Political Ideology and Participation
Describe 2 policies Democrats typically support and 2 policies Republicans typically support.
Democrat: environmental regulations and consumer financial protections
Republican: less taxes and more military spending
Describe the 15th Amendment.
Gave African American men the legal right to vote
Which article of the Constitution established the Supreme Court?
Article III
What is one criticism of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college?
- Elitist
- Not representative of the will of the people
- Encourages candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battle ground states
- Voters in less populous states have more influence on voting
Describe the system of checks and balances.
Each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches and prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful
Increasing federal spending on programs
Maryland passed a law to increase the state tax on gasoline to help fund repairs on highways and bridges. The state tax is in addition to the federal tax on every gallon of gasoline that is sold. Which of the following constitutional provisions does the scenario illustrate?
a) exclusive powers
b) concurrent powers
c) reserved powers
d) delegated powers
b) concurrent powers
True or False: McDonald v. Chicago (2010) did not selectively incorporate the 2nd Amendment to the states.
False. McDonald v. Chicago DID selectively incorporate the 2nd Amendment to the states.
What are the two characteristics that signifies if an individual will likely participate in an election? (Hint: both characteristics start with the letter A)
Affluent (wealthy) and activist
Which of the following is an example of the executive branch implementing a public policy passed by Congress:
A) The Department of Health and Human Services determines eligibility requirements for government assistance
B) As chief diplomat, the president negotiates a treaty that is then ratified by the Senate.
C) Congress passes a law reorganizing the structure of the federal bureaucracy
A) The Department of Health and Human Services determines eligibility requirements for government assistance
Since 1982, has the ideological composition of the House become MORE PARTISAN, LESS PARTISAN, or STAYED THE SAME?
Become more partisan. Less members of the House identify as centrists and are more ideologically pure.
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
If an individual is arrested for possessing illegal substances that were obtained after a warrantless search of their home by police, can this evidence be admitted into court? Why or why not?
No, the exclusionary rule*
*Remember, there are exceptions to the exclusionary rule (like if an officer finds illegal substances on an individual during a LAWFUL pat down)
If a member of Congress votes in favor of a bill as a result of receiving many letters of support for the bill from constituents, the member of Congress is voting based on what form of representation (trustee, delegate, elitism, pluralism)
Delegate
True or False: the House can pass legislation with a simple majority, but that legislation will not likely pass unless the bill has the support of a 60-vote supermajority because the Senate allows unlimited debate.
True: the House has strict limits on debate whereas the Senate allows unlimited debate and 60-votes can end the debate.
Name 3 factors that can influence a person's political ideology.
Family, age, gender, geography, race, religion, education level, socioeconomic status
What was one of the reasons why the Articles of Confederation failed?
Granted states alone the power to levy taxes; weak national government; required unanimity of Congress to amend
In New York Times Co v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New York Times because the United States did not meet what principle?
Prior Restraint
Who won the U.S. presidential election based on the results below:
Ms. Beckerman - 49% of the popular vote - 271 electoral votes
Mr. Modelski - 50% of the popular vote - 268 electoral votes
Mr. Campione - 1% of the popular vote - 0 electoral votes
Ms. Beckerman - 271 electoral votes
How does the legislative branch place a check on the judicial branch?
Which party wants to maximize personal and individual freedom while having the least amount of government intervention as possible?
Libertarian Party
What constitutional principle explains why some states have the death penalty and other states do not, why some states have lower poverty rates than others, and why some states have higher educational outcomes than others?
Federalism
What is appellate jurisdiction compared to original jurisdiction?
Appellate = the power of a court to review decisions and change outcomes of decisions of lower courts (U.S. District Court --> U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals --> U.S. Supreme Court)
Original = Supreme Court is the first court to hear a case
If a person votes for Democratic candidates based on the beliefs that the Democratic Party will be personally beneficial, this type of voting is known as...
Rational Choice Voting - they believe that the party will be PERSONALLY BENEFICIAL
Which of the following situations is an example of the president using the bully pulpit as a tool for agenda setting?
A) President Clinton invoking executive privilege in resisting a subpoena by the U.S. Senate during the Whitewater investigation
B) President Bush issuing a signing statement in the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 that considerably weakened its provisions
C) President Obama issuing an executive order delaying the deportation of at least five million undocumented immigrants
D) President Reagan delivering a televised address urging a reduction in federal taxes
D) President Reagan delivering a televised address urging a reduction in federal taxes