AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: INSTITUTIONS AND POLICIES
Questions will be completed for each chapter. Each question must have an abbreviated version of the question
and the answer beginning on the line underneath the question. Answers should not be in complete sentences but
one word answers are not accepted. Assignment deadlines are the beginning of the class period. All work is
individual and will reflect the individual’s reading of the text and answering the questions.
Homework may be turned into the McCanless AP Gov Google Classroom site or handwritten. There will be an
assigned due date and there will be a 20% grade deduction for late papers for each day late (therefore a 2 day
late paper gets a 60).
Vocabulary is exceptionally important. Each chapter will have vocabulary quizzes. If the definition to the
vocabulary words are not in the book, you can find them at the following sites
http://www.cengage.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780495503224&discipline_number=20
or
http://definitions.uslegal.com/
CHAPTER 1: THE STUDY OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
1. aristocracy
31. liberalism
2. authoritarianism
32. libertarianism
3. authority
33. liberty
4. bureaucratic view
34. limited government
5. capitalism
35. majoritarianism
6. class view
36. majority
7. communism
37. majority rule
8. consent of the people
38. order
9. conservatism
39. pluralism
10. constitutional democracy
40. pluralist view
11. cross-cutting cleavages
41. plurality
12. democracy
42. political culture
13. democratic republic
43. political predisposition
14. demographics
44. political socialization
15. direct democracy
45. politics
16. dominant culture
46. popular sovereignty
17. elite
47. power
18. ethnicity
48. power elite view or elite theory
19. ethnocentrism
49. property
20. fascism
50. race
21. GDP
51. recall
22. gender gap
52. referendum
23. government
53. reinforcing cleavages
24. Hispanic
54. representative democracy
25. ideology
55. social capital
26. indirect democracy
56. socialism
27. initiative
57. socioeconomic status
28. institution
58. theocracy
29. legislature
59. totalitarian regime
30. legitimacy
60. universal suffrage
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Why do “politics” exist?
Explain the difference between “power” and “authority.”
What are the two arguments for democracy?
What is the source of legitimate authority in the United States? Why?
List the 2 types of democracy and explain an advantage of each (cannot be opposites)
Is Representative Democracy best? What does the author say?
7. Who were the two main men who influenced the Framers of the Constitution?
8. List the 4 views of how political power is distributed.
9. What are the 4 ways to describe political elites?
10. What do political scientists do? (Blue box on page 11.)
11. Is democracy driven by self –interest?
12. How has the belief in what government should do changed over time? In the 1920s? From the 1930s to
the 1970s? In the 1980s?
13. How has the belief in what government should do in foreign affairs changed over time?
CHAPTER 2: THE CONSTITUTION
1. Amendment
2. Anti-Federalists
3. Articles of Confederation
4. Bicameral
5. Bill of Attainder
6. Bill of Rights
7. Checks and Balances
8. Coalition
9. Concurrent Powers
10. Confederation
11. Constitutional Convention
12. Delegated Powers
13. Electoral College
14. Enumerated Powers
15. Ex Post Facto Law
16. Executive Agreement
17. Expressed Powers
18. Faction
19. Federal System
20. Federalism
21. Federalist
22. Great Compromise
23. Habeas Corpus
24. Ideology
25. Implied Powers
26. Judicial Review
27. Line-Item Veto
28. Madisonian Model
29. Natural Rights
30. New Jersey Plan
31. Political Socialization
32. Ratification
33. Representative Assembly
34. Republic
35. Reserved Powers
36. Separation of Powers
37. Shays’s Rebellion
38. Social Contract
39. State
40. Supremacy Doctrine
41. Unalienable
42. Unicameral Legislature
43. Virginia Plan
1. What was the goal of the American Revolution?
2. What did the American colonists seek to protect when they signed the Declaration of Independence?
What liberties were included?
3. Describe the English constitution.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What liberties did the colonists want to protect?
In John Adam’s opinion, what was the “real Revolution” about?
What does legitimate government require to be legitimate?
By 1776, how many states had written constitutions? How many within a few years? What did these
constitutions include?
8. What document governed the US during the war? Describe the document.
9. What effect did Shay’s Rebellion have on the Constitutional Convention?
10. Describe the Convention. How many attended? When did they meet? What about old Ben Franklin?
11. The Great Compromise was also called the ________________________________________________.
12. Under the original Constitution, how were the US Senators chosen?
13. How is the President chosen in the Constitution?
14. What were the two principals that the American version of representative democracy was based?
15. How are the powers in this country divided?
16. Describe how Congress can check the president. Describe how the president can check Congress.
Describe how Congress can check the courts. Describe how the courts can check Congress. Describe
how the president can check the courts. Describe how the courts can check the president.
17. What did Madison believe would harness people being self-interested? What did he mean by “ambition
must be made to counteract ambition” so that “the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel
over the public rights?”
18. Why did the framers believe that separation of powers would work? Why federalism? Why would this
work in America? How would factions work?
19. What question was debated in the states when the Constitution was presented to them for ratification?
20. According to the text, the Federalists should have called “nationalists?” The Anti-federalists, “states’
righters?”
21. What did the Anti-federalists believe?
22. What did Madison argue in Federalists 51? According to Madison, how should government be
designed?
23. Why did the Federalists eventually prevail?
24. Who wrote the Federalists Papers? (In the purple.)
25. What liberties were listed in the Constitution before the Bill of Rights was added?
26. Why did the Federalists believe the Bill of Rights was not needed? (3 reasons.)
27. When was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution? What did they limit?
28. Why didn’t the framers end slavery in the Constitution?
29. What 3 places in the Constitution deals with slavery?
30. Which group argued for religious freedom, the Federalists or Anti-federalists? Explain.
31. Where women left out of the Constitution?
32. According to some critics, why is the problem of governing the federal courts?
Chapter 3: FEDERALISM
1. Block Grants
2. Categorical Grants
3. Centralists
4. Commerce Clause
5. Condition of Aid
6. Confederal System
7. Cooperative Federalism
8. Decentralists
9. Devolution
10. Dual Federalism
11. Enumerated Powers
12. Extradition
13. Federal Mandate
14. Federal System
15. Federalism
16. Full Faith and Credit Clause
17. GrantsiIn-Aid
18. Implied Powers
19. Inherent Powers
20. Initiative
21. Interstate Compact
22. Mandates
23. National Supremacy
24. Necessary and Proper Clause
25. Nullification
26. Police Power
27. Preempt
28. Recall
29. Referendum
30. Reserved Powers
31. Revenue Sharing
32. Sovereignty
33. Supremacy Clause
34. Unitary System
35. Waiver
1. Why did the Anti-federalists oppose the Constitution? How have the Anti-federalists concerns come
true?
2. What contributed to the changes in role of the federal government from the 1700s until now?
3. Explain Kelo v. City of New London (2005).
4. Why does federalism matter?
5. Since the ratification of the Constitution, what has been the primary source of political conflict? Give
some examples.
6. What did the founding fathers believe about federalism? What was their fear?
7. Explain the 10th Amendment.
8. What were Hamilton’s thoughts on the national government? Jefferson’s? Madison’s?
9. What two questions were answered in McCulloch v. Maryland? How did the Supreme Court answer
these questions?
10. Who regulates interstate commerce? Intrastate commerce?
11. By the 1940’s what did the Supreme Court permit the federal government to regulate? What about
today?
12. How has the courts strengthened states’ rights?
13. Describe the 4 “Landmark Cases” described in the box on page 58.
14. Name 3 countries that are federal systems. Name 3 that are unitary systems.
15. According to David Truman, what is the basic fact of federalism?
16. On who or what does the federal government spend a lot money?
17. Who does most people trust more, the federal government or their state government? Which do you
trust more?
18. What is the most obvious effect of federalism?
19. In what do the states play a key role?
20. List some programs that benefit from grant-in-aid.
21. Why was federal money so attractive to state officials? List 4 reasons.
22. What changed occurred in federal grants in the 1960s?
23. Describe how federal grants have changed over the years.
24. Why are categorical grants unpopular? Why were block grants more popular?
25. Why was the goal of “no strings” nor the one of fiscal relief attained? List 4 reasons.
26. How do federal grants create rivalry among the states? Does the federal government favor one region
over the other? How does the results of census effect block grants?
27. Why should states be concerned when they became more dependent on federal aid?
28. Describe the two types of federal control on state government activities.
29. How have federal courts help fuel the growth of mandates?
30. How did President Reagan try to reverse the trend of money with strings? President Clinton?
31. Today, how do most Americans feel about shifting responsibility to the states?
32. Did devolution really occur?
33. Why do members of Congress pass laws that create so many problems for, and stimulate so many
complaints from, mayors and governors? List 2 reasons.
34. Why do Congressmen not always listen to their states?
CHAPTER 4: AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE
1. Agenda setting
2. Centralists
3. Civic Competence
4. Civic Duty
5. Class Consciousness
6. Consensus
7. Devolution
8. Divisive opinion
9. Enumerated or delegated powers
10. Federal mandate
11. Generational effect
12. Implied Powers
13. Lifestyle effect
14. Media
15. Opinion leader
16. Opinion poll
17. Orthodox
18. Peer group
19. Political culture
20. Political Trust
21. Progressive
22. Push polling
23. Reserved powers
24. Sampling error
25. Civil Society
26. Socioeconomic Status
27. Supremacy Clause
28. Watergate break-in
What issues divide Americans in the 21st century?
What do the political parties and interests groups agree on?
List and describe 5 important elements in the American view of the political system.
What do a vast majority of Americans believe? How do we know that the American people share these
beliefs?
5. How would race relations in the country be difference if instead of an abstract belief, we had a
widespread belief of equality?
6. How do Americans feel about economic systems?
7. How do Americans feel about economic equality? What will they tolerate? What will they support?
8. How do liberal political groups feel?
9. How do Americans feel about public policies like welfare? Quotas?
10. How do Americans feel about government regulating businesses? Helping the poor?
11. How do Americans feel about “civic duty?” “Civic competence?”
12. How does religion affect politics? How does it affect rulings from the Supreme Court?
13. List at least 2 reasons why Americans tend to distrust government or authority.
14. How did the Protestant church shape American political culture?
15. How are all aspects of culture, including political, transmitted from generation to generation?
16. Most Americans still believe that the key to success lies in what?
17. Why is there so much cultural conflict in American politics?
18. Describe the difference between the orthodox and the progressive.
19. List some topics fought over in the cultural war.
1.
2.
3.
4.
CHAPTER 5: CIVIL LIBERTIES
1. Actual Malice
2. Arraignment
3. Bills of Attainder
4. Civil Liberties
5. Clear and Present Danger Test
6. Commercial Speech
7. Defamation of Character
8. Due Process Clause
9. Due Process of Law
10. Establishment Clause
11. Ex Post Facto Laws
12. Exclusionary Rule
13. Fighting Words
14. Free Exercise Clause
15. Freedom of Expression
16. Freedom of Religion
17. Gag Order
18. Good Faith Exception
19. Hate Speech
20. Incorporation Theory
21. Inevitable Discovery
22. Libel
23. Non-protected Speech
24. Obscenity
25. Political Speech
26. Prior Restraint
27. Privacy Rights
28. Probable Cause
29. Procedural Due Process
30. Public Figure
31. Public Safety Exception
32. Search Warrant
33. Sedition
34. Selective Incorporation
35. Slander
36. Substantive Due Process
37. Symbolic Speech
38. Wall of Separation
39. Writ of Habeas Corpus
1. Define civil liberties (102) Explain why the author thinks that the Constitution and Bill of Rights
contain a list of “competing rights and liberties.”
2. List 3 ways that war has restricted the liberty of some minority. Why as this allowed?
3. How do ethnic, religious, and cultural differences create cultural conflict? List an example from each
category as discussed in the text.
4. Federal rights that are deemed so “fundamental” that they ought to govern the states are allowed because
of which amendment? What are the two clauses of that amendment?
5. How did the Gitlow case change constitutional history? How did the 1969 Brandenburg case change the
“clear and present danger” test?
6. List the four forms of speech that are not automatically granted full constitutional protection.
7. McCain Feingold imposed campaign finance restrictions on corporations and labor unions. How did
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission change McCain Feingold?
8. Do young people have the same rights as adults? Explain your answer by providing an example.
9. The free exercise clause does not protect citizens from public policy. Describe two public policies that
religion does not permit exemption.
10. What principle has the Supreme Court “more or less consistently” adopted when ruling on cases based
on the establishment clause?
11. What does the author consider to be the most important establishment clause decision in recent times?
12. The three pronged test for government involvement in religious activities is called the Lemon Test (not
in the text.) List the 3 parts of the test.
13. Why are the rules governing church-state relations hard to summarize?
14. What protection is offered by the exclusionary rule?
15. What circumstances allow a person be searched? List three.
16. The Constitution protects you only against searches by the government. Where can you expect to have a
“reasonable expectation of privacy” where the government cannot search? Where can the government
search?
17. How does Miranda protect the accused?
18. List 3 ways has the Miranda ruling been (occasionally) modified.
19. Explain 3 ways do courts resolve political conflicts that differently from executives and legislatures.
CHAPTER 6: CIVIL RIGHTS
1. Affirmative Action
2. Busing
3. Civil Disobedience
4. Civil Law
5. Civil Rights
6. Class Action Suit
7. Criminal Law
8. De Facto Segregation
9. De Jure Segregation
10. Equality of Opportunity
11. Equality of Resultes
12. Feminism
13. Gender Discrimination
14. Grandfather Clause
15. intermediate Scrutiny
16. Literacy Test
17. Majority
18. Mandatory Retirement
19. Necessaries
20. Police Powers
21. Poll Tax
22. Rational Basis
23. Reverse Discrimination
24. SCLC
25. Separate But Equal Doctrine
26. Sexual Harassment
27..Strict Scrutiny
28. Subpoena
29. Suffrage
30. Three Strikes
31. White Primary
32. Zero-Tolerance Policies
1. What does the text say the “pertinent question regarding civil rights” is?
2. Describe the significance of the 14th Amendment to the civil rights movement.
3. Why did African Americans choose to fight the battle for civil rights in the courts?
4. Describe the legal arguments used to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson.
5. How was the decision in the Brown case implemented?
6. Describe how Brown decision was made and why it was a surprise to legal scholars.
7. Provide an example that illustrates the difference between de jure segregation and de facto segregation.
8. Why was the Swann case important to the process of school desegregation? Explain.
9. Explain how civil disobedience was used in the civil rights movement.
10. List the 4 developments that made it possible to get Congress to pass civil rights laws.
11. Did a filibuster almost kill the Civil Rights bill in June of 1964? Explain.
12. Define racial profiling.
13. List two differences between African American and the Women’s Equal Rights movements
14. How did the women’s rights movement originate.
15. Complete the following chart:
Standard
Definition
Example
Application
Rational Basis
Age, race, gender
Reasonableness
Intermediate scrutiny
gender
Strict scrutiny
Race, ethnicity, religion
16. What are the provisions of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1972? (146)
17. Why don’t women have to register for the draft?
18. List the two forms of sexual harassment.
19. Since “privacy” is not mentioned in the Constitution, how did the court justify “finding it”?
20. List 2 ways the provisions of Roe v. Wade have been limited by “pro life” legislation.
21. Explain the difference between the concepts of equality of results and equality of opportunity. Provide
an example in your explanation.
22. Why do some people think affirmative action is ‘reverse discrimination’?
23. Bakke was completely overturned by the provisions of a case not in your text. Using www.oyez.org,
explain how Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014) does this.
24. Why do the rulings on affirmative action “still generate a great deal of passion”?
25. How did the court use the right to privacy in Lawrence v. Texas?
26. Can private groups exclude homosexuals from their membership? What case decided this?
CHAPTER 7: PUBLIC OPINION
1. Public Opinion
7. Elite
2. Poll
8. Gender Gap
3. Random Sample
9. Political Ideology
4. Sampling Error
10. Political Elites
5. Exit Polls
11. Norm
6. Political Socialization
1. What did the founding fathers believe about the average citizen?
2. What did Abraham Lincoln mean when he said we have a government, “of the people, by the people,
and for the people?”
3. Should government leaders do what the people want? Why or why not?
4. The Framers of the Constitution did not try to create a government that would do from day to day “what
the people want.” They created a government for what purpose?
5. List 2 ways to achieve this goal.
6. How did the size and diversity of our country effect public opinion? What is a faction? What did the
Framers hope would protect liberty?
7. How much confidence should we place in surveys that presumably tell us “what the American people
think” about legislation and other issues, and how should we assess “public opinion”?
8. What did the first major academic studies of public opinion and voting, published in the 1940s, show?
Has it changed?
9. How does polling work? What are the keys to good polling?
10. Why is a random sample of person polled so important? What is stratified?
11. Give an example of a sampling error.
12. What went wrong in the 2008 Presidential Primary polling?
13. What is “opinion saliency”? “Opinion stability”? “Opinion-policy congruence”?
14. Does the government attend more to the elite views or popular views?
15. Where do the great majority of people acquire their political views?
16. How does the family influence our political beliefs? Genetics?
17. Where does ½ of our political views come from? The other half?
18. What effects our party affiliation?
19. Describe the role of the dinner table in political views.
20. How does religion effect political beliefs?
21. Name to issues in which religion influences public opinion.
22. Which political party do women tend to identify with most?
23. Which groups votes at a higher rate, men or women?
24. How do women and men differ on political issues?
25. How does cleavages in public opinion effect political views?
26. How does social class affect political views in the US? In Europe?
27. In recent years, what issues have shaped our political views?
28. How does race and ethnicity affect political views?
29. Which groups is now the largest minority group in the US?
30. How does geographic region affect political views?
31. What are the two way in which political scientists measure political ideology?
32. Take the Typology test at http://typology.people-press.org/typoogy. Describe your results.
33. What do we call political elites in the US?
34. What are some limit elites influence the public?
Chapter 8: POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
1. Political Participation
2. Voting-Age Population (VAP)
3. Voting-Eligible Population (VEP)
4. Registered Voters
5. Literacy Test
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
6. Poll Tax
7. Grandfather Clause
8. White Primary
9. Australian Ballot
10. Activist
List 4 extension to voter participation.
What was the percent of eligible voter voting in presidential elections between 1860-1900? Now?
Why would 18-24 year olds expect to vote at higher rates, name 3?
Explain the difference between - VAP and VEP.
What trends can you see in presidential versus midterm elections in chart 8.3?
What are the 3 most cited reasons that people give for not voting?
What is absentee voting?
80 million voter age adults do not vote. Why? 40 million________________ and 40
million___________________.
9. What is the motor-voter law? What was the purpose? Was it effective?
10. What are he the 2 most effective ways to increase voter registration?
11. What is the argument that says our low voter turn-out is a sign of political 'good health'?
12. Make a timeline from the Constitution through 1971 showing when different groups received the right to
vote?
13. What are 3 discriminatory practices used to disenfranchise African Americans?
14. What was the 'grandfather clause'?
15. In every presidential election from 1996-2004, what percentage has the under 30 vote accounted for?
16. Before the Australian Ballots were put in place, what were weaknesses in ballots and elections?
17. What are the most common and least common ways of political participation?
18. List and briefly describe the 6 kinds of political participation groups.
19. What role does religion play in affecting political participation?
(NEED 9 and 10)
CHAPTER 11: INTEREST GROUPS
1. 527
2. Amicus Curiae Brief
3. Boycott
4. Bundling
5. Climate Control
6. Conflict of Interest
7. Direct Technique
8. Earmark
9. First Amendment (speech/expression and
petition)
10. Free Rider Problem
11. Grassroots
12. Ideological Interest Groups
13. Incentive
14. Indirect Technique
15. Interest Group
16. Iron Triangle
17. Issue Advocacy
18. Issue Network
19. Labor Movement
20. Latent interests
21. Lobby
22. Lobbyist
23. Material Incentive
24. PAC (Political Action Committee)
25. Political Cue
26. Procurement
27. Public Interest
28. Public Opinion
29. Purposive Incentive
30. Ratings
31. Revolving Door
32. Service Sector
33. Social Movement
34. Socioeconomic Status
35. Solidary Incentive
1. According to the text, when was "The great era" for organizing interest groups in our history?
2. What are interest groups and how do they attempt to influence public policy?
3. What is the goal of PACs?
4. Compare the number of lobbyists now versus 30 years ago?
5. List the 4 factors that explain the growth of interest groups and give an example:
6. What is the difference between institutional interest groups and membership interest groups?
7. According to p275, what are the top 5 biggest spending interest groups for 2010?
8. Who is referred to as a "nation of joiners" and why? Is this trend growing or waning?
9. What is the "free rider problem"?
10. What is attractive about joining an interest groups for a solidary incentive? A material incentive? A
purposive incentive?
11. Why is it theorized that public-interest lobbies are most effective with a "hostile" administration?
12. Compare the membership of the powerful lobbies written about on p279.
13. List a timeline of key events in each of the movements detailed - environmental, feminist, union.
14. What is the Glass-Steagall Act and what did it do?
15. What is the Dodd-Frank Act and what did it do?
16. Why is it so important for lobbyist to supply credible information?
17. How could a politician use political cues?
18. What are two reasons that earmarks increased so much since the 1970s?
19. Compare the lobbyists' insider strategy versus outsider strategy.
20. Define and explain the following kinds of PACs- Leadership PAC, Super PAC, and Connected PAC.
21. What was the result of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission of 2010?
22. What measures are taken to prevent the influence through the "revolving door" practice?
23. How does Congress regulate Interest Groups since the 2007 legislation?
24. What is a consequence of a non-profit organization/interest group participating in too much lobbying?
CHAPTER 12: THE MEDIA
1. Adversarial Press
2. Agenda Setting
3. Background
4. Bias
5. Blogs
6. Deregulation
7. Electronic Media
8. Equal Time Rule
9. FCC
10. Feature Stories
11. Gatekeeper
12. Horse-Race Journalism
13. Insider Stories
14. Issue Framing
15. Libel
16. Loaded Language
17. Managed News
18. Market
19. Media Access
20. Media Framing
21. Narrowcasting
22. Near v. Minnesota, (1931)
23. Podcasting
24. Press Secretary
25. Prior Restraint
26. Public Agenda
27. Right of Reply Rule
28. Routine Stories
29. Selective Attentiveness
30. Slander
31. Sound Bite
32. Spin
33. Spin Doctor
34. Trial Balloon
35. White House Press Corps
36. Yellow Journalism
1. Since 2008, what are the breakdowns of where American get their news?
2. Compare the U.S. and Great Britain in their restrictions/freedom of the press. Why do you think there are
these differences?
3. In America we have low government interaction on privately owned media outlets, but they have limitations,
what are two potential limits?
4. Explain and give an example of each of the 5 journalistic periods.
5. Why is news in America so locally focused?
6. Explain and give an example of each role of the national media: gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and watchdog.
7. The courts have set out restrictions on published material, what are these?
8. The FCC used to require the "fairness doctrine" - what did that require?
9. Why are Senate candidates more likely to buy TV time than House candidates?
10. What makes radio talk shows different than most other media?
11. The Press is closer and more involved with the President than with other countries' heads of state. Why and
when did this start?
12. The text calls the Senate an "incubator for presidential candidates - why and why is the press responsible?
13. In the U.S. Government, why do we have so many leaks to the press?
14. What is meant by "sensationalism" in media? Why has it grown?
15. List four ways that reporters and public officials can communicate.
CHAPTER 13 CONGRESS
1. AMENDMENTS: 17, 27
2. Appropriation
3. Bicameral Legislature
4. Casework
5. Caucus
6. Christmas Tree Bill
7. Closed Rule
8. Cloture
9. Coattails
10. Concurrent Resolution
11. Conference Committee
12. Congressional Budget Office
13. Conservative Coalition
14. Constituent
15. Continuing Resolution
16. Delegate
17. Direct Primary
18. Discharge Petition
19. Divided Government
20. Division Vote
21. Double Tracking
22. Earmarking
23. Enumerate Power
24. Executive Budget
25. Filibuster
26. First Budget Resolution
27. Fiscal Year (FY)
28. Franking Privilege
29. Gerrymandering
30. Hold
31. Instructed delegate
32. Joint Committee
33. Joint Resolution
34. Justiciable Question
35. Logrolling
36. Majority Leader
37. Majority Minority District
38. Malapportionment
39. Marginal Districts
40. Minority Leader
41. Office of Management and Budget
42. Ombudsperson
43. Open Rule
44. Override
45. Oversight
46. Party Polarization
47. Party Vote
48. Pork Barrel Legislation
49. President Pro Tempore
50. Quorum
51. Reapportionment
52. Redistricting
53. Restrictive Rule
54. Riders
55. Roll-Call
56. Rules Committee
57. Safe Districts
58. Safe Seat
59. Select Committee
60. Senate Minority Leader
61. Senatorial Courtesy
62. Seniority System
63. Shaw v. Reno, 1993
64. Simple Resolution
65. Sophomore Surge
66. Speaker of the House
67. Standing Committee
68. Teller Vote
69. Trustee
70. Unified Government
71. Veto
72. Voice Vote
73. Vote
74. Ways and Means Committee
75. Whip
1. Label each of the following statements as powers or descriptions of Congress or a Parliament:
2. Tends to be made up of people loyal to the national party leadership
3. Tends to be made up of people who think of themselves as independent representatives of their districts
or states who, while willing to support their party on many matters, expect to vote as their beliefs and
interests require
4. Members of the party in power must vote together on issues; a person can lose the chance to run for
reelection if they stray from the party vote
5. Political parties do not control nominations for office
6. Voters in districts choose not between 2-3 individuals running for office, but instead choose between 2-3
national parties
7. The principle work of this body is representation and action, most of which takes place in committees
8. Are poorly paid, have not offices of their own and virtually no staff
9. This is an assembly of party representatives who choose a government and discuss major national issues.
Their principle daily work is debate.
10. Is a body of people who represent states and districts rather than worrying if the chief executive
succeeds with proposed programs
EVOLUTION OF CONGRESS
11.
Why did the framers want a congress instead of a Parliament?
12.
What was the original intention of Rule 22 in the Senate and how has that been changed? (outside the
text, what is the “nuclear option” and how is it used today?)
13.
Who currently serves in Congress? Find online the demographics for the 113th Congress that
include: race, gender, average age, incumbency.
14.
How does incumbency influence reelection?
15.
Why have congressional seats become less marginal and more safe seats? Explain the reasons.
16.
List 3 incumbency disadvantages that occurred in the 1990’s.
17.
List and define the three theories about how members of Congress behave. Provide an example of each
theory.
18.
Make a chart and fill in the details:
PARTY LEADERS IN CONGRESS
Position
Define the responsibilities
President Pro Tem
Senate Majority Leader
Senate Minority Leader
Senate Whips (each party has one)
Senate Policy Committee
Senate Democrat Steering Committee
Senate Republican Committee on Committees
Speaker of the House
Formal Powers
Informal Powers
Rules Committee
Majority Leader
Minority Leader
Whip
19.
How does party membership influence voting in the House? the Senate? Does it make a difference?
Explain.
20.
How does a caucus differ from a committee? List 2 important caucuses in each chamber and explain
what they do.
21.
COMMITTEES
22.
List and define the 3 kinds of committees. Explain their purposes and responsibilities.
23.
What is the party ratio on committees?
24.
How have committee chairs been selected in the past? What is the current procedure? Why does this
matter?
25.
Describe the major function of a legislator’s staff. What else do they do?
26.
Describe the legislative function of staff members.
27.
Are staff members neutral or partisan advocates? Explain.
28.
What is the purpose of staff agencies? List and explain the purpose of the three most important staff
agencies.
29.
Who may introduce a bill to Congress?
30.
List and define the purpose of the three types of resolutions used in Congress.
31.
How are bills assigned to committee in each house of Congress?
32.
Bills that do not raise revenue may originate in either chamber. In which chamber are appropriations
bills (bills that direct the spending of money) and bills that raise revenue (altering tax laws) required to
originate?
33.
Where do most bills die?
34.
What is the purpose of committee hearings? What is often the result of committee hearings?
35.
How can a stalled bill be forced out of committee?
36.
Describe the powers of the House Rules Committee. Is the Rules Committee necessary?
37.
Do bills in the Senate need a committee hearing before being debated? Explain.
38.
How has double tracking greatly influenced the bill process in the Senate?
39.
List the 4 types of voting methods used in Congress and explain the purpose of the vote. List the only
two voting methods used in the Senate.
40.
Describe the significance of conference committees. Which chamber’s version is most often passed?
41.
What method of voting is used for an override vote?
42.
List the five concerns political scientists have when considering the legislative productivity of Congress.
43.
How does pork barrel legislation help constituents? Is all pork bad? Explain.
44.
Why do members of Congress like the franking privilege?
45.
What 4 types of laws are mentioned that Congress (only since 1995) has to obey?
46.
How does Congress get a pay raise?
CHAPTER 14 THE PRESIDENCY
1. Ad Hoc Structure
2. AMENDMENTS related to the President:
12, 20, 22, 23, 25
3. Amnesty
4. Bully Pulpit
5. Cabinet
6. Chief of State
7. Chief of Staff
8. Circular Structure
9. Clemency
10. Divided Government
11. Electoral College
12. Emergency Power
13. Executive Agreement
14. Executive Office of the President (EOP)
15. Executive Orders
16. Executive Privilege
17. Expressed Power
18. Federal Register
19. Gridlock
20. Impeachment
21. Inherent Power
22. Kitchen Cabinet
23. Legislative Veto
24. Line-Item Veto
25. National Security Council (NSC)
26. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
27. Pardon
28. Patronage
29. Pocket Veto
30. POTUS
31. Pyramid Structure
32. Reprieve
33. Signing Statement
34. Statutory Power
35. Unified Government
36. Veto Message
37. War Powers Resolution
38. Washington Community
39. White House Offic3
1. Complete the chart which compares the chief executive in a presidential system to a chief executive in a
parliamentary system.
PRESIDENT PRIME MINISTER
How elected
Term of office
Who are they accountable to?
Outsider or insider?
Who chooses the cabinet?
Is there a guarantee of a majority in the legislature?
Power to decide war
2. Can divided government pass significant legislation? Provide two examples to support your answer.
3. Why is gridlock a necessary consequence of a system of representative government?
4. The formal powers of the president alone (as contained in the Constitution) are listed on page 370. Which
one do you think is the most important? Explain 2 reasons for your answer.
5. The President shares treaty making power with the Senate. Provide two examples found in page 369 that
illustrate when the Senate has refused to sign a negotiated treaty.
6. What does the author of the text say is the greatest source of presidential power?
7. How did the creation and influence of political parties influence the Framer’s plan for electing the president?
8. The public views the office of the president as the central figure of national government. Why does the
textbook author think this is inaccurate?
9. Who are the three audiences of the president? List and explain.
10. True or False- If it is false, correct the statement.
a.
The influence of presidential coattails has increased in recent years.
b.
A president’s personal popularity may have a significant effect on how much of his program Congress
passes, even if it does not affect the reelection chances of those members of Congress.
c.
Presidential “victories” are easy to measure because the statistics clearly indicate where and how he is
successful.
d.
President George W. Bush enjoyed the highest presidential approval rating ever recorded shortly after
his 2000 election.
e.
A president’s popularity tends to be highest in the months right after his election, a period called the
“honeymoon.”
f.
In every off-year election the president has gained many seats in both houses of Congress.
g.
One of the most important powers of the president is his ability to say no.
11. What are the two blocking actions the president may use to force Congress to bargain with him over the
substance of policies?
12. When can a pocket veto be used?
13. Does the president have an unlimited ability to keep all matters in his office secret? Explain how the
“privilege of confidentiality” has changed over the years.
14. What is the difference between a signing statement and a veto message? (provide more than the definitions)
15. How does personality and presidential character influence the presidency?
16. Copy and complete the chart:
METHOD
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES PRES USING METHOD
PYRAMID
CIRCULAR
AD HOC
17. List the 5 principle offices that are part of the Executive Office of the President. Explain why the OMB is
considered the most important.
18. What is the purpose of the president’s cabinet?
19. What does the text say is the difference between an “executive” and “independent agency”?
20. Are cabinet members chosen for political reasons, expertise, or both? Explain.
21. Why does the President have a limited right of removal for “independent” or “quazi- independent”
agencies?
22. List the four sources a president draws upon to develop a program.
23. List the two ways for a president to develop a program.
24. List 5 constraints on a president’s ability to develop a program.
25. Does a president have the ability to reorganize his personal White House staff? Executive Office,
departments, or agencies? Explain.
26. What is the main responsibility of the Vice President?
27. Why was the 25th Amendment necessary?
28. Describe the purpose of an Independent Counsel. Why does the author remain concerned about the loss of
this office?
29. Unlike what the Founders of the Constitution thought, why is impeachment used infrequently?
CHAPTER 15 THE BUREAUCRACY
1. Acquisitive Model
2. Administrative Agency
3. Appropriation
4. Authorizing Legislation
5. Bureaucracy
6. Cabinet Department
7. Capture
8. Civil Service Commission
9. Committee Clearance
10. Competitive Service
11. Discretionary Authority
12. Enabling Legislation
13. Freedom of Information Act
14. Government by Proxy
15. Government Corporation
16. Government in the Sunshine Act
17. Independent Executive Agency
18. Independent Regulatory Agency
19. Iron Triangle
1.
2.
3.
4.
20. Issue Network
21. Laissez-faire
22. Legislative Veto
23. Line Organization
24. Merit System
25. Monopolistic Model
26. Name Request Job
27. Negotiated
28. Oversight
29. Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act)
30. POTUS
31. Privatization
32. Red Tape
33. Spoils System
34. Sunset Legislation
35. Trust Funds
36. Weberian Model
37. Whistleblower
List the 3 distinct features of American bureaucracy.
List 2 disadvantages and 4 advantages of government by proxy.
Is the role of an agency to serve or to regulate? Explain.
What is the greatest power of the bureaucracy? List the 3 areas where administrative agencies have
substantial authority.
5. Describe the authority of the Office of Personnel Management in hiring government employees.
6. Does the buddy system used for hiring employees circumvent the merit system? Explain.
7. Has the Whistle Blower Protection Act increased bureaucratic sabotage? Explain
8. Which of the “Rules” of Politics (423) makes the most sense to you? Explain.
9. List the constraints on a government agency (be sure to include the one listed the top of p. 424)
10. Explain 2 reasons why iron triangles are much less common today.
11. Describe the significance of issue networks.
12. How does Congressional supervision of the bureaucracy take place? List 3 ways.
13. Why does Congress use a legislative veto, even though it is unconstitutional?
14. List the most common areas of congressional oversight and explain why oversight is used.
15. List and define the 5 major problems of bureaucracy.
16. Can bureaucracy be reformed? Discuss two reasons why reforming the bureaucracy is “easier said than
done.”
CHAPTER 16 THE JUDICIARY
1. Activist Approach
8. Case Law
2. Adversary System
9. Civil Law
3. Affirm
10. Class-Action Suit
4. Amicus Curiac Brief
11. Common Law
5. Appellant Court
12. Concurrent Jurisdiction
6. Appellate Jurisdiction
13. Concurring
7. Broad Construction
14. Concurring Opinion.
15. Constitutional Court
16. Court of Appeals
17. Criminal Law
18. Dissenting Opinion
19. District Court
20. Diversity Cases
21. Diversity of Citizenship
22. Exclusive Jurisdiction
23. Federal Question Cases
24. Fee Shifting
25. General Jurisdiction
26. Grand Jury
27. Habeas Corpus
28. In Forma Pauperis
29. Judicial Activism
30. Judicial Implementation
31. Judicial Restraint
32. Judicial Review
33. Jurisdiction
34. Legislative Courts
35. Limited Jurisdiction
36. Litigate
37. Litmus Test
38. Majority Opinion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
39. Marbury v. Madison 1803
40. Opinion of the Court
41. Oral Argument
42. Original Jurisdiction
43. Per Curiam Opinion
44. Petit Jury
45. Plaintiff
46. Plea Bargain
47. Political Question
48. Precedent
49. Public Defender
50. Remand
51. Remedy
52. Reverse
53. Rule of Four
54. Senatorial Courtesy
55. Sovereign Immunity
56. Standing
57. Stare Decisis
58. Strict Construction
59. Trial Court
60. Unanimous Opinion
61. Writ of Certiorari
62. Writ of Habeas Corpus
How has the federal judiciary played an increasingly important role in making public policy?
Explain the difference between the judicial restraint and activist approach.
Why are Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v. Maryland landmark cases?
Explain the relationship of the Supreme Court and property rights.
Which federal court is the only court required by the Constitution?
How are federal judges selected? What are their general characteristics?
How does the “litmus test” affect the selection of federal judges? Which issue is considered most
significant?
8. What determines where a person who has broken both federal and state laws will be tried?
9. Where are the “vast majority” of federal cases heard?
10. Is the SCOTUS required to hear every case appealed? Explain.
11. Explain the financing of a SCOTUS case.
12. List the three standards required for a case to “stand” before the court.
13. How do most cases ‘come’ to the Supreme Court?
14. Explain the significance of the white and red lights in the Supreme Court.
15. Who is the solicitor general and what are the responsibilities of the job this person holds?
16. Why are amicus curiae briefs considered to be a lobbying effort?
17. Explain what happens on Fridays at the SCOTUS. [Know the two main blocs of the court listed on p.
457.]
18. List the two main reasons why precedent is important.
19. Summarize the four measures of judicial power used by the SCOTUS to make policy.
20. List 3 reasons why people criticize judicial activism.
21. Why are there so many activist courts? Explain 2 significant reasons.
22. How has ‘vague language’ of the Constitution influenced the job of the SCOTUS?
23. What is the most significant restraint on the courts?
24. Explain 3 ways that Congress can limit the power of the courts.
25. How does public opinion affect the court?
26. Explain 2 reasons for increased activism in the courts.