AP gov midterm

democrats

liberal, bigger, more involved government, values equality, “its broke, so lets fix it”

republicans

conservative, smaller, less involved government. traditional values, values freedom, “if it ain’t broke, dont fix it”

14th amendment

equal protection clause. all citizens born or naturalized in the US have equal protection from the law. granted citizenship to former slaves

15th amendment

granted all male citizens the right to vote, regardless of ethnicity or prior slave status

PAC

individuals can donate 5k per election cycle, can only accept money from individuals, not controlled by a candidate, can give directly to candidate

super PAC

can accept unlimited money from anyone, cant give directly to candidate, can buy ads for/against a candidate, must identify themselves in the ads

citizens united summarized

CU made a movie encouraging people to not vote for hilary clinton, CU sued FEC saying them not being allowed to air it 30 days from election day was unconstitutional, SC agreed. this decision created PACs and super PACs

fed 10

pro federalist, large republic and strong central gov is better at controlling factions b/c so many factions will cancel each other out, pluralist democracy, pro constitution

brutus 1

anti federalist, a strong central government would threaten democracy and state and induvidual liberties, participatory government, anti-constitution

rational choice

voting for whoever will most benefit the voter

retrospective

voting for whoever has the best track record

prospective voting

voting for the person who will do the best job once in office

party line

voting based on political affiliation

delegated powers

powers definitively given to the federal government by the constitution (i.e coining money, regulating commerce)

reserved powers

powers not given to the federal government in the constitution, so is reserved for the state or individual (licenses, voting)

concurrent powers

powers shared between state and federal government (i.e taxing, passing laws)

agency responsable for federal elections

FEC (federal election commission)

federal government’s powers over elections

ensure voting rights, campaign finances

cons of PACs

very unregulated, anyone can start a PAC for anyone, candidates can be indirectly involved in their PACs thru close friends creating them PACs, candidates can get millions in free advertising thru PACs

weaknesses of articles of confederation

federal government couldn’t tax, no strong centralized gov, hard to pass laws

ways the constitution addressed the weaknesses of the articles of confederation

federal and state governments can tax, strong centralized gov, made it easier to pass laws by just requiring a majority vote

block grant

more preferable to states, money given to states with less strings attached, education vs school renovations

catagorical grant

strings attached money for more specific needs, education vic school renovations

consumer driven media

media made with paying consumers in mind (i.e very partisan news networks)

issues with consumer driven media

very partisan, only gives 1 pov, uses strong language to get clicks

what is the electoral college

states get representatives to vote for the president based on population

pro of electoral college

rural/non populated states aren’t drowned out by big cities

con of electoral college

every single electoral college voter from a state votes for 1 party, ignoring the people from their state who don’t want that candidate

horse race journalism

reporting who is ahead/behind in an election

legislative branch function

make/pass laws, represent the people, article 1 section 8 in the constitution

executive branch function w/ consitutional place

enforce laws, article II of constitution

judicial branch function w/ where in constitution

decide if laws are constitutional, article 3 of the constitution

elite model of democracy

government is controlled by a few elites (i.e electoral college, supreme court)

pluralist model of democracy

no 1 group dominates, organized groups compete for influence (i.e interest groups)

participatory government

the people directly rule (i.e town hall meetings, referendums)

delegate congressional voting model

voting to please their constituents (the people)

trustee congressional voting model

by using best judgement, regardless of constituency

politico congressional voting model

bled of the two, weighs factors before making decisions

where in the constitution does it say congress can declare war

article 1 section 8

mccolloch v maryland issue

maryland was trying to shutdown a federal bank within the state by taxing the hell out of it

mccolloch v Maryland decision

the supreme court ruled that it was constitutional for a national bank to exist, and that states cannot tax the federal government

consitutional reasoning mccolloch v maryland

necessary and proper clause - article 1 section 8, supremacy clause - article 4

US v lopez issue

lopez brought a concealed weapon into school, was arrested, and claimed the Gun Free School Zone Act was unconstitutional

US v lopez decision

SC ruled in favor of lopez, agreeing that the law exceeded congress’s power under commerce clause

US v lopez constitutional reasoning

congress made the Gun Free School Zone Act under the commerce clause, claiming that guns in a school zone was a form a commerce, and thus can be regulated. SC ruled this an overreach, and GFSZA was abolished

push poll

a poll that uses strong language to persuade voters

potential issues of push polls on voters

questions in the poll uses strong, emotional language and offers positive/negative points on a candidate. these polls are biased, and are designed to influence voters to vote for a candidate.

public opinion polling

surveys public opinion on certain issues

pros/cons of public opinion polls

pros: gauges a large variety of people. cons: questions can be misconstrued to push an agenda

fed 51 main arguments

separation of powers and checks and balances prevents tyranny and protects liberty

new jersey plan

favored small states, everyone is equally represented with 2 reps each (senate)

virginia plan

favored big states, representation based on population (house of representatives)

necessary and proper clause

congress can pass laws that are necessary and proper to carrying out their enumerated powers, implied power

potential issues of necessary and proper clause

congress could misinterpret enumerated powers, and overreach their powers, like in us v lopez

3/5 compromise definition

when it comes to deciding no population for representatives slave holding states can count slaves as 3/5 of a person

3/5 compromise reason

northern states argued that slaves don’t count because they don’t have rights, but southern states wanted more representatives and wanted them counted as a whole person

main objective of the declaration of independence

to tell king george iii that the US wants independence

result of the declaration of independence

american revolution

objective news

news that reports on factual events with no opinion involved

political commentary

news that talks about current events with expert opinion included, often partisan

incumbent

someone in the position

why do incumbents get re-elected

because they where elected in the first place, therefore they must be trusted to do a good job again

how should polls be designed to eliminate bias?

objectively worded questions, be administered to a wide demographic

federlism definition

the sharing of power between state and federal governments

federalism pro

give state governments some autonomy

federalism con

can create discrepancies in policies from state to state

ways congress can overstep presidential power

override a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote