STUDY GUIDE # 1
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
POLITICAL SCIENCE 101
Dr. William Eric Davis
College of Southern Nevada
I. TOPICS:
1. The Distribution of Power/Authority. What theoretical justifications are there for democratic
government and/or non-democratic government? Why might constitutional democracy be
considered “superior” to other forms of democracy and non-democratic government?
What are the implications to society for non-democratic government, especially ones based
on some collectivist ideology? What are the beneficial by-products from constitutional
democracy?
2. Organization / Structure of American Government: Design & Intent. Why separate branches of
government? What purpose(s) does it serve? Why federalism? What was the Framers
view of the nature of humans? What motivated the designers of American government and
how does what they did (and how they did it) satisfy the concerns that they had? Has the
system worked out the way the framers intended?
3. Evolution of Federalism from 1789 to the present day. What value or values are served by a
centralized system of government and what value or values are served by a decentralized
system of government? Be able to give examples where appropriate.
4. The Theories of Political Culture discussed by the instructor [i.e., Grid-Group Analysis and
Post-Materialism]. How can they each explain political conflict over policy and policy
preferences? That is, according to Grid-Group Analysis, be able to discuss what each
politically active culture (Individualist, Egalitarian, Hierarchy) seeks to achieve (or avoid)
and how does it explain political alignments/competition over policy? According to
Ronald Inglehart’s “Post-Materialist Theory”, how does Maslow’s “Hierarchy-of-Needs”
theory work to explain the culture shift in the United States during the 20th Century?
5. The Supreme Court Approach to deciding conflicts among civil liberties (including privacy
rights). Be able to discuss the tests, standards, and burdens [e.g., balancing test, preferred
position, least restrictive means, that must be met by government to prevent its
laws/actions/ from being struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional violations
of various Bill-of-Rights protections.
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II. Approaches to the Study of Government
Historical Analysis
Institutional Analysis
Behavioral Analysis
Cultural Analysis
Functional Analysis
Formal Theory
• Rational Choice
• Spatial Theory
• Game Theory
Neo-Institutionalism
III. Politics/Government/Democracy/Constitution
Power
Authority
Politics (David Easton)
Devine Right of Kings
Consent of the Governed
The Magna Carta
Democracy (variously defined)
The Articles of Confederation
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke
Karl Marx
Thomas Jefferson
Simple Majority
Super Majority
The Crusades
IV. The Constitution
The Power Principle
U.S. Constitution
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Plan
Article 1, Sections 8 of U.S. Constitution
The “Necessary and Proper” Clause
Madisonian Dilemma
Judicial Review
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Bribe to States for Constitution Ratification
Amending the Constitution
Bill of Rights (1st 10 Amendments)
Habeas Corpus
Bills of Attainder
Ex Post Facto Laws
Corruption of Blood
Ban on Titles of Nobility
The Nevada Constitution
Western Civilization
V. Federalism
Federal System
Selective Incorporation (14th Amendment)
Unitary System
“Full Faith and Credit” Clause
Privileges & Immunities Clause
Confederal System
Dual Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
Marble Cake Federalism
Conjoint Federalism
“New” Federalism
The Great Depression
Enumerated Powers
Implied Powers
Nullification
The 10th Amendment
The Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th)
Extradition
Grants-inAid
Categorical Grants
Block Grants
General Revenue Sharing
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
17th Amendment
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VI. Political Culture
Culture
Political Culture
Alexis De Toqueville
Grid-Group Analysis
Egalitarian Culture
Individualist Culture
Hierarchical Culture
Fatalist Culture
• Criminal Justice Policy
• Death Penalty
• Abortion Rights
• Nationalized Health Care
• School Vouchers (Education)
• The Patriot Act
• Immigration Reform
The “Establishment”
The “Counter-Culture”
Post-Materialist Theory
Materialist Values
Post-Materialist Values
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Scarcity Hypothesis
Socialization Hypothesis
“The Moral Imperative”
The “Democratic Peace”
The “New Modernization Model”
Majority Equilibrium
Structure-Induced Equilibrium
Pareto Point
Peace & Prosperity in an Age of Incivility
VII. Civil Liberties
The “Three Critical Questions”
The Balancing Test
The Function of a Free Speech/ Free Press
Unprotected Speech
“Clear & Present Danger” Test
“Clear and Probable Danger Test
Imminent Lawless Action/Fighting Words
“Pentagon Papers Case” (US v. NYT)
Prior Restraint/Censorship
Obscenity
The “Miller Test”
Defamation of Character (libel/slander)
Least Restrictive Means Test
Doctrine of Preferred Position
Free Speech / Free Expression
The Establishment Clause (Religion)
The Free Exercise Clause (Religion)
Separation of Church and State
Theory of Evolution
Creation Theory
“Compelling State (or Government) Interest”
Schenck v. United States (1919) Æ
Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) Æ
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) Æ
Texas v. Johnson (1989) Æ
Engel v. Vitale (1962) Æ
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) Æ
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) Æ
Roe v. Wade (1973) Æ
Gonzales v. Carhart (2007) Æ
Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) Æ
Lawrence v. Texas (2003) Æ
Gonzales v. Oregon (2005) Æ
Clear & Present Danger Test
Clear & Probable Danger Test
Public Officials/Defamation/Malice/Recklessness
Flag Burning
School Prayer
The Lemon Test
9th Amendment Right to Privacy (Contraception)
Abortion
Partial Birth Abortion Ban
Sodomy is not constitutionally protected
Sodomy is constitutionally protected (privacy)
Bright Line Rule
The Zones of Privacy
Assisted Suicide (Constitutional or States’ Right?)
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