U.S. GOVERNMENT FINAL STUDY GUIDE
NAME:
Besides vocabulary and concepts, be aware of events and people associated with the readings.
YOUR EXAM WILL CONSIST OF QUESTIONS FROM CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3, 5, AND 6.
YOUR ONE-PAGER WILL ONLY RELATE TO CHAPTERS 5 AND 6.
Be familiar with the following terms and concepts:
1.1 Government and the State
-government
-public policies -legislative power
-judicial power
-constitution
-state
-sovereign
1.2 Forms of Government
-autocracy
-oligarchy
-division of powers -confederation
-executive power
-dictatorship
-democracy
-unitary government
-federal government
-presidential government
-parliamentary government
1.3 Basic Concepts of Democracy
-compromise
-free enterprise system -law of supply and demand
-mixed economy
2.1 Our Political Beginnings
-limited government
-representative government
-Petition of Right
-English Bill of Rights
-Proprietary
-bicameral
-Magna Carta
-charter
-unicameral
2.2 The Coming of Independence
-confederation
-Albany Plan of Union
-delegates
-boycott
-repeal
-popular sovereignty
-Articles of Confederation
-presiding officer
2.3 The Critical Period
-ratified
2.4 Creating the Constitution
-Framers
-Virginia Plan
-New Jersey Plan
-Connecticut Compromise -Three-Fifths Compromise
-Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise
2.5 Ratifying the Constitution
-Federalists
-Anti-Federalists
-quorum
3.1 The Six Basic Principles
Be able to: outline the important elements of the Constitution; list the six basic principles of the
Constitution
Define: Preamble
Articles
Constitutionalism
Rule of Law
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Veto
Judicial Review
Unconstitutional
Federalism
3.2 Formal Amendment
Be able to: Identify the four different ways by which the Constitution may be formally changed; Explain
how the formal amendment process illustrates the principles of federalism and popular sovereignty;
Outline the 27 Amendments that have been added to the Constitution
Define: Amendment
Formal amendment
Bill of Rights
3.3 Constitutional Change by Other Means
Be able to: Identify how basic legislation has changed the Constitution over time; Describe the ways in
which the Constitution has been altered by executive and judicial actions; Analyze the role of party
practices and custom in shaping the Constitution
Define: Executive agreement
Treaty
Cabinet
Electoral college
Senatorial courtesy
CH. 5 AND 6
Be familiar with the following terms and ideas:
5.1 Parties and What they Do:
Political party
Major parties
Partisanship
Party in power
Be able to: define what a political party is, and describe the major functions of political parties.
5.2 The Two-Party System:
Minor party
Two-party system
Single-member district
Plurality
Bipartisan
Pluralistic society
Consensus
Multiparty
Coalition
One-party system
Be able to: identify the reasons why the U.S. has a two-party system, understand multiparty and oneparty systems and how they affect the functioning of the government, and describe party membership
patterns in the U.S.
5.3 The Two-Party System in American History
Incumbent
Faction
Electorate
Sectionalism
Be able to: understand the origins of political parties in the U.S., and identify and describe the three
major periods of single-party domination and describe the current era of divided government.
5.4 Minor Parties:
Ideological parties
Single-issue parties
Economic protest parties
Splinter parties
Be able to: identify the types of minor parties that have been active in American politics, and
understand why minor parties are important despite the fact that none has ever won the presidency.
5.5 Party Organization
Ward
Precinct
Split-ticket Voting
Be able to: understand why the major parties have a decentralized structure, describe the national party
machinery and how parties are organized at the State and local levels, identify the three components of
the parties, and examine the future of the major parties.
6.1 The Right to Vote
Suffrage
Franchise
Electorate
Be able to: summarize the history of voting rights in the U.S., and identify and explain constitutional
restrictions on the States’ power to set voting qualifications.
6.2 Voter Qualifications
Transient
Registration
Purge
Poll Books
Literacy
Poll Tax
Be able to: identify the universal requirements for voting in the United States, and explain the other
requirements that states have used or still use as voting qualifications.
6.3 Suffrage and Civil Rights
Gerrymandering
Injunction
Preclearance
Be able to: describe the 15th Amendment and the tactics used to circumvent it in an effort to deny
African Americans the vote, explain the significance of the early civil rights legislation passed in 1957,
1960, and 1964, and analyze the provisions and effects of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
6.4 Voter Behavior
Off-year election
Political efficacy
Political socialization
Gender gap
Party identification
Straight-ticket voting
Split-ticket voting
Independent
Be able to: examine the problem of non-voting in this country, and describe the size of the problem,
identify the people who do not vote, examine the behavior of those that do vote and those that do not,
and understand the sociological and psychological factors that affect voting and how they work together
to influence voter behavior.