AP Gov AP EXAM

What clauses does Brutus use as evidence?

Necessary and Proper clause and Supremacy clause, as he believes that they give the Federal government too much power over the states.

What are Brutus’s other concerns

Other countries who tried this type of government failed and we are too big for it to work, its not good to have a leader who represents everyone far away due to possible acting out of self interest and abuse of power

What is Federalist 10

Pluralism!!

Participatory

Citizens have direct participation in democracy

What is Federalist 51 about

Seperation of Powers, Checks and balances, and structure government with faction control so one faction cannot dominate everything else

Also, famous sayings are "if men were angels there would be no government” and “ambition needs to counteract ambition”

McCulloch vs. Maryland

Necessary and Proper clause which was used by Congress to make a national bank

Maryland is upset and wants to tax the bank because it competes with their already existing state banl

National bank is constitutional but the taxes and state bank is not

Brown vs. Board (1954)

Declared segregation unconstitutional and revoked the precedent they set for Plessy vs. Ferguson, even if the facilities that are segregated are equal the mental effects of segregation are not and create a stigma that Black people are less than human. The court ruled that they must start integrating schools with all deliberate speed

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

John Adams appointed everyone jobs last minute because Madison won the presidency and they needed a paper for the job to be legally given, Marshall was supposed to hand out all of the papers, there were a few he could not give out, Marbury did not receive his paper and said it was still his so the SCOTUS was required to issue a court order because of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which the court declared unconstitutional and established judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to invalidate laws contradicting the Constitution. He did not get his job

Schenck vs. United States (1919)

A landmark Supreme Court case that upheld the government's right to restrict speech during wartime, ruling that Charles Schenck's anti-draft pamphlets presented a "clear and present danger" to national security.

Baker v. Carr (1961)

a 14th amendment equal protection clause case that asks if malapportionment violating the 14th amendment? which is important because if one district is twice the size of the other, 2x the amount of votes are needed to elect a representative and a citizens vote in a small district is worth 2x the amount of a vote in the large district

It is a violation because 1 man should equal 1 vote, one vote should not be worth more than anyone elses.

Engel vs. Vitale (1962)

1st amendment establishment clause

The prayer case, does the voluntary recitation of a prayer violate

Yes it violates the clause because you cannot establish an official religion or force anyone to conform to one religion

Gideon vs. Wainwright (1963)

6th amendment right to council case

Does the 6th amendment apply to state councils, do they need to provide attorneys if defendants cannot afford them?

Yes, it applies to state courts to ensure everyone is equal and the impoverished are not disadvantaged

Tinker vs. Des Moines (1969)

A landmark case regarding the 1st amendment rights of students in public schools. It established that students do not lose their free speech rights at the school gate, as long as their expression does not disrupt educational activities.

Armband case, usually associated with T-shirts or other clothing that expresses political viewpoints for boycotts.

New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971)

1st Amendment: freedom of the press case

Did the Nixon administration's attempt to prevent the publication of the "Pentagon Papers" violate the First Amendment? Yes, the Supreme Court ruled that prior restraint was unconstitutional. The case affirmed that the press cannot be censored, even in matters of national security, highlighting the importance of a free press in a democratic society.

Wisconsin vs. Yoder (1972)

1st Amendment free exercise clause

Amish case

Amish people don’t need to go to school past 8th grade as required because it violates the Amish Community’s right to practice their religion freely.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

14th amendment equal protection case clause and 15th amendment voting discrimination (racial)

Is racial gerrymandering a violation of these? Yes, the Supreme Court ruled that racial gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, ensuring that district maps cannot be drawn solely based on race.

Districts can be assumed to be racially gerrymandering if the districts are in an irregular shape that cannot be justified by reasonable districting principles.

McDonald vs. Chicago (2010)

2nd amendment right to bear arms case

Is the 2nd amendment an individual right? if so, is it incorporated to the states?

Yes, you cannot ban gun ownership but can put limits on ownership requirements

Citizens United v. FEC

Challenges the BCRA’s campaign ad statement and questions if $ = free speech or if campaign ads can be protected

Court decides corporations and unions can spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign ads, and campaign ads are legal as long as the candidate has nothing to do with them

Letter from Birmingham Jail

A letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, addressing the injustice of racial segregation and advocating for civil disobedience against unjust laws. It highlights the moral duty to resist oppression and the importance of nonviolent protest.

Constitution Ratification

9/13 was needed, ADDING THE BILL OF RIGHTS IS WHAT GOT THE CONSTITUTION RATIFIED

Direct Democracy

People vote directly on every decision

Republic

People elect representatives

Amendment process

2/3 of Congressional approval

¾ State approbal

Devolution

States losing their power due to an influx of categorical grants rather than block grants

Patronage

Voters given government jobs for Political loyalty

Party machines

Structures using patronage to guarantee voter support, strongest in the 1880’s

Electoral college

Each state gets a number of electoral votes based on how many representatives are in that state

Realignment

Voting bases of parties swap (dem to rep, etc)

Dealignment

Voters leaving parties to become independent

Independent

Not a member of any party

Spoiler Effect

Third Parties steal votes from a major party

Primary Season

When we determine party candidates, every season holds either a primary or a caucus

Primaries

The way we pick candidates

Open: Anyone can participate

Closed: Only party members can participate (common)

Caucuses

You vote with your body, 4 corner and debate type, think miss mumley warm up

Used by Iowa and New Hampshire

Soft money

Political contributions to parties without limits, primarily used for party-building activities.

Political Action Committees, corporations donate any amount of money to these so they can bypass the limit and send it to the parties rather than candidates

Bad

Hard Money

Political contributions limited by law that go directly to candidates' campaigns, subject to federal regulations and contribution limits.

BCRA

Bans soft money and campaign ads before an election

FECA

Creates the Federal Election Commission which are federal agencies that monitor the campaign donors

Created a limit on campaign expenditures and donations

Bans corporate and union donations

House vs. Senate

House is based on population and has 435 members

Senate is based on equal representation, each state gets 2 so there is 100 total

House

Strict rules, clear structure, strong leadership

2 year term lengths and elected by people in their district

Speaker runs the house, elected by the entire house

The House starts impeachment, tax and spending bills also start here

Senate

less strict (informal), stronger individual leadership

VP runs the senate

President Pro Tem. is the temporary President if the Vice President is absent and given to the longest serving member

All other bills start here