AP GOVERNMENT
MID-TERM REVIEW
CHAPTERS 1-4 AND 7-16
Foundations
• Framers of Constitution took their ideas
from the following:
• 1- Locke; Hobbes; Rousseau; Montesquieu
• 4 Types of Gov’t: Monarchy; Totalitarianism;
Oligarchy; Democracy (Direct & Indirect)
• Political Ideology: Conservative; Liberal;
Libertarian
• Baby Boomers (46-64); Gen X (66-76); Gen Y
(1977-1994)
THE CONSTITUTION
• Designed to protect property rights and
provide control
• British desire to manage F&I war debt
leads America from being allies in 1763 to
enemy in 1776
• Articles of Confederation to weak so need
something else (Shay’s proves it)
• The Compromises of 1787 and the Articles
• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
• Marbury and Article III
FEDERALISM
• Dual Sovereigns (state and federal)
• Article IV: Full Faith & Credit; Privileges &
Immunities; Interstate Compacts
• Article VI: Supremacy Clause
• John Marshall and the big 3 Federalist cases
(Marbury; Gibbons; McCulloch)
• Civil War starts the push for stronger central
government
• New Deal completes the change (layer cake to
marble cake; cooperative federalism
• LBJ and the Great Society
• Reagan and the new federalism (block grants)
STATE GOVERNMENTS
• State Constitutions; Sovereignty; 11th
Amendment
• Gerrymandering
• Governor’s Powers
• Term Limits & Line item veto (states only)
• Initiatives; Referendums; Recalls
• Dillon’s rule
• Balanced Budget Rule
UNIT III – THE BRANCHES
• Congress: Article 1- Section 8
• Congress: Rules and Qualifications
• Committees: Standing (permanent); Joint
(both houses); Conference (bill
reconciliation); Select (temporary)
• Agency oversight and review
• Majority Party; Speaker; Rules committee
• Pork and Log Rolling / Trustee & Delegate
• Key Terms: CBO; GAO; Hold; Fillibuster;
Cloture
• War and War Powers Act
• Override Veto; Amendments
• Constitutional Express and Implied
Powers
• Exclusive Powers
– Senate: Treaty; Appointments; Judges
– House: Appropriations (budget)
• THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH – ARTICLE II
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– Requirements
– Powers and limitations
– Treaties vs. Executive Agreements
– OMB
– Agency heads and the power of appointment
– Global leader and coalition builder
Executive Privilege (“Nixon”)
Inherent Powers (“Lincoln”)
Power of the Media (“Bully Pulpit”)
Enemy Combatant (“Bush”)
• THE JUDICIARY: ARTICLE III
– Three tier system
– Supreme Court sets its own docket
– Jurisdiction can be limited by Congress
– Original vs. Appellate Jurisdiction
– Key Terms: Rule of 4; Certiorari; Precedent;
Stare Decisis; Amicus Curie; Solicitor
General;
– Majority Opinion ; Concurring Opinion
– Judicial Activism
– Judicial Restraint
• Justices of some fame:
– Marshall (Marbury; Gibbons;
McCoulloch)
– Justice Taney (Dred Scott)
– Justice O’Connor (1st woman)
– Justice Marshall (1st African-American)
– Justice Rehnquist ( limiting executive
privilege)
– Justice Warren (rights of accused and
Brown)
– Justice Roberts (present Chief Justice)
• BUREAUCRACY : (AKA THE 4TH
BRANCH)
– Spoils System and Civil Service
– ICC (end RR price fixing)
– Hatch Act
– 15 Cabinet Departments (plum books lists all)
– The Iron Triangle (aka issue networks)
– Congressional Oversight includes:
Investigation, Power of the purse,
Appointment, Enactment, and Abolishment
– Administrative Discretion and Adjudication
• POLLING:
– George Gallop
– Political Socialization (family, peers, schools)
• First predictor of how someone will vote is
party affiliation & Second is religion
• Key Terms:
• Random Sampling
• Quota Sampling
• Stratified Sampling
• Push Polls
• Tracking Polls
• Exit Polls
• Filter Questions
• POLTICAL PARTIES
– No actual membership required for parties just
registration
– Become popular with start of Jacksonian Age
– Primaries have weakened the party bosses
– Ticket splitting has become more popular
– Power NOW flows from national to local because
of the money factor
– War Chests
– Women traditionally favor Dems; Business men
traditionally favor Republicans
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Primaries: (Closed and Open)
Partisan voting / Crossover voting
Winner take all / Front loading
Electoral College
Party Realignment and Critical Elections
Incumbent Advantages: Mailings; well
known; constituent services; War chests
• Motor voter Registration Act
• Education and Wealth equal higher turnout
• CAMPAIGN PROCESS
– Free vs. Paid media
– McCain-Feingold (2002): Upheld 5-4 by
Supreme Court. Goal is not fairness but to
limit outside influences
– Political Action Committee (PAC): Officially
registered fund raising committee
– Buckley v. Valeo (1976) : Supreme Ct. says
no limit on $ candidate spends of his own
– Hard money vs. Soft money
– Express Ads vs. Issue Ads
– 527 political committees: Unregulated interest
groups focused on specific issue
• THE MEDIA
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Press Release: The document
Press Briefing: Between Press Secy and Press
Press Conference: The official and the press
Yellow Journalism & Muckraking
Impact of Watergate
Defamation (2 kinds: Slander and Libel)
Sullivan Case (actual malice)
Shield Laws
Prior Restraint
Equal time rule if selling time
Fairness Doctrine
Liberal Bias?
• INTEREST GROUPS
– Purpose is to gain access and input
– Lobbyist is a representative hired by an
interest group to push their particular agenda
– 3 Big economic interest groups are trade
associations (ABA); Labor (UAW); Farmers
– Largest today are Gun Lobby (nra) and
Abortion Groups
– Clayton Act (1914) allowed unions to organize
an industry and thus led to increased power
– Key input is on specialized knowledge and
technical expertise
– Growth of PACs and 527’s have changed
political campaigning forever.