APGAP Exam
Review Question Set #6
Due: 3:00 PM on Thursday, April 23
Directions: Using your notes from the fall semester, answer all
questions/prompts to the best of your ability. You may use phrases, bulletpoints, and shorthand answers for items 1-8.
For the practice free response questions, you must answer BOTH in sentence
form.
Unit 5(b): The Executive Branch
(1) The President does not have the mandate of power that a Prime Minister has.
Explain this in terms of the institutional confines of the presidency.
(2) Briefly describe the evolution of the presidency from its uncertain and
ambiguous beginnings to the present day (note: you do not need to describe
each of the six disparate evolutionary phases – summarize the shift in
presidential power by describing the factors that helped it to transform).
(3) Due to the Electoral College, the election of the President takes
approximately two months. Describe how that time frame elapses and
explain why the framers of the Constitution believed this was necessary to
the electoral process.
(4) It is widely believed that the Constitution contains an “elastic clause” for the
President, similar to the one that exists for Congress. How does Article II
justify this claim? Identify one way in which the President invokes this
elasticity.
(5) The President has to craft an agenda and a message that appeals to three
audiences. Describe each audience and the role they play in presidential
affairs.
(6) Explain the process of removing a president from office through the Articles
of Impeachment.
(7) Policymaking is not confined to one branch or office of government. Explain
the role of the executive branch in the iron triangle of policymaking.
(8) How do agents of the federal bureaucracy use discretionary authority to
execute federal policy?
Practice FRQ #1:
Congress and the President both have a role in making foreign policy. Despite
recent expansions in presidential power, there are still limits on presidential
decision-making in foreign policy.
(a) Identify two enumerated powers that Congress has in making foreign
policy.
(b) Identify two enumerated powers that the President has in making foreign
policy.
(c) Explain how each of the following can limit the President’s ability to
implement foreign policy.


Elections
Approval ratings
Practice FRQ #2:
Presidents consider many factors when nominating candidates to the federal
courts, and getting their nominees confirmed is often difficult.
(a) Using the chart above, identify one similarity and one difference between
President Obama’s and President (George W.) Bush’s judicial
appointments.
(b) Explain why party affiliation accounts for differences in presidential
appointments to the judiciary.
(c) Describe one way in which a President can increase the chances of having
judicial nominations to the federal courts confirmed.