AP Gov Exam

Which of the following constitutional principles best explains why there is variation among states on the use of capital punishment?

Federalism

US v. Lopez

Gun Free School Zones Act exceeded Congress' authority to regulate interstate commerce.

22nd Amendment

Limits the president to two terms.

In 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided the case Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which ruled that states must recognize same sex couples' right to marry. Which of the following ideals of democracy would the attorneys for the same sex couple most likely put forth as their argument?

Natural rights of life and liberty include the right to marry whom you choose.

Shaw v Reno

No racial gerrymandering

Which of the following is a model of democracy that emphasizes the role of interest groups in advocating for public policy?

Pluralist democracy

The Declaration of Independence states "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." This was a revolutionary change from the system of British monarchy, which was based on the divine right of kings. For which of the ideals of democracy does this quote provide a foundation?

Popular Sovereignty

25th Amendment

Presidential succession

Which of the following is the most accurate interpretation of the political cartoon?

State governments prefer federal funding but do not want federal oversight over how the money is spent.

Arizona enacted an immigration law in 2010, claiming the legislation complemented existing federal law. The Obama administration disagreed, claiming the state law conflicted with national law. Which clause of the Constitution did the Supreme Court most likely use to strike down a section of the state law?

Supremacy clause

McCulloch v. Maryland

Supreme Court ruling (1819) confirming the supremacy of national over state government

Which of the following is an accurate description of the decision in United States v. Lopez (1995) ?

The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 was struck down as unconstitutional because it exceeded the commerce clause.

Article II, Section 4

The President can be convicted of a crime and be removed from office.

Which of the following is an accurate description of the decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ?

The federal government had the authority to establish a national bank, and Maryland's tax was unconstitutional.

Which of the following is commonly identified as a failure of the Articles of Confederation?

The national government lacked an effective power to raise revenue.

Pork Barrell Spending

The nickname given to federal spending in a members' home district is called this.

10th Amendent

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Which of the following features of the United States Constitution would most concern the author of Brutus 1?

The supremacy clause, which gives the federal government supremacy over states

The process in the diagram reflects which of the following about the perspective of the framers on constitutional government?

The system should be able to accommodate political change, but the process for change should incorporate checks and balances.

In the 1780s, proponents of the new Constitution cited Shays' Rebellion as an example in support of which of the following criticisms of the national government under the Articles of Confederation?

There was a lack of a national military power to address security concerns.

Devolution

Transferring responsibility for policies from the federal government to state and local governments.

Federalist 70

US requires a strong, energetic executive; plural executive is dangerous

Which of the following is a method by which Congress is likely influencing state policy being depicted in the cartoon?

Unfunded mandates

Unfunded Mandate

a federal order mandating that states operate and pay for a program created at the national level

Congress giving EPA power to establish constituational pollution standards

delegated discretionary authority

Federalist 78 says this about the judiciary...

depends on the executive branch for enforcement

Congress has the power to coin money:

enumerated power

Loving v. Virginia

invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage

Big Tobacco lobbyists work with House Committee on Health and ATF to discuss new policy

iron triangle

A Supreme Court justice retires, The President, then, most likely..

nominates a new judge that shares their ideology

Participatory Democracy

people are able to directly vote on legislation/policy changes

In the senate, why does a bill need the support of 60 members?

senate allows unlimited debate

A judge using a previous decision on the commerce clause to defend a new, similar ruling

stare decisis

When the House Judiciary Committee passes a proposed crime bill by a vote of 21 to 20. what's most likely to follow

the full House will consider the bill

Natural Rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property

Elastic Clause

the part of the Constitution that permits Congress to make any laws "necessary and proper" to carrying out its powers

What's an example of Congress using its implied power

using the commerce clause to justify something (stare decisis)

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Article 5 of the Constitution

Amending the Constitution

Brutus 1

Anti-federalist, The U.S. is too big, Too many different interests, Government will be too far away, Government is too powerful, Supremacy/Necessary and Proper Clause, Monarchy

Constitutional orgin of current US States courts system with three levels

Article III

Which of the following is the correct pairing of powers found in the Articles of Confederation and powers found in the Constitution?

Articles of Confederation- Unicameral US Constitution Bicameral

Which of the following policies would the states most likely prefer according to the political cartoon?

Block grants

Which of the following best explains how the view of the author of the passage compares with The Federalist 51 regarding separation of powers and checks and balances?

Both the author of the passage and The Federalist 51 assert that the structure of government helps control ambitions among the branches in such a way as to promote effective government.

In The Federalist 10, James Madison argued that the new constitution would help control faction by doing which of the following?

By creating a large republic, the new constitution made it less likely that a faction could gain enough power to completely dominate.

5th Amendment

Criminal Proceedings; Due Process; Eminent Domain; Double Jeopardy; Protection from Self incrimination

14th Amendment

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

Declaration of Independence

A document of ideals for how America will be run (is not a legal document, establishes nothing)

15th Amendment

Citizens cannot be denied the right to vote because of race, color , or previous condition of servitude

An accurate comparison of the formal and informal powers of the pres

Formal: Issuing a pardon to a person convicted of a federal crime Informal: Using signing statements to interpret various provisions of legislation

House v. Senate

HOUSE- No filibuster, No holds on bills, Riders to bills must be germane, has a rules committee SENATE- Can filibuster, Senators can request holds on bills, amendments do not have to be germane, does not have a rules committee

Gonzales v. Raich

Held that Congress could use the Commerce Clause to outlaw the use of medical marijuana

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the US house of representatives and the US senate

House of reps- framers intended to reflect will of people Senate- framers intended to reflect will of state

Which is an accurate comparison of allowed debate in Senate and House of Reps

House- debate is limited Senate- filibuster

An accurate comparison of the processes of the House and the Senate

House: has more procedural rules guiding its lawmaking Senate: has authority over ratification of treaties with nations

selective exclusiveness

Legal doctrine that states that when the commerce at issue requires national, uniform regulation, only Congress may regulate it

In 1974, the House of Representatives approved a resolution granting the Judiciary Committee authority to investigate impeachment of President Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. Which constitutional ideal of democracy is demonstrated in this scenario?

Limited government

Which of the following pair of Supreme Court cases best illustrates how views of federalism have shifted in the United States?

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) & United States v. Lopez (1995)

"[A] pure democracy... can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. . . . [S]uch democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. . . . The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended. . . . [I]t may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the purpose. On the other hand, the effect may be inverted. Men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests, of the people." James Madison, The Federalist 10 Which of the following statements best reflects James Madison's beliefs about political representation as expressed in the passage?

People are best represented by a few politicians chosen to voice their issues.

Republicanism

People vote for representatives who then make and enforce laws

Lame duck period

Period of time when the new president is already elected, but the previous president is still in office

The vice of the groupist theory is that it conceals the most significant aspects of the system. The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent. Probably about 90 percent of the people cannot get into the pressure system. The notion that the pressure system is automatically representative of the whole community is a myth fostered by the universalizing tendency of modern group theories. Pressure politics is a selective process ill designed to serve diffuse interests. The system is skewed, loaded, and unbalanced in favor of a fraction of a minority. E. E. Schattschneider, The Semisovereign People, 1960 Which of the following best captures the author's argument regarding the forms of democracy?

Pluralist democracy, though it involves groups at different stages of the process of developing policy, excludes a significant portion of the population.

Federalist 51

Separation of powers & checks & balances protects against tyranny

The author explains that the powers given to each branch "sometimes appear to swing like a pendulum" from one branch to another. Which of the following best describes how these shifts ensure that constitutional government is functional?

Separation of powers divides responsibilities and authority between branches, which allows each branch to be checked by the other two branches to ensure accountability.

In 2005, the Utah legislature passed a law that allowed school districts to ignore parts of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a law passed by Congress in 2001 that supported standards-based education reform. Utah did this despite the fact that it endangered losing $76 million in federal aid to Utah public schools. Which of the following statements best explains why Utah took this action?

The Supreme Court ruled several parts of the No Child Left Behind Act unconstitutional, so Utah had to create policy to address those areas.

In many places, classrooms are overcrowded and curricula are outdated. Most of our qualified teachers are underpaid, and many of our paid teachers are unqualified. So we must give every child a place to sit and a teacher to learn from. Poverty must not be a bar to learning, and learning must offer an escape from poverty. But more classrooms and more teachers are not enough. We must seek an educational system which grows in excellence as it grows in size. This means better training for our teachers. It means preparing youth to enjoy their hours of leisure as well as their hours of labor. It means exploring new techniques of teaching, to find new ways to stimulate the love of learning and the capacity for creation. . . . . . . While our Government has many programs directed at those issues, I do not pretend that we have the full answer to those problems. But I do promise this: We are going to assemble the best thought and the broadest knowledge from all over the world to find those answers for America. I intend to establish working groups to prepare a series of White House conferences and meetings . . . on the quality of education, and on other emerging challenges. And from these meetings and from this inspiration and from these studies we will begin to set our course toward the Great Society. The solution to these problems does not rest on a massive program in Washington, nor can it rely solely on the strained resources of local authority. They require us to create new concepts of cooperation, a creative federalism, between the National Capital and the leaders of local communities. President Lyndon B. Johnson, May 22, 1964 19. By using the phrase "creative federalism," President Johnson is most likely referring to which of the following features of the American system?

The relationship between the federal and state governments evolves over time and is flexible enough to permit new forms of interaction.

Marbury v. Madison

This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review

Federalist 70 advocates for

a single executive that can respond quickly to crisis

Federalist 10

argues that liberty is safest in a large republic because many factions exist. Such diversity makes tyranny by the majority more difficult

Brutus was an example of an Anti-Federalist because he

believed a centralized government posed a major threat to individual rights

Baker v Carr

case that est. one man one vote. this decision created guidelines for drawing up congresional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state

Power exclusively granted to Senate in article II

confirming ambassadors

Article III of the Constitution

creates the Supreme Court but allows Congress to establish lower courts.

Federalist 78

discusses the power of judicial review. don worry about the supreme court because they have no power without the other branches and can do anything directly

Elite Democracy

educated, wealthy, powerful feel they are better suited to make best decisions for the country

US Constitution Article 3

establishes the powers, eligibility requirements and limitations of the judicial branch of government.

Shared by the house and senate

establishing federal courts

US Constitution Article 2

executive branch article

president has greater control than congress over...

foreign policy

Social Contract

free and equal people give up rights in exchange for government security

limited goverment

government can only do what it is legally authorized to do

popular soviernty

government is based on the consent of the governed

Separation of Powers

government power divided among different branches and levels

pluralist democracy

interest groups compete in marketplace of ideas to influence policymakers

Congress has greater control over president on judical appointments, budgetary policy

not true

Concurrent Power

power shared by the states and federal government

US Constitution Article 1

powers of legislative branch: * enact laws * collect taxes * coin money * raise and army * declare war

all revenue bills must..

start in the House

President using the bully pulpit...

televised adress