AP/DC Government
Unit 1 Test Review
Constitutional Underpinnings
Edwards Text – Chapter 1 – 3
1. Identify and explain the major tenets of the Madisonian model of government.
2. Compare and contrast federalism, unitary government, confederation.
3. List and explain the three modern theories of democracy.
4. Identify John Locke and explain his theories of government involving consent of the governed, limited
government, and natural rights.
5. Explain the significance of the following:
- Declaration of Independences
- Shay’s Rebellion
- Annapolis Convention
6. Explain the contrasting views of Morris Fiorina and James Q. Wilson on the “culture war” in America.
7. Evaluate the five functions that national governments throughout the world must perform.
8. What did Harold Lasswell mean by defining politics as “Who gets what, when, and how.”
9. In what ways does Wayne Baker say that the US may be experiencing a “crisis of cultural values”?
10. Explain the steps of the policymaking system.
11. Define what linkage institutions are and what purpose they serve.
12. Explain what a single issue group is and why they are effective.
13. Contrast a democratic form of government and the constitutional republic form of government that
we have in the United States.
14. What are the tenets of traditional democratic theory? Explain.
15. What is meant by minority rule and minority rights?
16. Contrast the views of Robert Dahl and Robert Putnam on the pluralist theory of democracy.
17. Explain some of the challenges to a modern democratic society.
18. Define political culture and four of the major values of American political culture.
19. What is the gross domestic product of a nation?
20. Explain the idea that the American Revolution was a “conservative revolution”.
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AP/DC Government
Unit 1 Test Review
Constitutional Underpinnings
Edwards Text – Chapter 1 – 3
21. Explain the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation that caused that government to fail.
22. How are some of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation fixed by the US Constitution?
23. Explain the changes that occurred in which groups controlled the balance of political power after the
American Revolution and during the Articles of Confederation.
24. Explain what is meant by Madison when he states that the constant source of political conflict is the
uneven distribution of wealth in the United States.
25. Explain the significance of each of the following to the development of the Constitution:
- Virginia Plan
- New Jersey Plan
- Connecticut Compromise
- Slavery
- Equality of states/voting
26. Identify the economic issues that were sources of concern during the Philadephia Convention.
27. Describe some of the significant economic powers given in the Constitution. How does it reflect the
desire of the Framers of the Constitution to give control of the economy to the US Congress?
28. In what ways did the original structure of the Constitution reflect the desire of the Framers to limit
access of the general population to the government?
29. Explain the difference between the active and passive restraints placed on the government in the
Constitution.
30. Elaborate about the ways in which each branch of the government may check the powers of the
others.
31. Explain the protections or significance of each of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.
32. Define the process for ratifying the Constitution.
33. Explain the difference between the formal and informal methods of amending the Constitution.
34. What was the Equal Rights Amendment?
35. Identify the importance of each of the following:
- Marbury vs. Madison
- McCulloch vs. Maryland
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AP/DC Government
Unit 1 Test Review
Constitutional Underpinnings
Edwards Text – Chapter 1 – 3
- Gibbons vs. Ogden
- Federalist Papers
36. Explain the ways that technology has increased the power of the president.
37. Describe the ways in which the Constitution has allowed the flexibility to adapt over time.
38. Explain the ways in which the idea of federalism is expressed in the Constitution.
39. Give the importance of each of the following:
- supremacy clause
- implied powers
- enumerated powers
- elastic clause
- full faith and credit clause
- privileges and immunities clause
40. Give examples of ways in which the Constitution has been informally amended.
41. Give examples of ways in which federalism has had positive and negative affects in American society.
42. Identify and explain some of the benefits of federalism.
43. Explain the difference between and tenets of cooperative and dual federalism and how the US has
moved from one to the other. Identify any important events that have helped to drive this move.
44. What is meant by devolution? Fiscal federalism?
45. Explain the significance of grants in aid, block grants, and categorical (formula) grants. What are the
differences?
46. Explain what is meant by “mandate blues”. What is an unfunded mandate? What is a major example
of a huge unfunded mandate that has come from the national government?
47. Define reciprocity and how it applies in the American Constitution.
48. What is the correlation between age and political knowledge in the United States?
49. What are the five main functions of government? Be able to explain each.
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AP/DC Government
Unit 1 Test Review
Constitutional Underpinnings
Edwards Text – Chapter 1 – 3
50. What are linkage institutions? Give four examples.
51. How can the political knowledge of most Americans be characterized?
52. How does the political knowledge of most Americans compare between those who watch late night
comedies and those who watch nightly news?
53. From what source are more and more Americans receiving their political information?
54. How did Harold Lasswell describe politics?
55. What is the policy agenda?
56. What are the four policymaking institutions in the United States? Which three are the ones created
by the Constitution?
57. What is the difference between a democracy and a republic?
58. Contrast the three modern theories of democracy; pluralism, hyperpluralism, elitist?
59. What is the significance of Federalist 10?
60. According to Robert Dahl, what five criteria should an ideal democratic process satisfy?
61. What are the most notable challenges to our democracy today?
62. What is political culture?
63. According to Seymour Lipset what are the five elements around which American political culture is
centered?
64. How did Alexis de Tocqueville describe egalitarianism in the US?
65.According to Wayne Baker, in what three ways might the US be experiencing a crisis of cultural
values?
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