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AP U.S. Government and Politics Review

Constitutional Underpinnings

  • Popular Sovereignty: The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, through their elected representatives, who are the source of all political power.
  • Limited Government: A political system where governmental power is restricted by law, usually in a written constitution.
  • Checks and Balances: A system in which the different parts of a government have powers that affect and control the other parts so that no part can become too powerful.
  • Separation of Powers: The division of governmental power among several institutions that must cooperate in decision-making.
  • Federalism: A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units.

Political Beliefs and Behaviors

  • Political Socialization: The process by which individuals acquire political values and beliefs.
  • Public Opinion: The distribution of individual preferences for or evaluations of a given issue, candidate, or institution within a specific population.
  • Ideology: A system of ideas and ideals, especially one that forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.
  • Voting Behavior: The study of how and why people vote the way they do.

Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media

  • Party Systems: A concept in comparative politics concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country.
  • PACs (Political Action Committees): Organizations that raise and spend money to elect and defeat candidates.
  • Lobbying: Engaging in activities aimed at influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact.
  • Media Influence: The effect of media content on audience attitudes and behavior.

Institutions of National Government

  • Congress:
    • Bicameralism: The principle of a two-house legislature.
    • Committee System: The division of legislative work among standing committees, subcommittees, select committees, and joint committees.
  • Presidency:
    • Powers: Enumerated powers (explicitly stated in the Constitution) and implied powers (powers not explicitly stated but necessary to carry out enumerated powers).
    • Roles: Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief Legislator, Head of State, and Party Leader.
  • Judiciary:
    • Judicial Review: The power of the courts to declare laws unconstitutional.
  • Bureaucracy: The complex structure of offices, tasks, rules, and principles of organization that are employed by all large-scale institutions to coordinate the work of their personnel.

Public Policy

  • Policymaking Process: The stages through which policy passes, including problem identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation, and policy evaluation.
  • Types of Policy:
    • Economic: Government actions intended to affect the economy.
    • Social: Government actions intended to affect social welfare.
    • Foreign: Government actions intended to affect international relations.
  • Budget Process: The procedure by which state and local governments and the federal government arrive at a budget.

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

  • Bill of Rights: The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
  • Selective Incorporation: A constitutional doctrine through which selected provisions of the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states through the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • Equal Protection: The principle that all people must be treated equally under the law.
  • Due Process: Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement.

Required Foundational Documents

  • Declaration of Independence:
    • Natural rights: Rights inherent to all human beings (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).
    • Social contract: An agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.
    • Right to revolution: The right of the people to overthrow a government that fails to uphold their natural rights.
  • Articles of Confederation:
    • Weak central government: The national government had limited powers, and most authority rested with the states.
    • Led to Constitution: The weaknesses of the Articles led to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
  • U.S. Constitution:
    • Framework of federal government: Establishes the structure and functions of the federal government.
    • Separation of powers, federalism: Divides power among the three branches of government and between the federal and state governments.
  • Federalist No. 10:
    • Factions are inevitable: James Madison argued that factions (groups of people with common interests) are a natural part of human society.
    • Large republic controls them: A large republic can control factions by making it difficult for any one faction to dominate.
  • Brutus No. 1:
    • Anti-Federalist concerns over central government power: Expressed concerns that the Constitution gave too much power to the federal government.
  • Federalist No. 51:
    • Checks and balances, separation of powers: Argued that the separation of powers and checks and balances would prevent any one branch of government from becoming too powerful.
  • Federalist No. 70:
    • Strong, single executive is necessary: Alexander Hamilton argued for a single, energetic executive to provide stability and decisiveness.
  • Federalist No. 78:
    • Independent judiciary, judicial review: Argued for an independent judiciary with the power of judicial review to protect individual rights and liberties.
  • Letter from Birmingham Jail:
    • Just vs. unjust laws, civil disobedience: Martin Luther King Jr. argued that citizens have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws.

Required Supreme Court Cases

  • Marbury v. Madison (1803):
    • Established judicial review: The Supreme Court has the power to declare laws unconstitutional.
  • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819):
    • Implied powers, supremacy clause: The federal government has implied powers beyond those explicitly listed in the Constitution (Necessary and Proper Clause), and federal laws are supreme to state laws (Supremacy Clause).
  • Schenck v. United States (1919):
    • Free speech limits during wartime (clear and present danger): Speech that presents a "clear and present danger" to the country is not protected by the First Amendment.
  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954):
    • Desegregation of public schools: Segregation in public schools is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • Baker v. Carr (1961):
    • One person, one vote (redistricting): Legislative districts must be drawn to have roughly equal populations to ensure equal representation.
  • Engel v. Vitale (1962):
    • No school-sponsored prayer (Establishment Clause): School-sponsored prayer is unconstitutional because it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion.
  • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963):
    • Right to an attorney in state trials: The Sixth Amendment right to an attorney applies to state court defendants through the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • Tinker v. Des Moines (1969):
    • Student free speech (symbolic speech): Students have the right to express their opinions, even on controversial topics, as long as it doesn't disrupt the educational environment.
  • New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971):
    • Limits on prior restraint: The government cannot prevent the publication of information unless it can demonstrate that it would cause "grave and irreparable" danger.
  • Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972):
    • Free exercise of religion in education: Amish students cannot be forced to attend school beyond the eighth grade because it violates their Free Exercise Clause rights.
  • Roe v. Wade (1973):
    • Right to privacy, legalized abortion: A woman has the right to an abortion based on the right to privacy implied in the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • Shaw v. Reno (1993):
    • No racial gerrymandering: States cannot draw legislative districts based solely on race.
  • U.S. v. Lopez (1995):
    • Limited Congress' commerce clause power: Congress cannot use the Commerce Clause to regulate activities that do not have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
  • McDonald v. Chicago (2010):
    • Second Amendment applies to states: The Second Amendment right to bear arms applies to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • Citizens United v. FEC (2010):
    • Political spending as free speech: Corporations and unions have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advertising.