Chapter 3 Test Study guide
AP U.S. Government and Politics
Mr. Baysdell
140 Questions + 5 Extra-credit questions/ 100 Minutes MAX
Yes, you can take this over two days—take advantage of it.
Absolutely anything in your notes or textbook is fair game. With that in mind, focus on the
following:
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Know all 27 amendments—this test will be extremely nit-picky!!! I will ask you to
distinguish between, say, the 16th and 17th amendments. So know them all, especially
the “Fabulous Fourteenth!”
Know all 7 articles of the Constitution.
Be able to define and explain the following terms:
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Amendment
Bill of Rights
Checks and Balances
Constitutionalism
Executive Agreement
Federalism
Formal Amendment
Informal Amendment
Judicial review
Limited government
Popular sovereignty
Rule of Law (Constitutionalism)
Separation of powers
Constitutionality
Cooperative Federalism
Marble Cake Federalism
Layer Cake Federalism
Block Grant
Grant-in-aid
Revenue Sharing
Delegated powers
Exclusive powers
Reserved powers
Inherent powers
Concurrent powers
Enabling Act
Extradition
Expatriation
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Know the advantages and disadvantages of federalism.
In the eyes of most Americans today, the power of the federal government, compared
with that of state governments, seems vastly superior.
If an act of Congress conflicts with a treaty, the most recent of the two has priority.
Know the exact procedure for impeaching a federal judge and a President.
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If the House and Senate pass similar bills, a conference committee irons out the details
and then ships the bill back to both houses. If it passes both again, then it finally goes
off to the President for his signature or veto.
All bills that raise money (tax bills) must originate in the House of Representatives.
That’s why the Bush tax cut had to start in the House.
If a President waits ten days after receiving a bill, and Congress is not in session, then
the bill is killed by a “pocket veto.”
One inherent power of the United States government is the right to punish those
convicted of hijacking.
Congress may tax IMPORTS, but the amount charged in one state cannot be different
from the amount charged in any other state on the same product.
Congress may set standards for a prospective state’s admission, but cannot interfere in
that state’s internal business once it becomes a state.
Congress may suspend the writ of habeas corpus in wartime, provided that the area in
which the writ is suspended is in imminent danger.
According to a strict interpretation of the Constitution, providing for education is a
state prerogative.
The Bill of Rights was a huge source of controversy for the proposed Constitution. It was
not added until 1791.
The phrase “We the people” refers to the fact that the Constitution is legitimate by virtue
of popular sovereignty
Be able to cite at least 8 different examples of checks and balances
The Constitution has endured for 200 + years because it has built-in provisions for
accommodating change. Although many scholars have called the Constitution a “living
document,” the language was not written to be intentionally vague.
Know the sources of informal amendments.
In most cases involving judicial review, courts have found the governmental actions in
question to be constitutional.
Know the procedures for a territory to become a state.
Know what the following clauses say:
Necessary and Proper Clause
Full Faith and Credit Clause
Extradition Clause
Interstate Compacts Clause
The national government may only legally exercise expressed, implied, and inherent
powers.
Any government official who is impeached AND CONVICTED BY THE SENATE must
resign his or her office immediately, and may even be subject to criminal prosecution
If the House of Representatives chooses to adjourn, it must obtain the consent of the
Senate, and vice-versa.
A member of Congress has protection from being sued for anything they say on the floor
of the House of Representatives.
Separation of powers means that the executive, legislative, and judicial branches all have
different tasks assigned to them
To be eligible to be Vice-President, you must also be 35.
Know all of the qualifications for national offices.
It is possible to win more popular votes than your opponent, but still lose the election for
President in the electoral college
Some Presidential electors can refuse to support the candidate to whom they have been
pledged, without any risk of going to jail. (30 states)
The War Powers Act allows the President to send troops anywhere in the world for 60
days, after which Congress may vote to recall the troops.
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If the United States Congress was out of session, and a country declared war on the
United States, we would be not be “stuck” and unable to do anything until Congress had
finished its vacation.
Congress may change the number of justices on the United States Supreme Court by
statutory law.
You may not sue a state without its consent, because of the 11 th amendment.
Treason is defined in the Constitution because the founding fathers worried that the
political party in power could become extremely aggressive in enforcing the law and to
put as many people in jail from the other side as possible.
Any Michigan resident may legally drive through the state of Ohio, as long as they have a
Michigan driver’s license, because of the full faith and credit clause.
If you commit a crime in Michigan, and then run away to Florida, and Governor Jeb Bush
refuses to send you back to Michigan, Michigan may demand a court to send you back to
be tried.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan could someday separate from the lower peninsula of
Michigan, but the State of Michigan must grant it permission.
AFDC is now block-granted and called TANF.
Know the difference between a copyright and a patent.
Most amendments to the Constitution were ratified by State legislatures. Only the 21 st
was ratified by state conventions.
Proposing an amendment requires a 2/3 vote by either both houses of Congress or a 2/3
vote by a national convention called by state legislatures. The latter has never been
done.
The Senate must approve all Presidential Cabinet appointments and all formal treaties
made by the President.
The line-item veto is a power possessed by most state governors
The line-item veto allows executives to eliminate “pork-barrel” legislation from a bill.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 contains the “Necessary and Proper Clause.”
The ladder of laws, from top to bottom, should read: US Constitution, US Congress laws
and treaties, State Constitutions, State laws, and finally, local laws.
9 of 13 states were needed to ratify the Constitution, but the union would have been
very unstable without New York or Virginia.
The Ninth Amendment reassured some of the Anti-Federalists, who were concerned that
a Bill of Rights was dangerous because it might omit some rights.
The 2nd Amendment, which guarantees citizens that soldiers will never be quartered in
private homes, is the not the only amendment that has not been nationalized by court
decisions. #7 has never been nationalized either.
It is currently legal to burn the United States flag on your own property.
The Equal Rights Amendment, although not ratified, was written into some state
constitutions and has limited the ability of legislatures in those states to pass laws
defending traditional marriage.
The right to privacy is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution; you have to “read
into” the document, and consider the 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th, and 14th amendments to establish
it. Abortion’s legality hinges on this very questionable “right.”
Liberals usually don’t favor block grants—they want grants to have strings that make
sure they are spent for liberal causes.
The fourth amendment requires police officers to show probable cause before they can
obtain a search warrant.
If the government requires your property for public use, you must surrender it, although
they will compensate you for doing so. This is called eminent domain.
If a police officer asks you a question while investigating a crime, you don’t have to
answer it. You can always suspend questioning until a lawyer is present and refuse to
answer any question.
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In some cases, a trial can be moved to a different city if the defendant will not be able to
get a fair trial in the place the crime was committed. This is called a “change of venue”
and this happened to the Menendez Brothers.
If there is a tie in the electoral college, the house of representatives chooses the
President, voting by states.
The 13th Amendment banned ALL slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States
except as punishment for crime
The 15th Amendment gave all men 21 and over the right to vote, except for felons and
the mentally disabled
The 19th Amendment gave all women the right to vote if they are over the age of 21.
You may acquire US citizenship by being born here (unless your parents are foreign
diplomats) or if one of your parents is a US citizen.
State legislatures that are conservative tend to frustrate liberal U.S. Senators.
Senators are no longer elected by State legislatures
The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th
The 20th Amendment played a role in the Presidential Election of 2000 because if the
inauguration date had been March 4 instead of January 20th, there might have been time
for additional counting of ballots.
Ten years is the maximum amount of time a person may serve as President. So if you’re
veep, hope that your President dies 2 years and one day into his term, so you can serve
that term plus two more.
The District of Columbia gets 3 electors for President, but it doesn’t get a VOTING
representative in Congress.
No state may charge people to vote in state elections because of the 23RD Amendment.
THE 23RD AND THE 24TH ARE EXTREMELY EASY TO CONFUSE—DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN
TO YOU! 23RD CAME FIRST AND GAVE DC THREE ELCTORAL VOTES. 24TH GOT RID OF
THE POLL TAX.
If the Vice-President becomes President, that person may select a new Vice-President,
who must be confirmed by BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS. This is the only time the
House participates in a confirmation vote.
All eighteen year old males must register for the draft.
Know all the court cases we discussed: Marbury, McCulloch, Gibbons, Lopez, etc.
In McCulloch, Chief Justice Marshall held that the Bank of the United States could not be
taxed, because “the power to tax” implies “the power to destroy.”
In Marbury, the Supreme Court stated that states have the right to nullify federal law
Marbury v. Madison was NOT the first time the United States Supreme Court ever directly
addressed the question of whether a law was constitutional.
Know what court case was the first time judicial review was used!!!! HAHA—good luck! I
mentioned it in my lecture if you were listening very, very well!
Section 25 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional because it gave the Supreme
court original jurisdiction.
Substantive due process requires that all laws must be fair or they can be ruled
unconstitutional.
Federal systems: US, Canada, Germany, India
Unitary: Britain, France, Russia, China, Sweden, Italy
The federal government seeks to regulate activities that the states have primary
responsibility for, like interstate highways and unemployment benefits.
In the U.S., there are more small political constituencies than in Europe
Federalism mobilizes political activity by lowering the costs of organizing at the local
level.
The framers thought Federalism would protect liberty because the federal government
would be less of a threat to liberty.
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The CSA was not a true confederacy because the CSA had much more power over the
individual states.
Federalism has been tried successfully in several other places.
State powers were not listed in the Constitution because they were assumed to be
obvious.
There was no consensus on what “Commerce” meant, so it was not delineated in the
original Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton was a consistent supporter of a strong federal government. John
Marshall was one of the first to enlarge the power of the national government.
The doctrine of nullification was laid out in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and
supported by John C. Calhoun. It stated that if states feel a federal law is
unconstitutional, the states have the right to declare laws null and void.
Nowadays, Congress can regulate almost any kind of commerce because Dual Federalism
is dead.
The grant-in-aid system grew rapidly because it helped state and local officials get
federal money into state hands without violating the Constitution.
The first grants-in-aid were land grants to the states (usually for public education)
In 1980, an average of about 25% of state and local expenditures came from the federal
government.
Between 1960 and 1992, grants for transportation decreased the most.
Be able to cite examples of intergovernmental lobbies (Association of Chiefs of Police,
etc.)
Know grants-in-aid inside out!!
Know about the Law Enforcement Assistance Act and the Comprehensive Employment
and Training Act. They helped cities, but not necessarily poverty-stricken areas.
To increase the political survivability of a block grant, you should concentrate it in a few
areas that each get a big share of funding. That way, you build a dependent
constituency.
State and local government lobbying in Washington is not only legal, but substantial.
In 1997, Congress passed a law to ban unfounded mandates.
Know about the
--Voting rights Amendments
--Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act
--Child Abuse Amendments
--Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
Know what a quid pro quo order and pro bono requirements are.
Be able to explain a “condition of aid.”
Mandates are most susceptible in court.
Reagan knew that states are more conservative than the federal government, so he
removed restrictions on many block grants. He had to get rid of revenue sharing in
1986, however, due to a lack of funds, increased defense spending, his two tax cuts, and
let’s face it—there is no constituency for funds without strings.
Reagan’s block grants and budget cuts created higher service levels and increased
efficiency.
In 1995, the Federal government’s contribution to Medicaid was roughly 40% of all the
federal grants to state and local governments.
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The first state to permit women to vote was ____________________________
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The first territory to allow women to vote was ___________________________
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The only two states that do not award Presidential electors on a “winner take all”
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basis are __________________ and _____________________
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What were the last 4 states admitted to the Union?
47th—
48th—
49th—
50th—
Why was 48 just behind 47????????
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Completely describe the case Coyle v. Smith.
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Why was Luther v. Borden important?
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Where would you find this quote, and who was the author? “The accumulation of all
powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether one, a few, or
many,… may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”