Download Final Exam Review Sheet - Sewanhaka Central High School District

Final Exam Review Sheet
1. What is Democracy? Why is voting important?
a. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme authority rests
with the people. The United States is a representative government.
b. The citizens vote to elect representatives. This is called a republic.
2. Why did our framers fear of a strong central government? What did they do to
ensure the Federal government was limited?
a. After the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation was the first
form of government. Fearing a strong central government, like they
experienced under British rule, this system gave most of the power to the
individual states. However, its eventual failure led the Founding Fathers
to device a new Constitutional government that strengthened the central
powers.
b. But in order to gain support for this system, they agreed to add the Bill of
Rights to the Constitution. These first ten amendments were designed to
balance this debate.
3. What is a Representative Government?
a. This is a system of government public policies are made by elected officials
who are chosen by the voters.
b. This idea is that government should serve the will of the people.
4. What are the Bill of Rights? Why were they added to the Constitution?
a. The first ten amendments were added to the Constitution less than three
years after it became effective. They are known as the Bill of Rights.
b. They established the great constitutional guarantees of freedom of belief
and expression, of freedom and security of the person, and of fair and
equal treatment before the law.
c. These amendments were added to the Constitution in order to gain
support for ratification. Some founders were concerned that there wasn’t
enough protection for people’s rights.
5. What is Judicial Review?
a. This is the power of the court to determine the constitutionality of a
government action.
b. It is the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws unconstitutional.
6. Why is Marbury v. Madison significant?
a. This is the Supreme Court case that established the precedent of judicial
review.
7. Why do we have a Separation of Powers?
a. This is a basic principle of American system of government that divides
power between the legislative, executive and judicial branches. In theory,
each branch is independent and coequal.
8. Explain each branch of government?
a. The legislative branch is Congress. Its primary role is to pass laws.
b. The executive branch is the president. His primary role is to enforce the
laws.
c. The judicial branch is the Supreme Court. Its primary function is to
interpret the constitutionality of laws.
9. Why do we have a system of Checks and Balances? How does this system work?
a. This is a constitutional principle that permits each branch of government to
hold a check on the actions of the other two. Each branch is subject to a
number of constitutional checks or restraints by the other branches.
i. For example, Congress has the power to make a law but the president
has the power to veto that law. Congress can override the veto with
a 2/3 vote.
10.Define: Popular Sovereignty
a. The basic principle of the American system of government by which the
people are the source of any and all government power. The government
can exist only with the consent of the governed (people).
11.Define: Federalism
a. Federalism is a system of government in which a written constitution
divides power between a central, or national, government, and state
governments. The powers that are shared by both the federal and state
governments are called concurrent powers. Examples of concurrent
powers are taxation and lawmaking. Reserved powers are granted to the
states. Examples of reserved powers are driver’s licenses, teacher
certification, marriage license and conducting elections. Delegated or
enumerated powers are those granted to the federal government.
Examples include declaring war, running the post office or printing money.
12.What is the purpose of the Presidential Cabinet?
a. The presidential cabinet is an advisory body, traditionally made up of the
heads of the 15 executive departments and the vice president. The
Cabinet's role is to advise the President on any subject he may require
relating to the duties of each member's respective office.
13.How many Supreme Court Judges are there? How do they get their position?
Why do they serve for life?
a. There are nine justices on the Supreme Court. They are appointed by the
president and approved by the Senate. The justices serve for life.
b. Federal judges serve for life in order to prevent them from feeling political
pressure to rule in a certain way.
14.How can the Constitution be changed?
a. The Constitution can be changed through the amendment process. There
have been 27 amendments in American history. First, an amendment must
be proposed by 2/3 of Congress. Then, 3/4 of the states must ratify it.
15.Explain the Electoral College? What are some of its flaws?
a. A candidate can win the presidency without receiving a majority of the
popular vote. This happened most recently in the 2000 election between
George Bush and Al Gore.
16.Equality of Opportunity
a. The Founding Fathers created a Constitution that intended to provide
equal opportunity to its citizens. The goal was to balance a stronger federal
government without sacrificing freedom and equality. But historically,
both African Americans and women are two examples of groups that have
not been treated equally.
17.What did the Roe v. Wade case establish?
a. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that laws prohibiting abortions were
unconstitutional. As a result of this decision, abortion is now LEGAL in
the country.
18.Explain Totalitarianism.
a. This is a system of government that is centralized and often has a dictator.
All of the power rests with the central authority.
19.Explain Socialism.
a. Socialism is an economic and political philosophy based on the idea that
the benefits of economic activity – wealth – should be equitably distributed
throughout society. This would be achieved with the government
controlling the means by which the goods and services are produced and
distributed. Socialists emphasize cooperation and community over
individualism and competition.
20.What are the two major political parties? Explain characteristics for each side.
a. The two primary political parties today are the Democrats and
Republicans. Likely characteristics of a Democratic voter: lower income,
lower education level, women, African-Americans, Jewish, recent
immigrants, union workers, urban (city) dwellers, Northeast and West
Coast.
b. Likely characteristics of a Republican voter: wealthy, higher level of
education, rural (country) living, South and Midwest, elderly and males.
21.What influences your political views?
a. A person’s family has the greatest influence on his/her political identity.
22.“left” vs. “right”
a. Left-leaning political views are called liberal and right-leaning political
views are called conservative.
23.What is the role of third parties?
a. Although third political parties rarely win elections, there presence can
have a significant impact. They often emphasize or highlight new ideas
that are then taken by the two main political parties.
24.What is a lobbyist?
a. Lobbying is usually defined as those activities by which group pressures
are brought on legislators (Congress) to pass (or NOT pass) certain laws.
25.Why is a majority of campaign budgets spent on television?
a. The most expensive item in a campaign budget is television advertising.
Good campaign managers know that most television news programs are
built out of stores that take no more than a minute or two of air time, and
show people doing something interesting or exciting.
26.How has the government tried to reform campaign finance? Why?
a. Campaign finance laws have been created to prevent wealthy individuals
and organizations from exercising undue influence in elections and on
public officeholders. However, victorious candidates often feel obligated
to vote on legislation that benefits their donors.
27.What is the purpose of polling?
a. Public opinion is best measured by public opinion polls, devices that
attempt to collect information by asking people questions. Polling helps
the candidate to understand the interests of the voters. Polling can also
gauge public opinion on a variety of issues.
28.Explain propaganda in politics.
a. Interest groups try to create the public attitudes they want by using
propaganda. Propaganda is a technique of persuasion aimed at
influencing individual or group behaviors. Its goal is to create a particular
belief. That belief may be completely true or false, or it may lie somewhere
in between. Propaganda is spread through newspapers, radio, television,
the Internet, movies, billboards, books, magazines, pamphlets, posters and
speeches.
29.What is gerrymandering?
a. This is the drawing of congressional district lines in an odd shape in order
to give advantage to one political party over another.
30.Explain the power of “ageing America”.
a. The baby boomer generation was born after World War II. This explosion
of the population has had a major impact on the nation. Now, the baby
boomers are beginning to retire. Since older people tend to vote more often
than younger Americans, the “ageing” of America is leading to an increase
in their political power.