AP US Government and Politics Study Guide – 2020 Semester

Exam
Mr. Lipham

This exam will follow the AP US Government and Politics Exam

format.

You will have 3 hours to complete this exam.

Structure:

55 multiple choice questions 1 point each (50% of the exam)

4 Free Response Questions (50% of the exam)
 Each question will count for 12.5%
 Concept Application
 Quantitative Analysis
 SCOTUS Comparison
 Argument Essay

Supreme Court Cases – NEED TO KNOW:

Marbury v Madison (1803)
McCulloch v Maryland (1819)
United States v Lopez (1995)
Engel v Vitale (1962)
Wisconsin v Yoder (1972)
Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
New York Times Co v United States (1971)
Schenck v United States (1919)
Gideon v Wainwright (1963)
Roe v Wade (1973)
McDonald v Chicago (2010)
Brown v Board of Education (1954)
Citizens United v Federal Election Commission (2010)
Baker v Carr (1961)
Shaw v Reno (1993)

Historical Documents – NEED TO KNOW:

Declaration of Independence - [Link]
Articles of Confederation -
[Link]
The Constitution of the United States -
[Link]
Federalist Paper #10 -
[Link]
Brutus #1 - [Link]
Federalist Paper #51 -
[Link]
Federalist Paper #70 -
[Link]
Federalist Paper #78 -
[Link]
Letter from a Birmingham Jail -
[Link]

Concepts/terms to know:

Chapter 1 (Introduction):
 Role of Government and Politics
 Linkage and Policy Making Institutions
 Direct v Indirect Democracy
 Majority Rule v Minority Rights
 Pluralism, Elitism, Hyperpluralism Theories
 Political Culture and its importance

Chapter 2 (Foundations):
 Hobbes v Locke
o Social Contract Theory, State of Nature, and Natural
Rights
 Popular Consent and Limited Government
 Declaration of Independence (purpose and rationale)
 Articles of Confederation
o Why it was created
o Weaknesses
 Shay’s Rebellion
 Constitutional Convention
o New Jersey v Virginia Plan
o Compromises (divisions or factions that existed – why
were compromises necessary)
 Federalist Papers 10 and 51
o Role of Factions
o Purpose of new government
 Habeas Corpus
 Separation of Powers v Checks and Balances
 Federal, Confederation, and Unitary forms of government
 Federalists v Anti-Federalists
 Bill of Rights
 Process to Amend the Constitution
o Equal Rights Amendment
 Judicial Review
o Marbury v Madison
 Flexibility of State Constitutions

Chapter 3 (Federalism):
 Federalism
o Importance and relationship of National to State
governments
 Supremacy Clause v 10th Amendment
  Elastic Clause and powers granted to Article 1, sections 8, 9, and
10
 McCulloch v Maryland
 Enumerated powers, Implied Powers, Reserved powers
 Commerce Clause
o Gibbons v Ogden and U.S. v Lopez
 Article IV – Full Faith and Credit Clause and Privileges and
Immunities Clause
 Dual Federalism v Cooperative Federalism
o Marble v Layer Cake
 Devolution
 Fiscal Federalism
o Categorical Grants, Block Grants, Project Grants, Formula
Grants, Mandates
 Benefits and Problems of Federalism

Chapter 4 (Civil Liberties):

 Civil Liberties and the Bill of Rights
o Know the First 10 Amendments
 Barron v Baltimore
 Fourteenth Amendment
 Due Process Clause and Incorporation Doctrine
 First Amendment
o Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause
o Engel v Vitale
o Wisconsin v Yoder
o Prior Restraint, New York Times v U.S.
o Schenck v US
o Texas v Johnson and freedom of expression
o Freedom to petition the government, Tinker v Des Moines
 2nd Amendment
o McDonald v Chicago
th
 4 Amendment - Probable Cause, Unreasonable Searches and
Seizures, and the Exclusionary Rule
 5th Amendment and Self-Incrimination
 6th Amendment, Gideon v Wainwright
 8th Amendment – “cruel and unusual punishment”
 Right to Privacy, Griswold v CT, Roe v Wade

Chapter 5 (Civil Rights):

 Civil Rights and Discrimination
 14th Amendment and “equal protection clause”
 “suspect classifications”
 13th Amendment, 14th, and 15th Amendments
 Jim Crow Laws, Plessy v Ferguson, Poll Tax (24 th Amendment),
Literacy Tests, and Grandfather Clauses
 Brown v Board of Education
 De Jure v De Facto Discrimination
 Civil Rights Act of 1964
  Voting Rights Act of 1965
 24th Amendment
 19th Amendment
 Title IX
 National Organization of Women, Pro-life movement
 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
o Purpose and intention
 Affirmative Action
o Regents of Cal v Bakke
 Obergefell v Hodges

Chapter 6 (Public Opinion):

 Changing demography of the US
 Political Socialization
o Biggest influences
 How Polls are conducted
o Random Sampling, Sampling Error, Exit polls
o Why are polls important?
 Political Ideology
o Differences between Liberals and Conservatives
o Libertarians
 How do citizens tend to vote?
o Gender Gap, Income Gap, Race Gap, Education Gap, and
Religious Gap

Chapter 7 (The Mass Media):

 The evolution of Mass Media
o Radio to Internet
 Investigative Journalism, yellow journalism, Muckraking
 FCC – purpose and function
 Narrowcasting
o Why significant?
 Consolidation of Media
 Trial Balloons and Sound Bites
 Media Bias
o Talking heads and how is the media bias?

Chapter 8 (Political Parties):

 Political Parties
o Why are they important? (Linkage, etc…)
 Rationale-Choice Theory
 Party Identification and image
o Why important (how does this relate to public opinion and
polling)
o Straight v Split ticket voting
 Which one tends to happen today and why?
 Patronage (Spoils system) and Party machines
 Closed v Open Primaries
 National Convention
 o National Committee, National Chairperson, Party Platform
o Decentralization between Campaign Committees, State
Committees, and Local Committees
o Why is the party structure Decentralized
 Impact? Nomination process and candidate
centered politics
 Party Eras, Critical Elections, and Realignment
o Party Dealignment
 Role and Impact of Third Parties
o Historical Examples
 2 party v multi-party systems
o Winner-take-all and proportional representation, coalition
governments

Chapter 9 (Campaigns and Voting Behavior):

 Nominations and Campaign Strategy
 National Party Convention
o McGovern-Fraser Commission
o Superdelegates
o Creation of party platforms
o Rally support
 Primaries v Caucuses
o Impact of Frontloading
o Iowa and New Hampshire (importance)
 “the big mo”
 Howard Dean Scream (for craps and giggles)
o Criticisms of the Primary and Caucus systems
 Campaign Organization
o Most important elements (generic)
 Campaign Finance Reforms
o Federal Election Campaign Act
o FEC
o Matching funds
o Full Disclosure and Hard Money limits
o Buckley v Valeo
o Soft Money
 McCain-Feingold Act
o Citizens United v FEC
o Super Pacs
 PACs
o Why created and its influence
 Are campaigns too expansive?
o Influence of money and the impact of fundraising
 Selective perception
 Why do people choose not to vote?
o Political efficacy
o Civic duty
o Voter Registration
 Motor Voter Act of 1993
 o Other Structural and Attitudinal reasons for non-voting
 Tuesday a workday, mobile society, generational,
advanced registration, rationale non-voter, etc…
 Who tends to vote?
 Retrospective v prospective voting
o Policy Voting
 Mandate Theory of Elections
 Electoral College
o Why created?
o How does it work? (today)
o Problems associated with the Electoral College

Chapter 10 (Interest Groups):

 Interest groups
o How different than political parties?
 Don’t Forget: Pluralism, Elitism, and Hyperpluralism (chapter 1)
 IRON TRIANGLES
o How does it work?
 Collective Good and the Free Rider Problem
o Selective Benefits
 Single Issue v Multi Issue Interest Groups
 Lobbying
o How can lobbying be helpful and hurtful?
 Electioneering
o Impact of PACs
 Litigation
o Legislative Oversight
o Amicus Curie briefs
 The Public’s role in lobbying and influencing
 Types of Interest Groups
o Labor and Business
 Union Shop v Right to work laws
 Examples
o Public Interest Groups
 Environmental and Consumer
 Examples
o Equality Interest Groups
 Examples: NAACP, etc…

Chapter 11 (Congress):
 Enumerated powers as declared in Article I
o Implied and Inherent powers
 Demographics of the members of Congress
 Incumbents and the Incumbency Advantage
o Franking, Casework, and Pork Barrel
 Congressional Elections
o Reapportionment and Redistricting
o Baker v Carr
o Gerrymandering
  Bicameral legislature
o Key differences between the House and Senate
o Budget bills – “power of the purse”
o House Rules Committee
o Filibuster and Cloture
 Congressional Leadership
o Speaker of the House
 Job responsibilities
o Majority and Minority Leaders
o Whips
 Committees and Subcommittees
o Standing Committee
o Select Committee
o Join Committee
o Conference Committee
 What do standing committees do?
o Legislative Oversight
o How does a member get on a committee?
o Committee chairs and the importance of seniority
 Caucus (in Congress – remember different from elections)
 Congressional Staff
o Congressional Research Services (CRS)
o Government Accountability Office (GAO)
o Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
 How a Bill Becomes a Law!
o Veto, Pocket Veto, and Legislative Veto
 President and Congress – a Relationship?
o Honeymoon period
o Midterm loss
 Polarization of Congress and Gridlock
 Trustees v Instructed Delegates
o Politicos
 Influence of Lobbyists in Congress
 17th Amendment

Chapter 12 (The Presidency):

 Enumerated (Delegated) Powers as granted by Article II
o Implied and inherent powers
 Appointment Power (Senate check)
 Executive Orders v Executive Agreements
 Executive Privlege
 22nd Amendment
 25th Amendment
 Impeachment
o Responsibilities of House and Senate
 The president as Chief Executive
o Role of the Vice-President
 Cabinet
o Departments
 o Purpose and function
 Executive Office of President (EOP)
o Purpose and function
o National Security Council
 National Security Advisor (NSA)
o Council of Economic Advisers
o Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
o White House Office
 Chief of Staff
 Various Roles of the President
o Chief Legislator
 Line-Item Veto and Clinton v City of New York
 Examples
o Party Leader
 Examples
 Presidential Coattails
o Chief Diplomat
o Commander-in-Chief
 War Powers Resolution
o Crisis Manager
 Presidential Approval, Polling, and Public Support
o Relationship with Congress
o Relationship with the Press and Public

Chapter 13 (The Budget: The Politics of Taxing and Spending):

 Budget, debt v deficit, and expenditures v revenues
 16th Amendment and the graduated (progressive) income tax v
flat tax
 Social Security and Medicare
 Explain “Uncontrollable Expenditures”
o Entitlements
 CBO v OMB
o House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance
Committee
 Authorization Bill and Appropriations Bill
 Continuing Resolutions

Chapter 14 (Federal Bureaucracy):

 Describe Bureaucracy
o Myths v Realities of a Bureaucracy
 Civil Service
 Independent Regulatory Commissions
o Examples (FEC, FCC, SEC, Fed)
 Government Corporations
o Examples
 Independent Executive Agencies
o Examples
 Policy Implementation
o Problems?
  Administrative Discretion and Street Level Bureaucrats
 Privatization and Deregulation

Chapter 15 (The Federal Courts):

 Powers as granted by Article III
 “Standing to Sue” and class action lawsuits
 Amicus Curie briefs
 Original v Appellate jurisdiction
 Organization and Structure of the Judicial System
o District Courts
o Circuit Courts (Courts of Appeal)
o Supreme Court
 Senatorial Courtesy
 Demographics of Supreme Court
 Rule of Four, writ of certiorari, solicitor General
 Opinions
o Majority, Dissenting, Concurring
 Stare Decisis
o Precedent
 Judicial Review
o Marbury v Madison
 Judicial Implementation
o Problems that can occur
 Strict v Loose Constructionism
o Original Intent
 History and Transformation of the Courts
o Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist / Roberts Court
 Judicial Activism v Judicial Restraint