present.
5. Compare the historical experiences and current demands for equality of
women,
Hispanics, Asian-Americans, and Native-Americans. Also, why have Hispanics
not had more political clout?
6. Describe how the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
is used
to limit state action that classifies individuals unreasonably.
7. Compare three tiers of tests used to determine whether a law complies
with the
equal protection requirement.
8. Define what makes a right fundamental in the constitutional sense.
9. Compare disparate impact and intent to discriminate in proving
discrimination.
10. Define Jim Crow laws.
11. Discuss the question raised in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the
Supreme Court's
ruling and its effects, and the Court's reversal of Plessy in the 1954 Brown
v.
Board of Education of Topeka case.
12. Distinguish between de facto and de jure segregation.
13. Examine the efforts made in the past by state governments to prevent
Blacks from
voting, and the steps taken by the Supreme Court to end those efforts.
14. Describe the content and impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
15. Evaluate the impact of the Supreme Court decision in Shaw v. Reno that
race
cannot be the sole reason for drawing district lines.
16. Analyze the measures used, especially the commerce clause and the
Civil Rights
Act of 1964, to regulate discriminatory conduct by private individuals and
groups.
17. Examine Boy Scouts v. Dole.
18. Examine features of Title II and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964.
19. Summarize the provisions of the Fair Housing Act and Amendments, 1968
and
1988.
20. Discuss the controversies caused by the implementation of affirmative
action
programs.
21. Discuss the Supreme Court rulings in the University of California
Regents v. Bakke,
Richmond v. Croson, and Hopwood v. Texas cases.
22. Evaluate the condition of America's African-American underclass a
generation
after the Kerner Commission Report.
23. What was the significance of the Bakke decision? How has admission to
public
colleges changed since Bakke?
24. What was the significance of Proposition 209 and Initiative 200?
25. Define key terms.
Equal
Protection Clause
Suspect Class
White Primary
Gerrymandering
Poll Tax
Literacy Test
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Jim Crow Laws
Majority-Minority Districts
De Jure Segregation
De Facto Segregation
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Affirmative Action
Proposition
209
Table of Contents
Precedents Set By
Court Cases
Expansion of National Power
Marbury
v. Madison
McCulloch
v. Maryland
Application of Bill of Rights to the States
Barron v. Baltimore
Gitlow
v. New York
Gideon v. Wainwright
Civil Rights
Plessy
v. Ferguson
Brown
v. Board of Education
Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg
Regents
of the University of California v. Bakke
Richmond v. Croson
Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
Shaw
v. Reno
Hopwood v. Texas
First Amendment
Everson
v. Board of Education
Engel v. Vitale
Lemon
v. Kurtzman
Employment
Division v. Smith
Schenck
v. U.S.
New
York Times v. Sullivan
Miller
v. California
Texas v. Johnson
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
Buckley v. Valeo
Life, Liberty, and Property
Roe
v. Wade
Terry v. Ohio
Mapp
v. Ohio
Miranda v. Arizona
Campaign Finance
Buckley v.
Valeo
Various Supreme Court Tests
The Establishment Clause
Lemon
Test
Endorsement Test
Nonpreferentialist Test
The Free Exercise Clause
Compelling Interest Test
Freedom of Speech
Bad Tendency Doctrine
Clear and Present Danger Doctrine
Preferred Position Doctrine
Prior Restraint
Vagueness
Least Drastic Means
Content and Viewpoint Neutrality
Commercial Speech
Obscenity Test
Equal Protection
Rational Basis Test
Heightened Scrutiny Test
Strict Scrutiny Test
Abortion
Undue Burden Test
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