AP GOVERNMENT

MID-TERM REVIEW

CHAPTERS 1-4 AND 7-16

Foundations

• Framers of Constitution took their ideas from the following:

• 1- Locke; Hobbes; Rousseau; Montesquieu• 4 Types of Gov’t: Monarchy; Totalitarianism;

Oligarchy; Democracy (Direct & Indirect)• Political Ideology: Conservative; Liberal;

Libertarian• Baby Boomers (46-64); Gen X (66-76); Gen Y

(1977-1994)

THE CONSTITUTION

• Designed to protect property rights and provide control

• British desire to manage F&I war debt leads America from being allies in 1763 to enemy in 1776

• Articles of Confederation to weak so need something else (Shay’s proves it)

• The Compromises of 1787 and the Articles

• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

• Marbury and Article III

FEDERALISM• Dual Sovereigns (state and federal)• Article IV: Full Faith & Credit; Privileges &

Immunities; Interstate Compacts• Article VI: Supremacy Clause• John Marshall and the big 3 Federalist cases

(Marbury; Gibbons; McCulloch)• Civil War starts the push for stronger central

government• New Deal completes the change (layer cake to

marble cake; cooperative federalism• LBJ and the Great Society• Reagan and the new federalism (block grants)

STATE GOVERNMENTS

• State Constitutions; Sovereignty; 11th Amendment

• Gerrymandering

• Governor’s Powers

• Term Limits & Line item veto (states only)

• Initiatives; Referendums; Recalls

• Dillon’s rule

• Balanced Budget Rule

UNIT III – THE BRANCHES

• Congress: Article 1- Section 8

• Congress: Rules and Qualifications

• Committees: Standing (permanent); Joint (both houses); Conference (bill reconciliation); Select (temporary)

• Agency oversight and review

• Majority Party; Speaker; Rules committee

• Pork and Log Rolling / Trustee & Delegate

• Key Terms: CBO; GAO; Hold; Fillibuster; Cloture

• War and War Powers Act

• Override Veto; Amendments

• Constitutional Express and Implied Powers

• Exclusive Powers– Senate: Treaty; Appointments; Judges– House: Appropriations (budget)

• THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH – ARTICLE II– Requirements– Powers and limitations– Treaties vs. Executive Agreements– OMB– Agency heads and the power of appointment– Global leader and coalition builder

• Executive Privilege (“Nixon”)• Inherent Powers (“Lincoln”)• Power of the Media (“Bully Pulpit”)• Enemy Combatant (“Bush”)

• THE JUDICIARY: ARTICLE III– Three tier system– Supreme Court sets its own docket– Jurisdiction can be limited by Congress– Original vs. Appellate Jurisdiction– Key Terms: Rule of 4; Certiorari; Precedent;

Stare Decisis; Amicus Curie; Solicitor General;

– Majority Opinion ; Concurring Opinion– Judicial Activism– Judicial Restraint

• Justices of some fame:– Marshall (Marbury; Gibbons;

McCoulloch)– Justice Taney (Dred Scott)– Justice O’Connor (1st woman)– Justice Marshall (1st African-American)– Justice Rehnquist ( limiting executive

privilege)– Justice Warren (rights of accused and

Brown)

– Justice Roberts (present Chief Justice)

• BUREAUCRACY : (AKA THE 4TH BRANCH)– Spoils System and Civil Service– ICC (end RR price fixing)– Hatch Act– 15 Cabinet Departments (plum books lists all)– The Iron Triangle (aka issue networks)– Congressional Oversight includes:

Investigation, Power of the purse, Appointment, Enactment, and Abolishment

– Administrative Discretion and Adjudication

• POLLING:– George Gallop– Political Socialization (family, peers, schools)

• First predictor of how someone will vote is party affiliation & Second is religion

• Key Terms:• Random Sampling• Quota Sampling• Stratified Sampling• Push Polls• Tracking Polls• Exit Polls• Filter Questions

• POLTICAL PARTIES– No actual membership required for parties just

registration – Become popular with start of Jacksonian Age– Primaries have weakened the party bosses– Ticket splitting has become more popular– Power NOW flows from national to local because

of the money factor– War Chests– Women traditionally favor Dems; Business men

traditionally favor Republicans

• Primaries: (Closed and Open)

• Partisan voting / Crossover voting

• Winner take all / Front loading

• Electoral College

• Party Realignment and Critical Elections

• Incumbent Advantages: Mailings; well known; constituent services; War chests

• Motor voter Registration Act

• Education and Wealth equal higher turnout

• CAMPAIGN PROCESS– Free vs. Paid media

– McCain-Feingold (2002): Upheld 5-4 by Supreme Court. Goal is not fairness but to

limit outside influences – Political Action Committee (PAC): Officially

registered fund raising committee– Buckley v. Valeo (1976) : Supreme Ct. says

no limit on $ candidate spends of his own– Hard money vs. Soft money– Express Ads vs. Issue Ads– 527 political committees: Unregulated interest

groups focused on specific issue

• THE MEDIA– Press Release: The document– Press Briefing: Between Press Secy and Press– Press Conference: The official and the press– Yellow Journalism & Muckraking– Impact of Watergate– Defamation (2 kinds: Slander and Libel)– Sullivan Case (actual malice)– Shield Laws– Prior Restraint– Equal time rule if selling time– Fairness Doctrine– Liberal Bias?

• INTEREST GROUPS– Purpose is to gain access and input– Lobbyist is a representative hired by an

interest group to push their particular agenda– 3 Big economic interest groups are trade

associations (ABA); Labor (UAW); Farmers– Largest today are Gun Lobby (nra) and

Abortion Groups– Clayton Act (1914) allowed unions to organize

an industry and thus led to increased power– Key input is on specialized knowledge and

technical expertise– Growth of PACs and 527’s have changed

political campaigning forever.