Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
To find the original documents (outlines), feel free to find them on my blog from
its original date – which means you may need to scroll through the months to
find all of them. Otherwise, they are all below. Remember: this is an outline of
the semester. Look through your notes for more specific detail.
For the sample multiple choice questions, go over your midterm exam questions,
and your previous quizzes. The questions will be very similar.
b) Separation of Powers
c) Federalism
a) Beliefs that citizens hold about their government and its leaders
b) The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political life
3) Political Parties
a) Functions
b) Organization
b) Responsibilities
5) American political culture lecture (50 min)
a) America has been fortunate and unique in its cultural development because
of:
i) geography,
ii) the waves of immigration,
iii) lack of wars on American soil (invasions/occupations),
iv) etc.
b) American political ideals (15 min)
i) Liberty
ii) Equality
iii) Democracy
iv) Diversity
v) Individualism
vi) Unity
c) American attitude toward govt. (10 min)
i) Overarching mistrust
(1) Dates given – reason to mistrust govt.
(a) Watergate, Clinton, ‘they have wmd’
ii) General feeling of apathy amongst population (political efficacy)
iii) Little or no knowledge about govt.
(1) Youtube clip
(a) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
iv) Biased news, not trusting news sources
d) American exceptionalism
i) Divine providence
ii) Just principles
iii) Geography and resources
iv) Great wealth of resources in relative isolation
v) Diversity
6) Constitution
a) Overview of first government (colonial times) – lecture (15 min)
i) Taxation v representation
ii) American revolution
iii) Colonies declaring independence
iv) Declaration of independence
v) Articles of confederation
(1) What powers given?
(2) What powers not given?
vi) Shay’s rebellion
(1) Who?
(2) Significance?
vii) Annapolis convention
b) Constitutional Convention (20 min)
i) What was it?
ii) Framers
iii) Aims of the framers
iv) Issues and compromises
(1) Congress – Great Compromise
(a) NJ Plan
(b) VA Plan
(2) Slavery – 3/5
(a) Free v. non-free
(3) Electing presidents – electoral college
c) The Constitution (20 min)
i) Limits on power
(1) Checks and balances
(2) Federalism
(3) Bill of rights
(4) Specificity
(5) elections
ii) Legislative branch
iii) Executive
iv) Judicial
v) Federalism
vi) Changing the constitution
(1) 2/3 propose
(2) ¾ ratify
vii) Bill of Rights
d) Struggle for ratification (5 min)
i) Federalists v. anti-federalists
7) Federalism
a) Overview of Federalism
i) What are the different kinds of government?
ii) Three ways to organize power between federal and state
(1) Confederacy
(2) Federalist
(3) Unitary
b) Constitutional basis
i) National government
(1) Article VI: declares Constitution and any laws passed form “supreme
law of the land”
(a) Supremacy clause
(i) Implies that national government has authority over state
governments
(2) Constitution grants national gov’t several different kinds of powers and
prohibits it from taking certain actions
(a) Enumerated
(i) Article 1, section 8
1. Specifically grants Congress a number of different powers
(ii) Expressed powers (same thing)
(b) Implied
(i) National government is not limited to the enumerated powers
1. End of Article 1, Section 8
a. Constitution also grants Congress the power to do
anything “necessary and proper” to carry out its duties
b. Elastic clause (same thing)
(ii) Because these powers are implied and not stated
(iii)McCulluch v. Maryland
1. SC case from 1819 concerned a state government’s ability to
tax a national bank
a. Relied on N&P clause
(c) Inherent
(i) Preamble lays out basic purposes of US government:
1. To provide for the welfare of its citizens
2. To defend against external enemies
(d) Prohibited
(i) Explicitly denies national government certain powers
1. Congress cannot tax exports and
2. tell states how to choose electors for the Electoral College.
(ii) COMMERCE CLAUSE: Gibbons v. Ogden
(3) Constitution also grants the state governments some key powers
(a) Including right to determine how to choose delegates to the
Electoral College
(4) RESERVED powers
(a) 10th amendment: powers not granted to the national government,
and not prohibited to state governments, are “reserved to the
states.”
(i) Reservation clause
(5) CONCURRENT powers
(a) Powers held by both states and the national government
(i) Power to tax (people pay to local, state, national)
(6) FULL FAITH and CREDIT CLAUSE
(a) Article IV
(b) Establishes AND limits state powers
ii) Local government
(1) Constitution does not mention local governments at all
(2) Courts have interpreted this to mean that completely under state
authority
(3) Types of Local Government
(a) 84,000 local governments
(b) Each state has the power to define local government any way it
wants
(i) Allocating different types of degrees and responsibility
(ii) To have power, local government must:
1. Be granted a charter by state
a. Specifying its powers and responsibilities
(c) Most common(39,000) and probably least known (most diverse):
SPECIAL DISTRICT
(i) Local gov’t created to deal with a single issue or problem
1. Frequently overlap with other types of local gov’t
2. Range of powers vary greatly
3. Control varies greatly, as well
a. Some have elected leadership
b. Others are appointed by governor or leg
i. Some states, BoE are special districts
ii. Public univ. boards
iii. ILLINOIS- citizens vote for dozens of local govts
iv. (some can borrow money and oversee major
construction projects – bridges, landfills, etc.)
c) History of federalism
i) Dual federalism
(1) Civil war and the 14th amendment
(2) Industrialization & Globalization
ii) Cooperative Federalism
iii) New Federalism
d) Federalism in practice
i) Federal aid to the states
(1) Block grants
(2) Categorical grants
(a) Project grants
(b) Formula grants
ii) Federal pressure on the states
(1) Mandates
iii) Pre-emption
iv) Horizontal federalism
e) Advantages and disadvantages of federalism
i) Advantages
(1) Fosters state loyalties
(a) Americans feel close ties to their home state
(i) But does anyone know MORE about state/local laws/politicians?
(ii) Even if we know laws, do we follow rules?
1. 25% of state population turn out for state/local elections
a. Even though these gov’ts have a lot of power to affect
people’s lives
i. As long as Americans are ignorant, federalism cannot
function well
(2) Practices pragmatism
(a) Huge country = US
(b) Diverse population
(i) Easier to do if given to local
(ii) State/local officials are closer to problems of their area
(3) Creates laboratories of democracy
(4) Leads to political stability
(5) Encourages pluralism
(a) Allows more activism (opportunities to get involved)
(6) Ensures SOP and prevents tyranny
ii) Disadvantages
(1) Prevents the creation of national policy
(2) Leads to lack of accountability
8) How Political Parties Work
a) What is a political party?
i) Rise of independents
ii) American voter identification
(a) Party Organization
(2) National party committees
(3) State party committees
(4) County party committees
(5) Party committees in Congress
(a) Party Function
b) Recruit candidates
c) Organize elections
d) Hold conventions
e) Unite factions
f) Ensure plurality
(1) National Conventions
9) The American Two-Party System
a) The Electoral System
i) Electoral College
ii) Proportional Representation
(1) Advantages and Disadvantages
(2) Realignment
b) Critical elections
i) Soft Money
c) Voter registration and GOTV drives
d) Issue Ads
i) Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
ii) McCain-Feingold bill
iii) 527 groups
10)Third Parties
a) Coke v. Pepsi Analogy
b) Important Third Parties
c) The Appeal of Third Parties
i) Ideology
ii) Dissatisfaction with the status quo
iii) Geographical location
d) The Role of Third Parties
i) Introduce new ideas
ii) Put issues on the agenda
iii) Spoil the election
iv) Keep the major parties honest
i) The rise of a system in which electors were pledged to vote for their
party's candidates necessitated a change in the rules of voting.
ii) The 12th Amendment required electors to specify which person they
wanted for President and which for Vice President, so that the tie of 1800
would never be repeated.
22)The Presidential Election
a) The Electoral College Today
i) Electors are chosen by popular vote and make up the Electoral
College. Electoral College is comprised of groups of persons (presidential
electors) chosen in each State and the District of Columbia every four
years who make a formal selection of the President and Vice President.
Presidential electors are those persons comprising the Electoral College
and which elected by the voters to represent them in making a formal
selection of the President and Vice President.
ii) The number of votes that a state has in the Electoral College is equal to its
number of members in BOTH houses of Congress, i.e., number of
congressmen, PLUS, the two senators. It tends to favor small states, since
the small states are guaranteed at least 3 electoral votes (one house
member and two senators) regardless of the state's population.
iii) The party that wins the majority of the popular vote in each State gets all
of that State's electoral votes. A political concept known as "winner-take-
all."
iv) Electors meet at a time set by law to elect the President, and their votes
are sent by registered mail to Washington, D.C., where they are counted
on January 6th.
v) In case of a tie for either President or Vice President, the decision is made
by Congress.
vi) Contrary to popular belief, when citizens vote for President and Vice
President of the United States, they are actually choosing electors pledged
to candidate's political party.
23)Flaws in the Electoral College
a) The First Major Defect — because electoral votes are not distributed in exact
proportion to the population, the winner of the popular vote may not win the
electoral vote.
b) The Second Major Defect — Electors are not bound by the Constitution or by
any federal law to vote for the candidate favored by the people of their State.
c) The Third Major Defect — Elections may be thrown into the House of
Representatives, where voting is State by State.
24)Proposed Reforms
a) The District Plan — the district plan would allow electors to be elected in each
congressional district, rather than the current winner-take-all plan.
b) The Proportional Plan — the proportional plan would give each candidate the
share of the electoral vote that he or she earned in the popular vote.
c) Direct Popular Election — under this system, the Electoral College would be
abolished, and each citizen's vote would count equally toward the
presidential election.
d) The National Bonus Plan — under this complex plan the winner-take-all
feature of the Electoral College would be kept but weighted in favor of the
winner of the popular vote, and the Electoral College would be abolished.
e) A Final Word — Defenders of the current Electoral College system emphasize
that it is a known process that it identifies the winner quickly and certainly,
and that critics exaggerate the danger of an undemocratic outcome.
Sample Free-Response Questions
You will have 100 minutes to answer 4 questions (you must respond to all parts of
all four questions). Takes a few minutes to plan and outline each answer. Spend
approximately one-fourth of your time (25 minutes) on each question. In your
response, use substantive examples where appropriate. Make certain to number
each of your answers as the question is numbered.
2. Minor parties (third parties) have been a common feature of United States
politics.
b. Identify and explain how two rules of the United States electoral
system act as obstacles to minor-party candidates winning elections.
d. Explain two reasons why the Electoral College has not been abolished.
a. Define federalism.
b. Select one of the following and explain how each has been used to
increase the power of the federal government relative to the states.
a. Categorical grants
b. Federal mandates
c. Selective incorporation
c. Select two of the following and explain how each has been used to
increase the power of the states relative to the federal government.
b. Block grants
c. Tenth Amendment
6. The framers of the United States Constitution created a legislative system
that is bicameral. However, it is not just bicameral; the framers also
established two houses of distinctly different character and authority.
c. Identify one power unique to the Senate and explain why the framers
gave the Senate that power.
7. The power of the federal government relative to the power of the states has
increased since the ratification of the Constitution.
b. Explain how one of the following has increased the power of the federal
government relative to the power of state governments.