AP Government
Unit IV Reading Guide
Chapters 7-10
Chapter 7: Political Parties
Explain ways in which political parties in the US differ from those in Europe.
Describe the components of a powerful political party and evidence that American
political parties are weakening?
How can the political party leaders have an influence over who wins a primary
election in the United States?
Trace the development of political parties through these time periods:
Founding Years:
Jackson to Civil War:
Civil War to 1900’s:
Critical realignments in 1896 and 1932: (Define and explain in detail)
Contrast straight and split tickets and describe impact of the trend in elections since
the 1940’s
What are the components to the NATIONAL PARTY STRUCTURE and what are
their roles? (i.e. national convention, etc.)
What was the original role of a national convention? What is the role of a national
convention now? What are the reasons for the change?
How did the political machine of old operate?
In order to get elected today—which groups are candidates more likely to rely
upon? Explain why the other three are less effective in more recent campaigns.
Compare our political party system to the majority of those in Europe
What are some of the positives and negatives of the plurality system in the US?
What are the reasons Wilson gives for the two party systems to maintain its
predominance in the US electoral process?
List 4 types of minor parties and explain their impact in elections in 1992 and 2000.
How does the two party system make sure that these 3rd parties do not become too
powerful?
In Wilson’s opinion, who holds more power: the voters in a primary or the voters in
a general election? Why?
Can you tell Wilson is a bit jaded towards caucuses? Explain
According to Wilson, where are all the votes? What will candidates’ do in these
modern times to get those votes?
AP Government Chapter 8: Elections and Campaigns
What are the two critical phases of getting elected?
What are the difference in election results between the Presidential election and the
elections in the House?
1)
2)
3)
4)
How can a President or a presidential candidate help a member of congress or
congressional candidate get re-elected or elected?
What are the 3 components involved in getting elected to the Presidency?
From whom do the candidate’s raise most of their money from?
What is the importance of theme and tone in an election?
In 2000, of the 403 Representative incumbents how many were re-elected?
How does malapportionment weaken the impact of one person’s vote in a
particularly large district?
How does gerrymandering help incumbents ensure re-election?
When was the number of representatives set at 435?
In 1964, what did the Supreme Court decide regarding
gerrymandering/malapportionment (The case was Wesbury v. Sanders)
Define the sophomore surge:
Describe the two types of elections and variations evident in most common?
Define a clothespin vote:
Which do you think plays a more important role in elections, position issues or
valences issues? Why?
What role has image had in the most recent elections (2004, 2008—Remember Diary
of a Political Tourist)? What are examples you can recollect?
Despite the large amount of financial resources that have been poured into TV, what
effect has media (in terms of commercials) had on actual outcomes?
In what ways has the media (mostly television) been used? What are some potential
pitfalls of using the media?
What has been the overall trend in campaign spending in elections?
AP Government
Chapter 9: Interest Groups
Define lobby:
What are the three reasons that there are so many interest groups in the American
political landscape? Explain
Types of Interest Groups
Define the interest that each category represents and give examples of each
category.
Institutional Interests
Membership Interests
Define public-interest lobby:
What is the role of the public interest law firm? How do they impact the political
process? (Do they impact the legislative process or judicial process and how?)
What is the role of Think Tanks in Washington? How do they impact the political
process? (Do they impact the legislative process or the judicial process and how?)
Funding for Interest Groups
Briefly summarize how interest groups get their funding:
The College Board expects you to know and understand what interest groups do
and how they work. Wilson breaks it down into 3 categories, “Information” “Public
Support” and “Money.”
Information
Explain the relationship between lobbyist/legislator in dealing with the exchange of
information.
How do legislators use interest groups to gauge public opinion about particular
legislation?
How do interest groups inform voters about representative or senator’s records on a
particular interest?
Public Support
How does “outsider” lobbying differ from “insider” lobbying?
What is the effect of grassroots lobbying? How would this effect on a member of
congress be different from lobbyists speaking with the legislators?
What has been the overall impact of this grassroots lobbying movement?
What are the hurdles that interest groups face in regards to mobilizing a grassroots
movement?
What are the lessons learned from the NRA attempts at legislation?
What is a PAC?
Why have they not been as influential as of late in getting legislators on board with
their proposals?
The Revolving Door
Explain the theory behind the “revolving door” philosophy. In your opinion, does
this negatively or positively impact the legislative process? Why?
Describe why interest groups that cause “trouble” usually turns out to be a lose-lose
situation for politicians.
What steps has the government recently (since 1980) taken to regulate the
growth/impact of interest groups?
AP Government Chapter 10 The Media
What must a politician do to obtain/gain the advantage when it comes to
manipulating/gaining free access to the electronic forms of journalism?
What is a sound-bite and how is it used?
How has the sound-bite transformed the way campaigns are covered?
What change has the advent of the 24-hour news channels brought to media
coverage of:
Elections
Day-to-day events
What problems have been brought about by the introduction of the internet into the
realm of politics?
What are the advantages of the internet in the political arena?
Summarize the press’ role as the following:
Gatekeeper-
Scorekeeper
Watchdog
What is the equal-time rule and how does it apply to media coverage and
campaigns?
How are “loaded language” and “coverage” -- sources of bias in the modern day
media?
What impact has the press had on informing its citizenry what the important
problems are in society?
What has been the trend of local newspapers and endorsements?
What is Wilson’s analogy with politics and deodorant? How does it relate to media?
How did media transform Sen. Kefauver? What do you think was his ulterior
motive in having the press televise his hearings?
What effect (if any) has the political commentary made by TV anchors had on the
perception of public officials by citizens?
Compare how the President has used the media versus how Congress uses the media
in terms of amount of coverage and events covered.
What is the overall perception about bias in the media? Is there one? Does it depend
on who you ask?
How do politicians use “leaking” to their advantage?
How is “leaking” disadvantageous to politicians?
How does competition play into the hands of the media in terms of these stories
being leaked?
What, of late, has been the trend in journalism coverage? What examples does
Wilson offer of this?
What has been the trend of sensationalizing the news in the media? What have been
the reasons for this trend (since 2001).
Why would politicians set rules for the press when giving interviews (deep
background, etc.)
How has Congress sort of “struck back” at the news media? What is their new
strategy when it comes to developing news stories?
How can the President manipulate the media to his advantage (Wilson gives
examples of JFK).