U.S. GOVERNMENT
Final Exam Study Guide
Chapters 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20
Please review the following items as you prepare for the exam. Please refer to your textbook, notes,
handouts, and PowerPoints on VISION to help you study.
NOTE: PLEASE BRING #2 PENCILS ON EXAM DAY
Chapter 10: Congress-The National Legislature
Bicameralism
 Reasons for
Demographic make-up of Congress
 Ethnicity
 Gender
 Religion
 Occupation
Terms and sessions
 Length of a term
 Length of a session
 What is a special session?
House of Representatives
 Size
 Term
 How elected
 Who are their constituents?
 Formal qualifications
 Informal qualifications
Senate
 Size
 Term
 How elected originally
 How elected now
Congressional elections
 Dates held
 Off year election
 Single-member district
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At-large district
Apportionment
Reapportionment
Redistricting
Why it happens
When it happens
Gerrymandering
Why politicians gerrymander
Wesberry v Sanders
Baker v Carr
Incumbency advantage
 Franking privilege
 Credit claiming
 Advertising
 Name recognition
 Casework
Roles of Congress
 Legislators
 Represent constituents
 Committee members
 Help constituents with their issues
 Politicians
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17th amendment
Who are their constituents?
Formal qualifications
Informal qualifications
Theories of representation
 Trustee
 Delegate
 Partisan
 Politicos
Chapter 11: The Scope of Congressional Powers
Powers
 Expressed
 Implied
 Inherent
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Impeachment
12th amendment
Appointment power
Treaties
Strict constructivism vs. liberal constructivism
Chapter 12: Congress in Action
When does a new session of Congress begin
Leadership in Congress
House of Representatives
POSITION
Speaker of the House
House Majority Leader
house Minority Leader
House Majority Whip
House Minority Whip
Virginia 10th District Representative
Senate
POSITION
President of the Senate
President Pro Tempore
Senate Majority Leader
Senate Minority Leader
Senate Majority Whip
Senate Minority Whip
Congressional Caucuses
 What they do
 How they influence the legislative process
 How are they decreasing the influence of interest groups
Purposes of committees
 Legislative
 Oversight
 Investigatory
Committee structure:
Know what they do and give examples of each
 Standing
 Subcommittees
 Joint
 Select
 conference
Committee assignments
Committee chairmanship
Chapter 18: The National Judiciary
Types of jurisdiction
 original
 appellate
 exclusive
 concurrent
Appointment of judges
Term and pay of judges
The district courts
 federal judicial districts
 district court jurisdiction
a. criminal cases
civil cases
Chapter 19: Civil Liberties
 Civil liberties
 Are our liberties absolute? Freedom to… Freedom from…
1st Amendment freedoms
 Speech:
a. Slander
b. Libel
c. Seditious speech
d. Symbolic speech
e. Obscenity
f. Prior restraint
 Religion:
a. Establishment clause
b. Free exercise clause
c. Limits on free exercise
d. “Lemon test”
Seniority rule
House Rules Committee
Types of bills
The legislative process
 How many bills introduced each
session
 Appropriations bills
 How a bill becomes a law (the
ENTIRE process)
 Filibuster
 Cloture
 Riders
 Veto
 Pocket veto
 Overriding vetoes
 Quorum
Courts of appeals
 appellate court jurisdiction
The Supreme Court
 judicial review
 how cases get to the Supreme Court
a. writ of certiorari
 How the Court operates
a. Briefs
b. Oral arguments
c. Conferences
d. Precedents
e. Opinions (majority,
concurring, dissenting)
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e. Religion in schools
f. Aid to religious schools
Incorporation
a. Role of the 14th Amendment in the incorporation process
Chapter 20
 Due process clause of the 14th Amendment
b. Substantive
c. Procedural
 The 14th Amendment and the Bill of Rights
 Police power
 Privacy rights
 4th Amendment
a. Probable cause
b. Arrests
c. Automobiles
d. The exclusionary rule
 5th Amendment
a. national government cannot deprive citizens of life, liberty, property without due process of law
b. Double jeopardy
c. Self incrimination
 6th Amendment
a. Speedy and public trial
b. Impartial jury of your peers
c. Be informed of charges against you
d. Right to an attorney
e. Opportunity to confront witnesses against you in court
 Rights of the accused
a. Habeas corpus
b. Bills of attainder
c. Ex post facto laws
d. Grand jury
e. Double jeopardy
 8th Amendment
a. No excessive bail
b. Preventative detention
c. Cruel and unusual punishment
 14th Amendment
a. state government cannot deprive citizens of life, liberty, property without due process of law
b. all citizens have a right to equal protection under the law
Supreme Court Cases (see handout)
 Gitlow v New York
 Schenck v United States
 Tinker v Des Moines
 Lemon v Kurtzman
 Reynolds v United States
 Oregon v Smith
 Zelman v Simmons-Harris
 Map v Ohio
 Escobedo v Illinois
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Gideon v Wainwright
Miranda v Arizona
Kelo v City of New London
Gregg v Georgia
Atkins v VA
Roe v Wade
Lawrence v Garner
Plyler v Doe