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AP Government
Final Review
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Constitutional Foundations
• A system of government in which power is
divided by a written constitution between a
central government and regional
governments. As a result, two or more levels
of government have formal authority over the
same geographic area and people.
• Answer: Federalism
Constitutional Foundations
• What are the rights of the accused guaranteed by the
Constitution?
• Where are these guaranteed? (Which articles or
amendments?)
• Answer:
–
–
–
–
Article 1 – Habeas corpus
6th Amd – Trial by jury and due process
4th Amd – Illegal search and seizures
5th Amd - Self-incrimination and double jeopardy, due
process
– 8th Amd – Cruel and unusual punishment
– 14th Amd – Due process
Constitutional Foundations
• System in which each branch of government
can limit the power of the other two
branches. For example, the Senate has the
power to approve or reject presidential
appointments to the Supreme Court.
• Answer: Checks and balances
Constitutional Foundations
• What does Madison argue in Federalist 10?
• Answer: That a large republic would be
successful in controlling factions
Constitutional Foundations
• Of categorical grants and block grants, which
is most limiting on state governments? Why?
• Answer: Categorical grants have a specific and
clearly defined purpose, while block grants are
more broad in purpose.
Constitutional Foundations
• Rules telling states what they must do to
comply with federal guidelines; some are
unfunded, requiring state and local
governments to comply without providing
funds to do so
• Answer: Federal mandates
Constitutional Foundations
• Powers not specifically granted to the national
government or denied to the states
• Answer: Reserved powers, guaranteed to the
states and the people by the 10th Amendment
Constitutional Foundations
• What is the “elastic clause”?
• Give an example of its use.
• Answer: Article 1, Section 8 that allows
Congress to make other laws as “necessary
and proper” to carrying out its explicitly stated
powers. Used by Hamilton to establish the first
Bank of U.S., etc.
Constitutional Foundations
• How has the commerce clause been used to
expand Congressional authority?
• Answer: Because Congress has the right to
oversee any transactions that are interstate,
this has expanded their power over railroads,
air travel, and the Internet. This was also used
by Congress to prohibit segregation of buses,
etc.
Constitutional Foundations
• Requires employers and public facilities to
make “reasonable accommodations” for
people with disabilities and prohibits
employment discrimination
• Answer: Americans with Disabilities Act, an
unfunded mandate that increased federal
power over the states
Constitutional Foundations
• Established national air quality standards and
required states to administer the new
standards
• Answer: Clean Air Act, an unfunded mandate
that increased federal power over the states
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Ruled that those accused of major crimes in
the states have a right to counsel
(incorporated)
• Answer: Gideon v. Wainwright, which used the
14th Amendment due process clause to expand
the right to counsel to the states
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• First Amendment provision that prohibits
Congress from establishing an official
government-sponsored religion.
• Answer: Establishment clause
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• What are Jim Crow laws?
• Answer: Legalized discrimination and
segregation in the post-Civil War period; a
means of denying African Americans full rights
as American citizens
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• What is the exclusionary rule?
• In which court case was it incorporated to the
states?
• Answer: The exclusionary rule disallows
illegally-obtained evidence from being used in
court; it was incorporated to the states in
Mapp v. Ohio
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• How did the 24th Amendment expand voting
rights for African Americans?
• Answer: The 24th Amendment prohibited the
poll tax
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• What is meant by “right to privacy”?
• Where is this guaranteed?
• Answer: The “right to privacy” prevents the
federal government from interfering in private
matters; it is not mentioned in the
Constitution, but was established by court
cases like Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v.
Wade
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Ruled that the use of quota systems for
college admission violated the equal
protection clause of the 14th Amendment
• Answer: Regents of the University of California
v. Bakke, which stated that race could not be
the only factor in deciding admission –
confirmed/expanded in Grutter v. Bollinger
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• What freedoms are guaranteed by the First
Amendment?
• Answer: RAPPS – religion, assembly, petition,
press, and speech
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• How is selective incorporation achieved?
• Why is it “selective”?
• Answer: Using the due process clause of the
14th Amendment to extend Bill of Rights
protections to the states; done “selectively” as
the Supreme Court decides applicable cases
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Prohibited discrimination in employment
based on race, color, national origin, religion,
or gender; created the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and ended Jim Crow
segregation
• Answer: Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• First Amendment provision that guarantees
each person’s right to believe what he or she
wants.
• What are the limitations on this?
• Answer: Free exercise clause; Religious
practice cannot make illegal actions legal
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• What were the goals of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965?
• How were these accomplished?
• Answer: Increase voter participation by
African Americans; eliminated literacy tests,
grandfather clauses, and other means for
denying African American suffrage
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Struck down state funding for private religious
schools
• Which provision of the First Amendment was
applied?
• Answer: Lemon v. Kurtzman; Establishment
clause
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Struck down state-sponsored prayer in public
schools
• Answer: Engel v. Vitale
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Ruled that racially segregated schools violated
the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th
Amendment
• Answer: Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Established the “one person, one vote”
principle for legislative apportionment
• Answer: Baker v. Carr
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Which court case banned polygamy?
• Which provision of the First Amendment was
applied?
• Answer: Reynolds v. U.S.; Free exercise clause
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Ruled that police must inform criminal
suspects of their constitutional rights before
questioning
• Answer: Miranda v. Arizona
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• Banned the use of illegal drugs in religious
ceremonies
• Answer: Oregon v. Smith
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• What are the three provisions of the 14th
Amendment?
• How has each been used?
• Answer:
– Citizenship – Granted citizenship to African Americans
– Due process – Used to incorporate Bill of Rights to
states
– Equal protection – Used to overturn Jim Crow
segregation
Political Beliefs and Behaviors
• What is the winner-take-all electoral system?
• Why is it important?
• Answer: The candidate who receives the most
votes in any one state receives all of the
electoral votes for that state; It is important
because it prevents the gradual growth of
third party influence and because it makes
presidential candidates focus their energy in
“swing states,” populous and undecided states
Political Beliefs and Behaviors
• Contributions to political parties that
circumvent contribution limits
• Answer: Soft money contributions are those
that aren’t specifically dedicated to one
candidate, but are used for “party building”
Political Parties, Interest Groups,and
Mass Media
• A primary in which the candidates are from a
single party, but voters from either party may
participate
• Answer: Open primary
Political Parties, Interest Groups, and
Mass Media
• A committee formed by business, labor, or
other interest groups to raise money and
make contributions to the campaigns of
political candidates whom they support
• Answer: Political action committee
Political Parties, Interest Groups, and
Mass Media
• Filed by an interest group or interested party
to influence a Supreme Court decision
• Answer: Amicus curiae briefs
Political Parties, Interest Groups, and
Mass Media
• An alliance between an administrative agency,
an interest group, and a congressional
committee
• Answer: Iron triangle
Congress
• How do the rules for debate in the House and
Senate differ?
• Answer: The House Rules Committee places
bills on the calendar, establishing length of
debate and other aspects of deliberation in
advance. The Senate has fewer rules, and
senators may filibuster. In the Senate, debate
is called to a close by cloture, which requires
3/5 majority vote.
Congress
• Temporary bodies that are formed to resolve
differences between House and Senate
versions of a bill
• Answer: Conference committee
Congress
• What is casework?
• Answer: Work done by members of Congress
to benefit a single constituent or group of
constituents.
Congress
• What is the single most important factor in
determining the outcome of congressional
elections?
• Answer: Incumbency status – This is reinforced
by name recognition and other incumbent
advantages (like the franking privilege);
Seniority can lead to better committee
appointments and greater influence
Congress
• A way of delaying or preventing action on a
bill by using long speeches and unlimited
debate
• Answer: Filibuster
Congress
• What is legislative oversight?
• Answer: Congressional review of the activities
of an executive agency, department, or office;
usually in the form of a Congressional inquiry
or hearing (NOT the same as using the budget
against them, though the budget is also a tool
of Congress)
Congress
• What is the difference between congressional
reapportionment and congressional
redistricting?
• Answer: Reapportionment is the reallotment
of Congressional seats based on census
results, while redistricting is redrawing
districts based on this reallotment
Congress
• What is “advice and consent”?
• Answer: Power of the Senate to approve
presidential appointments and treaties
Congress
• A set of issues and problems that
policymakers consider important
• What groups have influence over this?
• Answer: Policy agenda; interest groups, party,
media, voters
Congress
• Tactic of mutual aid and vote trading among
legislators
• Answer: Logrolling
Congress
• The legislative process by which the majority
party in each state legislature redraws
congressional districts to ensure the maximum
number of seats for its candidates
• Answer: Gerrymandering
Congress
• What is grassroots mobilization?
• Answer: Political movement that begins with
the people; individual citizens serving to
gather information and support for a
candidate or agenda item
Congress
• What is party polarization?
• Answer: Growth in the division between the
two major parties as they become more
dissimilar
Courts
• Philosophy that the Supreme Court should use
precedent and the Framers’ original intent to
decide cases
• Answer: Judicial restraint
Courts
• What is judicial review?
• Answer: The right of the Supreme Court to
declare acts of Congress and the President
unconstitutional; established in Marbury v.
Madison
Courts
• Philosophy of making Supreme Court
decisions based on precedents established in
earlier cases
• Answer: Stare decisis
Courts
• Philosophy that the Supreme Court must
correct injustices when other branches of
government or the states refuse to do so
• Answer: Judicial activism
Courts
• An order by the Supreme Court directing a
lower court to send up the record in a given
case for its review
• Answer: Writ of certiorari
President and Bureaucracy
• A directive, order, or regulation issued by the
president that carries the force of law
• Answer: Executive order
Public Policy
• A government-sponsored program that provides
mandated benefits to those who meet eligibility
requirements
• Give examples of this type of program.
• How does this create a problem of mandatory
spending?
• Answer: Entitlement program, like Social Security,
Medicare or Medicaid; Creates obligations that
must be met regardless of the country’s financial
situation
Public Policy
• What is the difference between fiscal and
monetary policy?
• Answer:
– Fiscal – Taxing and government spending
– Monetary – The Federal Reserve’s control of the
money supply