AP US Gov -- Study Thread

[shayonsaleh]

Oof. I'm kind of getting nervous with the test approaching on Monday... So, let's make a last-minute study topic!

Define selective incorporation.

[maea]

The process by which constitutional rights that were originally applied only to the federal level also become applicable to the state level. The first incorporation case is Gitlow, in which free speech is incorporated. It is called 'selective' because it has not been applied wholly to every amendment.

Your turn: explain the structure of the federal bureaucracy.

[shayonsaleh]

The federal bureacracy is set up in a "pyramid" style with a Presidential cabinet member representing 15 executive branches (i.e. Department of Justice). Each secretary/cabinet member is appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. Underneath each cabinet member is the undersecretary of the department who is not confirmed by the Senate.

Underneath each undersecretary is the personnel of the Senior Executive Service consisting of appointees and non-appointees that implement White House policy goals.

Finally, each department is broken down into smaller bureaus or offices like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI; in the Department of Justice) or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS; in the Department of the Treasury).

Woo. Good question. Next:

Explain the importance of two of the following court cases:

• Bush v. Gore
• Engel v. Vitale
• Schenck v. U.S.
• U.C. Regents v. Bakke

[hydralisks]

Bush v. Gore: stopped Florida recount in the 2000 reelection (eq. protection clause)
Engel v. Vitale: no state-sponsored prayer in schools
Schenck v. U.S.: clear and present danger
U.C. Regents v. Bakke: limited AA in the UC system


Question: Explain the significance of the BCRA, FECA, FEC, Buckley v. Valeo. Place them in chronological order and tell how they relate.

[shayonsaleh]

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) (1971) -- Allows corporations, unions, and trades associations to form political action committees as a means of raising campaign funds.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) (1975) -- Commission that regulates campaign finance laws. It records expenditures of all campaigns as well.
Buckley v. Valeo (1976) -- Supreme Court case that upheld federal limits on campaign contributions and stated campaign donations are a form of free speech.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) (2002) -- Prohibits national political party committees from raising funds that are not subject to limits. Also prohibits "issue ads" that are paid from corporations.

All the four topics deal with campaign finance reform. Since the 1970s, campaign financing has gone under much criticism, especially business or corporate donations.

--

Nice question. I hadn't really thought about campaign finance as a possible essay topic, but it's quite pertinent this year isn't it?

Next Question:

1. Why is it especially hard for third parties in the United States to gain standing? Why is it hard for them to elect presidents or other officials?
2. Name an influential third party in U.S. history and why it was important.

[shayonsaleh]

What? Is the question too hard? :-P

[FutureLawyer]

a. cause they suck
b. American Independent Party, helped cause realignment of the South to Republicans in a transition phase

[sugar_sweet111]

I'll try to re-answer that question since the last person didn't leave a new question.

a) It is hard for third parties to get standing because the US mostly uses SMD plurality elections. This way only the person with the most support wins. Third parties usually do better in proportional representation.
b)The Green Party has recently been important. It is similar to the Democratic Party and their main candidate for President, Ralph Nader is usually criticized for taking away the votes from the Democrats in the 2000 election.

Good question, I think looking back I should have picked a more historically important party, but whatev I guess.

Describe the Federal Court's interaction with the Executive and Legislative brances.

[jesca215]

nerds. lol. but nah, this is good

[raller]

I'm not 100% about what your question is, but if it's what I think it is here is my answer?

The Federal Court boths checks and is checked by the Executative and Legislative Branch. The President checks the power of the Courts by appointing new members to fill vacancies, thus making it reflect his opinion more, as with Roosevelt succeeding in changing the character of the court by virtue of his long stay in office. Courts check the President's power by ruling on the legality of the President's actions, notably during the Nixon's presidency when the court forced Nixon to turn over tapes, dismissing his "executive privilege" argument.

The Federal Court checks the Legislative branch by using the power to rend unconstitutional laws null and void, a principle established John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison. The Legislative branch checks the court by
a) Having control over who is appointed to the bench, as per the "advice and consent" clause of the constitution.
b) Having the power to impeach justices, as happened to Samuel Chase during Jefferson's administration.
c) Having the power to propose Amendments to the Constituion, notably the 16th Amendment which was created in response to the Supreme Court declaring income tax laws unconstitutional.

Continuing on the Court theme
In recent years, federal courts have often been accused of "judicial activism".
a) Define judicial activism and cite one case from the past 50 years and another case from the 150 years prior to that that would fit your definition.
b) Describe two arguments used by proponents of "judicial activism.
c) Describe two arguments used by opponents of it.

[AmoreHyde]

I wanna join in! But I think this question (seems more like a free response!) is too hard for me but I'm gonna give it a try...

1A) Judicial activism is when a judge makes a decision with their personal views in mind; disregarding laws, precedents, or legislative intent. One case that shows this is Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), which overturned of Plessy v. Ferguson's "seperate but equal" ruling. A case prior to that would be Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) which overturned parts of the Missouri Compromise that created free territories because Congress had no authority to abolish slavery in federal territories.

1B) Judicial activism is merely a form of judicial review and the courts have the power to strike down any violations of the Constitution.
2B) Congressmen rarely read the complex bills they pass, so the courts should have the power to second-guess bills since they are very deliberative.

1C) The purpose of the Federal courts are to interpret the Constitution and policies. Anything besides ruling based on existing laws/policies would be overstepping the "separation of powers." The judges as people say, are "legislating from the bench."
2C) Judges that aren't even elected should not have the power to overrule policies that elected representatives have made that don't conflict with the Constitution.

Next one!!
Voters have made claim that the party platforms of the modern-day Republican and Democratic parties are all show and no action.

A) Identify three components of either the Democratic and Party platform.
B) Describe which demographic groups support the party's (you picked in part A) platforms!

[vrdabomb5717]

a) Judicial activism occurs when judges second-guess a legislative action and find cases in favor of overturning a prior decision, an act of congress, or against a preferred interpretation of the constitution. One case that exemplifies judicial activism is Katz v. United States (1967) which overturned Olmstead v. U.S. and held that warrants were, in fact, required to listen in on phone conversations. An older case that does this was the Dred Scott Case, which held that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional as Congress had no authority to forbid slavery in federal territories and generally confirmed that Dred Scott was not a free man.

b) Proponents of judicial activism say that many of these cases exemplify judicial review, and that courts must uphold the constitution and strike down any statute that violates the constitution. They say that it is the duty of courts to protect minority rights and to uphold the law, whether the majority feels that way or not.

c) Opponents of judicial activism claim that the courts are the least democratic branch of government, (judges are not elected,) and so when they overturn an act of legislature, they are overruling the will of the people, (Congress.) Detractors also claim that by overturning these pieces of legislation, the judiciary is able to define a law in whatever terms it sees fit and is thus able to usurp the responsibilities of the legislative branch; in other words, judicial activism violates the concept of checks and balances.

Here's my question:

Central to the Constitution is the idea the the United States government is a federal government.
a) Explain the concept of federalism.
b) Name 2 enumerated powers, 2 reserved powers, and 2 concurrent powers.
c) Explain how the idea of federalism has changed since the framers first created the Constitution.
d) Describe two Supreme Court cases that allowed the federal government to gain more power; in other words, describe two cases that illustrate the concept of federalism.

Does anyone have a good listing of all the Supreme Court cases we need to know? Princeton Review has a bunch of cases, but the 2007 AP Free response question asked about cases that aren't in the book, which makes me feel like the book is missing some important cases.

[shayonsaleh]

Oh ho. Two questions at once? OK!
--
#1
a. Three components of the Democratic Party's Platform are: Right to an Abortion, Increase in Welfare Programs, and Healthcare
b. A pro-choice plank is aimed at women. Welfare programs are generally aimed toward the poor and minorities. Healthcare targets senior citizens.
--
#2
a) Federalism is the separation of a political system between a federal government and lower local governments at the state and/or municipal level. In a federalism, local governments exist independent of the national government and exist in different levels.
b) Two Enumerated Powers: Right to Print Money, Right To Declare War
Two Reserved Powers: Right to Issue Licenses, Right to Regulate Intrastate Commerce
Two Concurrent Powers: Right To Tax, Right to Operate Courts of Law
c) At the outset, James Madison argued that federalism meant a government where the supreme federal government oversaw the state and local governments. This was supported by Chief Justice John Marshall's activist rulings in court. Thomas Jefferson viewed federalism as state governments forming a federal government by a sole agreement bbetween the states. Essentially, it was a fight between states' rights and federal rights.
The Civil War established that the national government was indeed supreme and states could not secede. Afterwards, a doctrine of "dual federalism" was established where each part of government was supreme in its own sphere. However, the federal government has greatly increased its power until recently. Many call this mixing "marble cake" federalism. Now, some states are beginning to gain power in a process known as "devolution."
d) McCulloch v. Maryland -- National law is supreme over state law; "National Supremacy"
Gibbons v. Ogden -- National permit supreme over state permit. Essentially, anything considered interstate trade can be regulated by national government, not the states.
--
Very good questions.

I don't know what to tell you about the court cases. The Princeton Review ones are definitely the most important ones. Other than that, you might want to try find court cases that coinside with important parts of the Constitution. Like Reynolds v. United States and Oregon v. Smith is a case relating to the free exercise clause.

OK! Next Question:

a) Define interest group and give an example.
b) Name three methods of how interest groups attempt to influence government.
c) How has the federal government attempted to control lobbying and interest groups?

[raller]

a) An interest group is a collection of people who hope to influence the direction of policy on a certain issue. An example would be the National Rifle Association which represents the interests of gun owners.
b) Name three methods of how interest groups attempt to influence government.
-Lobbying, explaining to a legislator why the interest groups positions are correct.
-Campaign contributions to candidates up for re-election.
-Television or print advertising to shape the opinions of a certain Congressional district, often a district where a Congressman may be in a close race for re-election or is a challenger close to success.
c) By limiting the amount of money groups can give (McCain-Feingold restrictions on "soft" money contributions) and forcing lobbyists to disclose their gifts (Lobbying Disclosure Act).

Certain elections in America history have been seen as "realignment elections" where one or more party changes their position or simply ceases to exist.
a) Briefly describe three "realignment elections", making sure to explain why they are classified that way.
b) For each election, list an event that happened in the years before it that played a pivotal role in leading to the realignment.

[AmoreHyde]

1A) 1860 Election (Lincoln vs. Breckenridge) - The issue of state's rights and slavery divided the Democrats into Northern and Southern factions. This led to Lincoln's win and the start of Republican ascendancy.
1B) Kansas-Nebraska Act and the fall of the Whigs.

2A) 1896 Election (McKinley vs. Bryan) - Had the issue of gold standard, free silver, bimetallism, etc. Bryan brought up issues of class conflict and Populism, something new to the Democratic platform. McKinley's campaign adviser, Hanna, started the modern technique of raising campaign contributions(outspent Bryan by a 10-1 margin). Led to Republican dominance and change in voting alignments (urban industrial laborers changed from swing voters to a Republican bloc).
2B) Sherman Silver Purchase Act and Panic of 1893? (had a hard time finding one)

3A) 1932 Election (Roosevelt vs. Hoover) - Hoover's popularity fell as voters felt he could not fix the economic issues. This was a great weakness to be used by Hoover, with his New Deal platform. Roosevelt won by a landslide, marking the end of the Progressive era and the start of the New Deal.
3B) The Great Depression and Prohibition.

The attempt to downsize the federal bureaucracy has been met with both criticism and support.

A) Give one argument in favor maintaining the size of government.
B) Give one argument in favor of reducing the size of government.
C) Explain how the attempt to downsize the government supports your argument in A and B.