Review of topics
Constitution
Concurrent/denied/reserved powers/implied powers
Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation; Achievements of A of C government;
Shays’s Rebellion
John Locke, natural rights, consent of the government; Declaration of Independence
Constitutional Convention
o Virginia, NJ, Plans, Great Compromise
o Elements of Constitution that addressed weaknesses of A of C; addressing
problems of decentralization
o Separation of power – powers divided among 3 separate and coequal branches
o Checks and balances – among 3 branches of govt – know all the checks
o Limited government – listing powers of fed govt, reserving powers to the
states
o Compromises on slavery: 3/5 Clause, Fugitive Slavery Law, ending
international slave trade in 1808
o Compromises on presidency: length of term, number of terms, Electoral
College
o Fear of tyranny of majority
Judicial review – Marbury v. Madison
Clauses: Supremacy, Full Faith and Credit
Privileges and Immunities
Examples of Recent rulings on federalism
Rights that are in the body of the Constitution: writ of habeas corpus, no bill of
attainder, no ex post facto laws, trial by jury in fed courts, protection as citizens move
from one state to another, not nobility, limits on punishment of treason, no religious
oaths for fed office, guarantee Repub govt for all states
Bill of Rights and rest of Amendments
Ways of amending the Constitution formally and informally
What in the Constitution limits the power of government
Fight for ratification; Federalists v. Antifederalists, Federalist Papers, Federalist #10
and 51
Federalism
Unitary, Confederal, federal system
Advantages and disadvantages of federalism
Powers enumerated for fed govt/reserved to state govt, concurrent
Constitutional basis of federalism: Supremacy Clause, 10th Amendment, Elastic
Clause, Full Faith and Credit Clause, Extradition, Privileges and immunities clause,
Commerce clause
McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden
Dual Fed
Cooperative Fed
Creative Fed
Fiscal Fed – using mandates and other requirements to get the states to do what the fed
government wants
New Federalism
How the Supreme Ct has interpreted federalism in past 20 years
Vertical fed – relationships b/t states and central govt; Horizontal govt – states having
relations with each other
Limitations on states
Interstate obligations and rights – Article IV: Full faith and credit, privileges and
immunities, extradition interstate compacts
Federalism in Politics: Senators rep states, House members, Court system, Senatorial
courtesy, in politics: primaries, parties organized along quasi-federal lines
Grants
o Formula grants, e.g. Medicaid and AFDC
o Categorical grants – earmarked for specific purposes, 90% of all fed grants
o Block grants – general use in broad area
o General revenue sharing – discontinued in 1986
Regulatory Federalism – address national goals like environmental laws, Civil rights
Mandates, unfunded mandates: Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, impact of federal
mandates
Motor Voter, Welfare Reform, Americans with Disabilities Act, federalism in current
policy debates: medical marijuana, illegal immigration, health care reform
How federalism can help and present obstacles to racial minorities
How powers of federal govt have increased relative to the power of the states: which
provisions of the Constitution have been used: power to tax and spend, Elastic clause,
Commerce clause
Political Opinion and Participation
Who votes – variables
Conservative vs. liberal ideologies
Frontloading
Reapportionment vs. redistricting – political impact of reapportionment
Political socialization
Participation: conventional/unconventional
Who turns out to vote: demographic variables affecting who turns out to vote
Motor Voter Act and its effects
Political efficacy, civic duty
How people vote: what they evaluate candidates on
Why more vote in presidential elections than in off-year elections
Institutional obstacles to voting
Retrospective and prospective voting
Reapportionment
Sources of political information
Factors that influence people’s political beliefs
What in the Constitution that favors popular vote and what comes in between the vote
of the people and the government?
Types of polls and problems with polling
Factors that cause cleavages in public opinion
Conventional and unconventional types of political participation
Gender gap
Sectional differences: Sun Belt, Rust Belt, Snow Belt
Reasons for decline in trust and confidence in government, consequences of that
decline
Political Parties
Purposes of parties/ What do they do? Be aware of the role of the parties in politics
and their role in government
Party as linkage institution: tasks they do
Factors that contribute to the continuation of the two-party electoral system
Trends in party identification: demographic groups that lean to one party or the other,
geographic areas, rural/urban, ideological
Coalitions for each party
Trend towards ticket-splitting and increase in independents
Organization of the parties: Decentralized party structure: local, state, and national
party organizations
o National committee, national chairman, national convention, congressional
campaign committees
Party machines
Reforms that weakened parties: civil service reform, ballot reform, primaries,
campaign finance reform
The roles of party in government
Party eras in American history
Party dealignment and realignment
Split-level parties – have strong vigorous organizations, but weak followings on the
mass level
Changes that have led to a weakening of political parties
Consequences of having weakened parties
Restructuring of the Democratic Party in 1968 and McGovern-Fraser Commission,
superdelegates
3rd or Minor Parties
o Types of 3rd parties
o Why 3rd parties have trouble breaking through
o What roles 3rd parties play in our system
o Consequences of two-party system
Winner-take-all system vs. proportional representation
Candidates distancing themselves from party – candidate-centered elections
How political parties can help and present obstacles to racial minorities
Elections
Amendments that deal with voting
1974 Federal Election Campaign Act – impact
o FEC – what it does
o Buckley v. Valeo
o Public funding of presidential campaigns
Soft vs. hard money
Raising money; invisible primary
2002 Bipartisan Finance Reform Act
o McConnell v. FEC
o Citizens United v. FEC
Effects of each reform
Growth of independent groups – PACS, 527s
How campaigns have changed in the past 50 years, effects of primaries (since 60s)
Focus on candidate-centered campaigns: role of media
Types of elections: primary and general
Types of primaries: closed, open, blanket
o Effect of front-loading of primaries
o Crossover voting
o Iowa caucuses and NH primary
o Super Tuesday
o Smith v. Allwright
Role of the media in elections; role of “new” media/internet
GOP: winner-take-all primaries. Democrats: proportional rep in primaries, plurality
elections – results of those differences, e.g. 2008 election
Coattail effect – declining
Critical election – changing party loyalties, e.g. 1932, 1968
Differences in presidential and congressional elections
Who votes in primaries vs. general election?
What has been the effect of having primaries and caucuses determine the nominee vs.
a convention?
What are the effects of frontloading in the nomination process?
Open convention vs. closed convention: how conventions have changed – the role of
conventions today
Party platforms
What goes into running a campaign?
Impact of campaign on voters: what determines how people vote?
Effect of advertising?
Propositions: initiative and referendum
Advantages that incumbents have
o Why House incumbents have higher reelection rates than Senate incumbents
o Trends towards higher reelection rates for incumbents
Electoral laws, How the electoral system can help and present obstacles to racial
minorities
How have election reforms weakened the political parties?
Media
How presidents can use the media
Role of media in election campaigns, impact on campaigns
Roles of media
Changes in role of media, evolution of mass media, results of internet and new media
Laws affecting the media
o Equal access rule
o Equal time rule
o Right-of-rebuttal rule
o Fairness Doctrine – ended in 1985 – effect
o Role of FCC
How candidates use the media
Focus on candidate over issues
Effects of the new media, internet, cable, bogs, youtube, Myspace, emails, Twitter,
Facebook
Media as linkage institution
Setting the agenda
Sound bytes
Bias in the media
Rules in reporting: off/on the record, on background, deep background
Trial balloons and leaks
Supreme Court cases affecting the media: prior restraint: US v. NY Times (Pentagon
Papers)
Horserace journalism, scorekeeper, gatekeeper, watch dog function
Interest Groups
Types of IGs
How they can influence policy-makers: which methods various groups prefer to use
Theories of roles of IGs: pluralist, elite, hyperpluralist
Roles of IGs in elections
Which policymaking institutions do IGs target
Role of lobbyists
Effect of campaign finance reform on IGs: 1974 and 2002
Use of litigation: briefs and class action lawsuits
IGs as linkage institutions
Iron Triangles/issue networks - subgovernments
What makes an IG successful
Differences from parties
Why people join IGs - incentives
Where IGs get their money
The revolving door
Grassroots lobbying, Astroturf lobbying
Congress
Demographics in general of those in Congress
Elements of the Constitution that relate to Congress and its powers – Article I:
delegated powers, qualifications for serving in House and Senate
Reasons for a bicameral legislature
Differences b/t House and Senate
Powers of the Senate and House
Advise and Consent by the Senate
Non-legislative tasks of Congress: oversight, education, representing constituents
within government
o Delegate vs. trustee model
Filibuster, cloture, Rule 22
Types of Committees in Cong: standing, joint, select, conference
o Standing – only ones to write legislation and conduct oversight
How GOP changed House rules
Job of Speaker. Majority/Minority Leader/ Pro-tem, what do Whips do? How can
party leadership affect legislative process
House Ways and Means/Senate Finance > taxes
Appropriations > how money is apportioned to federal agencies
Non-legislative tasks of Congress
Legislative veto – line item veto: what do these terms mean and what has the Supreme
Court said about them?
How a bill becomes a law and where a bill can be killed
Resolutions: simple and concurrent
Important Committees: House Rules – what can it do, House Ways and Means, Senate
Finance, Appropriations Committee
Mark up
Franking privilege
Advantages of incumbents: credit claiming, constituent service
What affects how congressmen vote? Pressures on them to vote
o Presidential jawboning
o Logrolling
o PACS, IGs
o Constituents
o Ideology, religious beliefs
o Party Affiliation – most important factor
Role of lobbyists and IGs
Advantages and disadvantages of committee system, role of subcommittees
Legislative veto
Pork barrel legislation, earmarks
Effect of 1982 Voting Rights Act to encourage states to create majority minority
districts
o Impact of having maj-min districts
o What has the Supreme Court said about race as a factor? Principles in
districting, Shaw v. Reno
Reapportionment and redistricting – what is the difference?
o Census, apportionment, malapportionment, redistricting, gerrymandering,
racial gerrymandering
Baker v. Carr and Wesberry v. Sanders
Who becomes chair of committees, how committee assignments are determined;
majority party has majority on committees
Seniority system
Congressional caucuses: party and other caucuses
Term limits debate: arguments on each side
Changes made after 1994 election by Gingrich Republicans in House
Role of the parties in Congress
Oversight function of executive branch, bureaucracy
Specialization in Congress
How Congress reasserted its powers after Nixon – what made 1974 an earthquake in
the power system
War Powers Act
Budget and Impoundment Control Act
How impeachment works
Presidency
Formal powers of President – Know Article II
o Veto, pocket veto
o SOTU
o Nominations
o Grant pardons
o Commander in Chief
o Treaties
o Diplomatic representative for the US
o Oversee depts. And agencies
Informal powers of president
o Executive privilege
o Executive orders
o Executive agreements
o Bully pulpit
How the Constitution forces the president and Congress to work together and why
conflicts are natural – different constituencies
How they can pursue their own policy agendas
o Act as chief legislator
§ B/c of a veto can have a good deal of influence over shaping of a bill
o Rely on party support
§ Shared priorities with those of same party
§ If popular pres – reflects well on those who support him
§ Must rely on members of Congress to introduce legislation
§ Tools of Pres as Party leader
· Bargaining
· Appeals to party members
· Assistance in fund-raising
· Help in electioneering
· Dispensing of perks
o Public Support
§ If a president is popular – gives him more power in talking to reps
§ If weak – hard to garner support
§ More likely to get things passed early in his term
o Legislative skills
§ Presidents can bargain with reps to offer support on legislation or
joint public appearances
§ Offer more during honeymoon period
§ Try to focus attention of Congress on their agenda
§ Advantages over Congress in making foreign policy
o Executive Orders
Diplomatic powers of President
o Formal recognition of other govts or terminating it
o Negotiating treaties
o Executive agreements are administrative in nature
o Using US influence to arbitrate conflicts b/t other nations
Mil powers
o Authorize mil actions
o Send troops to specific areas of conflict
o War Powers Act
§ Must inform Congress within 48 hours
§ Troop commitment is for 60 days unless Cong agrees to a longer
deployment
§ Congress may end commitment at any time through a concurrent
resolution
Power from the People: Public Presidency – voter’s approval determined
o Whether voter identifies with the political party of pres
o How pres responds to eco shifts or current issues
o How effective a public speaker the pres is
o Whether he appeals to the public directly
o How media interpret the actions of the pres
o Tools Pres uses to garner support
Sources of informal powers of presidents
o From precedents by past president (GW using Cabinet for advie)
o From actions of Congress giving president power – Gulf of Tonkin
o Bully pulpit
Limits on pres power
o System of checks and balances
§ Appointments
§ Override veto
o Acts of Congress to limit what pres does
o Decisions of federal cts affecting programs and policies
o Ineffectiveness of bureaucracy
o Realities of global politics
o Public opinion
White House Staff
o Top-level aides such as chief of staff, national security asst, counsel of the
pres, press sect
o Several hundred people in support services like travel office
o How presidents organize staff
Executive Office of pres
o Must be confirmed by the Senate
o OMB, CIA, National Eco Council, Office of Personnel Mgt, and Office of the
US Trade Executive, Drug Control policy
o OMB – develop budget, review legis and regul proposals from depts. And
oversees how depts. Spend their money
o NSC – pres, VP, sect of st, def, chairman of JCS, CIA, NS advisor
o Indep regulatory agencies, govt corporations, and indep exec agencies
How a pocket veto works
More leeway in foreign policy and military affairs than domestic
Line item veto – Clinton v. NYC
Executive Privilege – US v. Nixon
o Also disallowed as shield against civil suits of the pres
o Ordered executive branch personnel to appear before grand juries – not
covered by immunity
Impoundment
VP
o Only 2 formal duties – vote to break a tie and to help decide pres disability
o 12th Amendment
o Only jobs are what pres gives
o Criteria for choosing a VP
Approval rating – rallying effect in foreign crises, loss of Congressional seats by
Pres’s party in midterm elections
Chief of staff runs day-to-day ops
Photo ops, sound bites, press conference
Pol patronage
Effects of divided government
What affects presidential approval ratings?
Imperial Presidency
How the Electoral College works: advantages and disadvantages?
Bureaucracy
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No guidance in Constitution on bureaucracy
How Administrators (officials and agencies of executive branch) can influence policy:
delaying implementation of policy, writing rules and regs, enforcing such rules, regs,
and laws, adjudicating conflicting interests
Cabinet – criteria for pres choosing cabinet members
Independent Agency – operate outside the executive departments, but are part of the
executive branch
o Independent executive agencies
o Independent regulatory agencies or commissions
o Government corporations
History of growth of federal bureaucracy
How are members of bur. recruited – Office of Personnel Mgt, competitive service
(2/3) of official
Pendleton Act 1883
Spoils system/Patronage
Hatch Act 1939, 1993
Iron Triangles/Issue Networks/sub governments
How people tend to go to the type of agency whose views they share
Ways to sabotage political bosses
Congressional Checks: authorization legislation for funding, rewriting legis
Constraints on Bureaucracy by Congress: FOIA, Environmental, Privacy Act, Open
meeting, Civil Rights
Congressional Oversight
Bureaucratic pathologies
Presidential ways to influence policy preferences: appointment, executive orders to
agencies, OMB, budget,
Attempts to reform bureaucracy
Revolving Door
Policy-making functions of federal agencies: regulations, enforcement, interpreting
vague laws (e.g. Title IX)
Judiciary
Original jurisdiction: 1 part a state, 2 states, ambassador
Appellate jurisdiction
Plea bargain
Senatorial courtesy/Blue slip – political elements of judicial nominations
Debates over judicial ideology: judicial activism/loose construction/moral reading of
the Constitution vs. Judicial restraint/originalism
Outline history of Supreme Court: John Marshall, Warren Court, changes today
Other courts with a path to the SC – when federal courts have jurisdiction
Rule of four
Writ of certiorari
Reasons for hearing a case – how the SC selects caseload
Solicitor General
How Congress can try to influence Court: budget, salaries, remove appellate
jurisdiction, control number of justices on Court, approval of nominations, revise
statue, amendment
Structural remedies
Litigant, plaintiff, defendant
Types of laws: Constitutional, statutory, administrative, common laws
Standing
Class action suits
Dual court system – what does that mean?
Criteria president uses in selecting nominations: party affiliation, acceptability to
Senate, Judicial experience, race and sex, litmus test
The politics surrounding judicial nominations
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The role of an Amicus curiae brief
Opinions: majority, dissenting, concurring
How Courts set public policy: remedies (e.g. running schools or prisons, or ordering
increased funding for schools)
Reasons for a policy role for courts: level the playing field, protect against tyranny of
the majority
Reasons against a policy role for the courts: not elected, if swayed by political or
social considerations – not standard, just inserting their own opinions
How courts depend on the other two branches
Civil Rights and Liberties
Incorporation, selective incorporation, Fundamental Rights principles, Liberty Clause of
Due Process Clause of 14th Amendment
How rights of Bill of Rts have been incorporated
Substantive and procedural due process
How rights have evolved based on judicial interpretations
Freedom of religion
Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses
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Lemon v. Kurtzman
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Prayer in School
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How SC has interpreted government’s role and religion and how has it changed
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over the years
What limitations has the Court allowed in the free exercise of religion?
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Freedom of Expression
What is speech? When can it be limited?
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Schenck v. US
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Gitlow v. New York
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Symbolic speech and flag burning
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Student rights of free speech in school
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Freedom of the Press
Limits on freedom
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FCC
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Prior restraint
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Freedom of Assembly – right to protest, picket, demonstrate. Also freedom of association
Defendants’ Rights
4th Amendment: search and seizure, warrant, exclusionary rule, Mapp v. Ohio
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Protection from self-incrimination, 5th Amendment, Miranda
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Right to Counsel – 6th Amendment, Gideon, plea bargaining, right to trial
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Cruel and unusual punishment prohibited – 8th Amendment, Capital punishment
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doesn’t violate 8th Amendment
Right to privacy – implied in first 10 Amendments
Abortion rights based on right to privacy
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Griswold v. Connecticut
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Civil Rights.
14th Amendment guaranteed “equal protection of the laws”
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Dred Scott – upheld constitutionality of slavery, said blacks weren’t citizens, and
Congress couldn’t regulate slavery in the territories
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
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Plessy v. Ferguson – separate but equal
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Brown v. Board 1954 – overturned Plessy – said segregation was inherently
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unequal
Civil Rights Act of 1964: outlaw racial discrimination in public places,
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employment, establish EEOC, prohibited discrimination based on gender
Federal response to discrimination against women, blacks, age, disability, sexual
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orientation
Classifications or tests or standards for seeing whether a law or govt action meets
◦
a standard of reasonableness
Rational basis
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Heightened or medium scrutiny – applied to quasi-suspect classifications –
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based on gender
Strict scrutiny – highest standard, deals with suspect classification (based
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on race and national origin) or fundamental rights (guaranteed under the
Constitution). Need to have a compelling state interest to have these laws
upheld
Differences b/t de jure and de facto segregation
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Equality of opportunity vs. equality of result
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Measures to ameliorate discrimination
Affirmative Action
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Bakke – ban strict quotas, reverse discrimination
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Michigan cases
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busing to achieve racial balance
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Redistricting to achieve racial balance
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Right to vote
15th Amendment
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Ways that southern states circumvented law with literacy tests, poll taxes,
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grandfather clause
24th Amendment
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1965 Voting Rights Act
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Women’s rights
Originally excluded from rights of equality implied in Constitution
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19th A
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Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress in 1972 but never ratified by ¾
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legislatures
Reed v. Reed
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Comparable worth
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Abortion rights
How Roe v. Wade was based on the right to privacy
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The limitations that the Court has and has not allowed in the right to an abortion
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The political impact of abortion in electoral politics and the politics of judicial
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nominations
Americans with Disabilities Act
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Gay Rights
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Review of Policy Topics
Mandatory, discretionary spending, entitlements
Reasons why it’s difficult to enact new policy: divided govt, weak party discipline,
growth in IGs and PACs, budgetary barriers
1974 Budget Reform Act
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act and changes in 1990
Types of taxes: income (largest source of revenue), social insurance taxes, progressive,
regressive
Other sources of revenues
How the Budget Process works
Types of welfare programs
Tools of Federal Reserve: buying/selling gvt securities on the open market, discount rate,
reserve rate
Supply-side economics
Entitlement programs, means-testing
COLAs: cost of living adjustments for entitlement programs
How Social Security works – problems, why it’s difficult to reform
Why some policies persist: public support, Igs, senior citizens, bureaucracy support
Health care
Actors in foreign policy: other organizations: UN, NATO, NGOs,
Role of President in foreign policy – his powers, Apparatus in government,
Role of Congress: treaties, dec of war, funds
Fiscal policy – impact of taxing, spending, borrowing policies on nation’s economy
What fed govt can do to affect policy: min wage, regulation, environmental and consumer
regs, aids to commerce, promote trade – trade barriers, taxes
Environmental laws, EPA, role of govt in environment
Igs involved in policies: environmentalists, prop owners, corporations, workers in
industries, foreign nations
How welfare works
Role of Interest groups
List of Important Laws, etc. that You SHOULD Know by Now
Northwest Ordinance
Whistle Blower Protection Act (1989)
Virginia Plan
Freedom of Information Act (1966)
New Jersey Plan
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Great Compromise
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Necessary and Proper Clause
Higher Education Act of 1972 (Title IX)
Supremacy Clause
Voting Rights Act of 1982
Commerce Clause
North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA)
Fugitive Slave Clause
Social Security Act (1935)
Emergency Highway Energy
Conservation Act (1974)
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings (1985)
Americans with Disabilities Act Medicare and Medicaid
(1990)
Motor Voter Registration Act
(1993)
Welfare Reform law (1996)
Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act (1995)
National Security Act (1947)
Pendleton Act (1883)
Goldwater-Nichols Act (1986)
Federal Election Campaign Act
(1974)
Clean Air Act (1963)
Senate Rule 22
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
(1970)
Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Act (1974)
Water Quality Improvement Act (1970)
War Powers Act (1973)
Endangered Species Act (1973)
Presidential Succession Act of
1947
Clean Air Act (1970)
Supreme Court Cases – AP Government
Federalism
*Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
*McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
*Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel (1937)
Wickard v. Filburn (1942)
*Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US (1964)
Katzenbach v. McClung (1964)
South Dakota v. Dole (1987)
*United States v. Lopez (1995)
Printz v. United States (1997)
United States v. Morrison (2000)
Elections and the Media
Smith v. Allwright (1944)
*Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
Bush v. Gore (2000)
McConnell v. FEC (2003)
Citizens United v. FEC
(2010)
Congress
*Baker v. Carr (1962)
Wesberry v. Sanders 1964
Shaw v. Reno (1993)
US Term Limits, Inc. v.
Thornton (1995)
The Presidency
*Clinton v. New York City
(1998)
*United States v. Nixon
(1973)
Immigration and
Naturalization Service v.
Chadha (1983)
The Judiciary
*Marbury v. Madison
(1803)
*Dred Scott v. Sanford
(1857)
Incorporation
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
*Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Freedom of Religion: Establishment Clause
*Everson v. Board of Education (1942)
*Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
Ten Commandments cases: McCreary County, KY v.
American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and Van
Orden v. Perry (2005)
Freedom of Religion: Free Exercise Clause
Reynolds v. United States (1879)
Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
Employment Division, Department of Human Resources
of Oregon v. Smith (1990)
Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye., v. City of Hialeah
(1993)
Freedom of Speech and Press
*Schenck v. United States (1919)
*Gitlow v. New York (1925)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964)
*Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School
District (1969)
New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971)
Miller v. California (1973)
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986)
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Freedom of Assembly and Petition
*NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
Boy Scouts of American v. Dale (2000)
Due Process and the Rights of the Accused
*Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
*Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
*Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Furman v. Georgia (1972)
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985)
Equal Protection of the Laws – Minorities
*Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
Civil Rights Cases (1883)
*Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
*Korematsu v. United States (1944)
*Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
*Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
(1978)
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger
(2003)
Equal Protection of the Laws – Women
*Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Reed v. Reed (1971)
*Roe v. Wade (1973)
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)
* indicates you should know this case by name. It is sufficient to know them by their shorthand
name such as Plessy or Bakke. For the other cases, knowing them by name would be ideal, but is
not required. The important task is to understand the cases and their ramifications.