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AP GOPO Late Start Review SessionMay 5, 2015
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Top 21 Most Tested Concepts
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1. The Articles of Confederation
• Established a decentralized system of government with a weak central government that had limited powers over the states
• Created a unicameral Congress that lacked power to levy taxes or regulate interstate trade
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2. The Federalist Papers
• In Federalist No. 10, Madison argued that political factions are undesirable but inevitable
• Madison believed that the excesses pf factionalism could be limited by the system of republican government
• Refuted the widely held belief that a republican form of gov would work only in a small geographically compact territory. He argued that a large republic such as the United States would fragment political power and thus curb the threat prosed by bother majority and minority factions
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3. Federalism
• System of government in which power is divided by a written constitution between a central government and regional government– Different from unitary or confederate system
• Supremacy clause
• Elastic clause, Commerce clause, Civil Rights Act of 1964, categorical grants and federal mandates all increased power of federal government over state
• Decentralizes politics, provides interest groups with multiple points of access, and creates opportunities for experimentation and diversity of public policy
• Examples– Amendment process
– Majority rule vs. minority rights
– Original Constitution’s selection of Senators (prior to 17th Amendment)
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4. The Fourteenth Amendment & Selective Incorporation
• Fourteenth Amendment made African Americans citizens, voiding Dred Scott decision
• Due Process Clause forbids a state from acting in an unfair or arbitrary way
• Equal Protection Clause forbids a state from discriminating against or drawing unreasonable distinctions between persons
• Doctrine of selective incorporation uses Due Process Clause to extend most of the requirements of the Bill of Rights to the states
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5. The Role of State Legislatures
• In original Constitution, state legislatures chose U.S. senators. As result of 17th Amendment, senators are now elected by voters in each state
• State legislatures have the power to determine the boundary lines of congressional districts
• State legislatures can ratify constitutional amendments by a vote of three-fourths of the states
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6. Political Socialization
• Process by which political values are formed and passed from one generation to the next
• Family is the most important agent; parents usually pass their party identification to their children
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7. Voter Turnout
• Lower in U.S. than in most other Western democracies
• Majority of U.S. electorate does not vote in a nonpresidential election
• People with more education are more likely to vote than with less
• People with more income are more likely to vote than with less
• Older people are more likely to vote than younger people
• Women are more likely to vote than men (gender-gap)
• Party dealignment and split-ticket voting
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8. African American Voting Patterns
• African Americans have consistently supported Democratic presidential candidates since formation of New Deal coalition
• Tend to support more liberal candidates within Democratic party
• Studies reveal that , when the effects of income and education are eliminated, blacks have higher voting rates than do whites
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 significantly increase voter participation of minorities
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9. Divided Government
• Occurs when presidency and Congress are controlled by different parties
• Heightens partisanship and polarization, slows legislative process, contributes to decline in public trust in government
• President attempts to overcome problems by using media to generate public support, threatening vetoes, increasing executive orders/agreements, building coalitions with key interest groups
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10. Critical Elections
• Takes place when groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty
• Trigger a party realignment in which the minority party displaces the majority party, thus ushering a new party era
• The presidential elections of 1800, 1860, 1896, and 1932 were all critical elections that transformed U.S. politics
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11. Presidential Primaries/Caucuses
• Presidential primaries have weakened party control over the nomination process
• In a closed primary, voters are required to identify party preference before election and not allowed to split ticket
• Democratic Party now uses a proportional system that awards delegates based on the percentage of votes a candidate receives
• Primary voters tend to by party activists who are older and more affluent than the general electorate
• Frontloading is the recent pattern of states holding primaries in February and March to capitalize on media attention and maximize influence on nomination process
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12. The Electoral College
• President and VP are not elected directly by the people
• Winner-take-all system in which the candidate who wins a plurality of the vote, wins all of that state’s electoral votes
• Makes third party candidates unsuccessful (proportional representation system)
• Swing state vs safe states
• Candidates focus on most populous states
• Benefits the small states
• If no ticket sees majority of votes, House elects Pres, Senate elects VP
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13. The Mass Media
• Plays a key role in affecting which issues the public thinks are important. These issues usually reach the government’s policy agenda
• Horse-race journalism refers to the media’s tendency to focus on polls, personalities, and sound bites rather than on in-depth analysis of key issues
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14. The Incumbency Advantage
• Most important factor in determining in outcome of congressional elections
• House higher reelection rate than Senate
• Able to use various tactics that serve constituents and claim credit– Pork barrel
– Casework
– Media exposure
– Fund-raising abilities
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15. Campaign Finance Reform & Expansion
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16. Standing Committees & Seniority System
• Standing committees—permanent bodies that focus on legislation in a particular area—promotes specialized policy expertise– Divided into subcomittees, where details of legislation are defined
• All bills are referred to standing committees, where they can be amended, passed or killed
• Particularly important in House. Rules Committee plays a pivotal role.
• In the past, committee chair chosen with seniority system in which majority party members with longest service. Now elected, but still tend to be senior members
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17. The Veto Power
• Check on Congressional power (Congress can override w/ 2/3 vote)
• Pocket veto occurs when Congress adjourns within ten days of submitting bill. Pres can let bill die by neither signing nor vetoing
• Often threaten in order to persuade modification of bill
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18. The President & the Cabinet
• President appoints cabinet heads subject to Senate confirmation. However, pres can fire without Senate approval– Cabinet heads serve at pleasure of president
• Cabinet members often have divided loyalties. Loyalty to pres can be undermined by loyalty to institutional goals of their own department
• President often experience difficulty in controlling cabinet departments because they form iron triangles with interest groups and congressional committees
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19. Selection of Supreme Court Justices
• Appointed by president and confirmed by majority vote of Senate
• Process illustrates checks and balances
• Selected for impressive credentials, possess needed racial, ethnic and gender characteristics
• Selected based of philosophy of judicial restraint vs activism
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20. The Selection of SCOTUS Cases
• Most cases on the Supreme Court’s docket are derived from the High Court’s appellate jurisdiction
• Nearly all appellate cases now reach the Supreme Court by a writ of certiorari
• According to the Rule of Four, at least for of the nine justices must agree to hear a case
• SCOTUS refuses to hear most of the lower court appeals
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21. Compare and Contrast Presidential and Congressional Powers
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Top 10 Most Tested Legislative Acts
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1. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Enforced by 14th Amendment
• Ended Jim Crow segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants, and other places of public accommodation
• Prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or gender
• Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor and enforce protections against job discrimination
• Prohibited discrimination in employment on grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex
• Upheld by the Supreme Court on the grounds that segregation affected interstate commerce (Commerce Clause)
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2. The Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Outlawed literacy tests and other discriminatory practices that had been responsible for disenfranchising African American voters
• Provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas with a history of discriminatory voting practices
• Improved the voter registration disparity between whites and African Americans
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3. The Clean Air Act of 1970
• Increased the power of the federal government relative to the power of state governments
• Established national air quality standards
• Required states to administer the new standards and to appropriate funds for their implementation
• Included a provision allowing private citizens to bring lawsuits against individuals and corporations that violated the act
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4. The War Powers Resolution (1973)
• Enacted to give Congress a greater voice in presidential decision committing military forces to hostile situations overseas
• Requires that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops
• Requires the president to bring troops home from hostilities within 60 to 90 days unless Congress extends the time
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5. The Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
• Enacted to help Congress regain powers previously lost to the executive branch
• Created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to evaluate the president’s budget
• Established a budget process that includes setting overall levels of revenues and expenditures
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6. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974
• Created the Federal Election Commission
• Tightened reporting requirements for campaign contributions
• Provided full public financing for major party candidates in the general election
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7. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Increased the power of the federal government relative to the power of the states– Good example of an unfunded mandate
• Requires employers and public facilities to make “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities
• Prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment
• Extends the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to people with physical or mental disabilities
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8. Welfare Reform Act of 1996
• Increased the power of the states relative to the federal government
• Replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program with block grants to the states
• Illustrated the process of devolution by giving states greater discretion to determine how to implement the federal goal of transferring people from welfare to work
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9. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
• Required the states to set standards and measureable goals that can improve individual outcomes in education
• Requires the states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to al students in certain grades
• Represents a dramatic expansion of the federal role in education
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10. USA Patriot Act of 2001
• Expands the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism
• Authorized searches of a home or business without the owner’s or the occupant’s permission or knowledge
• Increases the ability of law enforcement agencies to search telephone, email communications, medical, financial or other records