AP US Government and Politics Exam Notes

2024 AP US Government and Politics Exam - May 6th, 2024, 8:00 AM

Required Foundational Documents

Declaration of Independence

  • Author: Thomas Jefferson (primary), authorized by the Second Continental Congress.
  • Main Points:
    • Declared independence from Britain, justifying the "divorce."
    • Identified Natural Rights: Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness, and the government's job to protect them.
    • Influenced heavily by John Locke.
      • Consent of the Governed.
      • Popular Sovereignty.
      • Social Contract Theory.
      • Limited government.

Articles of Confederation

  • Author: John Dickerson, authorized by the Second Continental Congress.
  • Main Points:
    • Confederal Government: Weak.
    • Congress not given many powers.
    • Unicameral Legislature: Each State = 1 vote (2-7 delegates).
    • 9/13 votes needed to pass laws.
    • No Executive / No Judicial.
    • No power to raise an army.

U.S. Constitution

  • Written by the Constitutional Convention.
  • Main Points:
    • Outlines the structure of the government.
    • Three branches of government with checks and balances.
    • Relationships between states.
    • Amendment process.
    • 27 Amendments (including the Bill of Rights).

Federalist No. 10

  • Author: James Madison, Federalist Papers
  • Main Points:
    • Factions are inevitable; cannot destroy them, so must manage them.
    • A large Republic is the best form of government to address factions.
      • Too difficult for any one faction to gain power.
      • Less likely for corruption.
    • Pluralism: Many factions competing for influence leads to only the best ideas being enacted.
    • Prevents tyranny of the majority.
    • Views of people will be “refined and enlarged” by their elected representatives.

Brutus 1

  • Author: Robert Yates, Anti-Federalist
  • Main Points:
    • The Constitution gives too much power to the central government.
    • Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause) is a blank check to Congress.
    • Supremacy Clause: State governments will be obsolete and impotent.
    • Too large a country for Congress to represent local concerns; ineffective because too many views (factions) form consensus.
    • Can do away with state governments, creating one powerful state.
    • A standing Army in peacetime is a destruction of liberty.
    • Once you give up power, the only way to get it back is by force.
      • “Many instances can be produced where the people have voluntarily increased the powers of their rulers; but few, if any, in which rulers have willingly abridged their authority.”

Federalist No. 51

  • Author: James Madison, Federalist Papers
  • Main Points:
    • Power is divided between three branches of government, each with little control over the other.
    • National/state government.
    • House and Senate are divided & elected in different ways (back then).
    • Checks and Balances: Government must be powerful enough to control the people, but also control itself -- separate but equal powers.
    • All keep power from becoming too centralized -- prevent one person/one group from taking over the government.
    • “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. …”
    • “you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

Federalist No. 70

  • Author: Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers
  • Main Points:
    • Argues for a single, “energetic” executive (president).
    • “energy in the executive is the leading character in the definition of good government.”
    • The president must be a single person; having a dual executive or committee will lead to confusion, disagreement, and inability to act decisively.
    • Debate and disagreement are good for Congress, but poison for the president.
    • The president needs to be able to act swiftly and decisively to respond to crises.
    • Having a single president makes the executive easily accountable; multiple presidents = finger-pointing and shifting blame.
    • Rejects a plural executive, instead a Cabinet of advisors to the President.

Federalist No. 78

  • Author: Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers
  • Main Points:
    • “The least dangerous branch” -- Independent and inherently weaker than the other 2 branches -- cannot enforce its decisions.
    • “no influence over either the sword or the purse,…It may truly be said it have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment.”
    • The judiciary must be independent; case for lifetime appointments.
    • The power of judicial review -- job is to interpret the Constitution.
    • Argues that the federal courts have the duty to determine whether acts of Congress are constitutional and to follow the Constitution impartially.
    • Hamilton viewed this as a protection against abuse of power by Congress.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

  • Author: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • Main Points:
    • Justice delayed is justice denied; “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. …”
    • “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
    • All people should be treated the same under the law (14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause).
    • Nonviolent direct action seeks to create urgency for legislative action.
    • Countered the claim that civil rights protesters were agitating; they were merely pointing out tensions that already existed (uncomfortable truths).
    • Owns extremism in support of a noble cause, such as fulfilling the promise of America (so long as it fits the tenets of nonviolence).

The Constitution of the United States (A Quick, Simplified Summary)

Preamble

  • We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I (almost 50% of the Constitution)

  • The Congress consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate: qualifications, powers, duties, terms of office, regulations, rules, privileges, relationships to states
    • Section 1: Bicameral
    • Section 2: House details
    • Section 3: Senate details
    • Section 7: How a bill becomes a law
    • Section 8: Enumerated (expressed) Powers; commerce clause; elastic clause
    • Section 9: Denied powers

ARTICLE II

  • The Presidency: term, qualifications, duties, powers

ARTICLE III

  • The creation of the judicial system and the Supreme Court: qualifications, jurisdictions, powers. Establishes trial by jury

ARTICLE IV

  • The sanctity of the individual states: full faith and credit clause; rights of citizens, relationship between the states, admission of new states, and protection from the government

ARTICLE V

  • How the Constitution may be amended (proposed by 2/3 both houses or states; ratified by 3/4 states.)

ARTICLE VI

  • Declares the Constitution the Supreme Law of the land (supremacy clause)

ARTICLE VII

  • Original requirements for ratification (9 states)

BILL OF RIGHTS

  • 1. Freedom of speech, religion (establishment and free exercise), press, assembly, and petition
  • 2. The right to own and bear arms
  • 3. Quartering of soldiers
  • 4. Protection of citizens against illegal search and seizure of private property
  • 5. Freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy, right to due process
  • 6. Criminal trials: right to a speedy trial with witnesses, right to a lawyer
  • 7. Right to a trial by jury in a civil case
  • 8. Protection against excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment
  • 9. Constitution is not an exclusive list of rights
    1. States retain all privileges not given to the Federal government

AMENDMENTS 11-27

    1. (1798) Interprets judicial powers
    1. (1804) Sets guidelines for electing the President and Vice President
    1. (1865) Abolishes the practice of slavery
    1. (1868) Defines citizenship and limits states from violating the equal protection of all citizens. Source for selective incorporation.
    1. (1870) Prohibits limiting the right to vote based on race
    1. (1913) Authorizes the collection of federal income tax
    1. (1913) Provides for election of Senators by direct popular vote
    1. (1919) Prohibits the manufacture, sale or transportation of liquor
    1. (1920) Gives women the right to vote
    1. (1933) Changed inauguration day from March to January (shortened lame duck period)
    1. (1933) Repealed 18th Amendment (prohibition)
    1. (1951) Limits the President to 2 terms or 10 years
    1. (1961) Grants Presidential voting rights to the District of Columbia
    1. (1964) Bars poll tax in federal elections
    1. (1967) Provides for Presidential disability and succession
    1. (1971) Lowers the legal voting age to 18
    1. (1992) Congressional pay raises take effect only after next election

Required Supreme Court Cases

Cases about Checks and Balances and Separation of Powers

  • Marbury v. Madison (1803)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Used the Judicial Branch’s inherent power from Article III of the Constitution to establish judicial review as constitutional, affirming checks and balances and separation of powers.
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: Judicial Review

Cases about Federalism

  • McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Used the supremacy clause from Article VI of the Constitution to affirm the supremacy of the federal government and the US Constitution over the states and state laws.
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: Elastic Clause (Necessary and Proper Clause) -- established implied power doctrine (vs. just enumerated powers), which strengthened the federal government. Supremacy Clause
  • United States v. Lopez (1995)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Congress may not use the commerce clause, Article I Section 8, to make possession of a gun in a school zone a federal crime.
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: Commerce Clause devolution

Cases about the Bill of Rights, balance between power of government and individual liberties

  • Engel v. Vitale (1962)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: School sponsorship of religious activities violates the establishment clause in the 1st amendment
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 1st Amendment; religion
  • Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Forcing Amish students to attend school past 8th grade violates the free exercise clause of the 1st amendment
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 1st Amendment; religion free exercise clause homeschool
  • Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Public school students retain 1st amendment freedom of speech/expression while on campus, as long as it doesn’t “disrupt the learning environment”
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 1st Amendment, Free Speech symbolic speech captive audience doctrine
  • New York Times v. United States (1971)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Ensures the freedom of press clause of the 1st amendment by limiting prior restraint except in most extreme cases of national security
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 1st Amendment, free press prior restraint is limited “Pentagon Papers”
  • Schenk v. US (1919)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Speech that represents a “clear and present danger” is not protected speech under the freedom of speech clause in the 1st amendment
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 1st Amendment, Free Speech “clear and present danger” “yelling ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater” - not all speech is protected

Cases about Selective Incorporation via the 14th amendment’s due process clause

  • Gitlow v. New York (1925)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: The first case that used the selective incorporation doctrine, using the due process clause of the 14th amendment to extend the Bill of Rights protections to states
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: selective incorporation
  • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Used the 6th amendment to decide that those who cannot afford an attorney will be provided with one, incorporated to the states via the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: selective incorporation 6th Amendment Right to counsel
  • Roe v. Wade (1973)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Used the 4th amendment's right to privacy to rule that states could not prevent women from having abortions, incorporated to the states via the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: penumbras (HINT: Griswold v. Connecticut, a case about contraception, that originally established penumbras, or “zones of privacy” inherent in the Bill of Rights) right to privacy / abortion
  • McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: The 2nd amendment prevents states from limiting gun ownership for self-protection, incorporated to the states via the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 14th Amendment due process clause Privileges and Immunities Clause 2nd amendment

Cases about the 14th amendment’s equal protection clause supports equality of individuals

  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: School segregation violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment - overturned Plessy v. Ferguson’s separate but equal doctrine
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause

Cases about campaigning, election rules, and redistricting

  • Baker v. Carr (1961)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Used the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment to apply to redistricting - established “one person one vote” doctrine
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: “the political thicket” (i.e. the political question and the role of the SCOTUS) gerrymandering (though this is secondary) “one man, one vote”
  • Shaw v. Reno (1993)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Used equal protection clause in the 14th amendment to prohibit states from racial gerrymandering
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause Section V of the Voting Rights Act (pre-clearance clause) racial gerrymandering vs. communities of interest majority-minority district
  • Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
    • Precedent and Constitutional Reasoning: Political spending by corporations and organizations is protected speech under the 1st amendment and cannot be limited by government
    • Relevant Vocabulary / Key Terms: 1st Amendment Free Speech (Used Buckley v. Valeo - campaign donations were protected expression and cannot be limited by the government)

CHECKS AND BALANCES

  • Legislative (Congress):
    • Override veto (\frac{2}{3}) both houses
    • Impeachment (House)
    • Conviction of Impeachment (Senate)
    • Advice and Consent (Senate) on presidential appointees
    • Appropriations (budget)
    • Approves budget that president submits
    • Declare War
    • Propose Constitutional Amendment (\frac{2}{3}) both houses
    • Ratify treaties (\frac{2}{3}) Senate
    • Congress create/destroy federal agencies
    • Congress creates all courts under SCOTUS
  • Executive (President):
    • Veto power
    • Pocket veto
    • Pardon power
    • Appoint federal judges
    • Submit budget
    • Executive order to override Congressional legislation
    • Propose treaties
    • Recess appointments
    • Convene Congress together
    • Ask Congress to propose law
  • Judiciary (Courts):
    • Judicial review (reviews constitutionality of laws and Executive Orders)
    • Appointments for life/retire
    • Chief Justice presides over impeachment trial

IMPORTANT CONSTITUTIONAL CLAUSES

  • Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8): Congress has the power to regulate “interstate commerce” (with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian tribes)
  • War Powers Clause (Article I, Section 8): Congress has the power to declare war
  • Necessary & Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8): Congress has the power to make all laws “necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers”. Also called the Elastic Clause
  • Emoluments Clause (Article I, Section 9): Generally prohibits federal officeholders from receiving any gift, payment, title of nobility, office, or other thing of value from a foreign state or its rulers, officers, or representatives
  • Ex Post Facto Clause (Article 1, Section 9): Prohibits Congress from punishing someone for a crime committed before it was actually a crime
  • Bill of Attainder Clause (Article 1, Section 9): Prohibits Congress from passing a law which singles out someone for punishment without a trial
  • Contracts Clause (Article 1, Section 10): Prohibits a State from passing any law that “impairs the obligation of contracts” or “makes anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts.”
  • Vesting Clause (Article 2, Section 1): Executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States. Gives president authority over most executive functions (power to “execute” laws)
  • Take Care Clause (Article 2, Section 2): The president “…shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Makes the president implement all laws, even those with which he disagrees
  • Full Faith & Credit Clause (Article 4, Section 1): Court rulings/records/government documents (such as drivers licenses, etc.) have to be recognized state to state
  • Privileges & Immunities Clause (Article 4, Section 2): Have to enforce laws equally to citizens and non-citizens of your state
  • Extradition Clause (Article 4, Section 2): If a person tries to escape punishment for a crime by going to another state, governor can demand s/he be extradited back to state where crime was committed
  • Supremacy Clause (Article 6): Constitution and federal laws made under it are supreme law of the land. In a fight between federal law and state/local law, federal wins
  • Establishment Clause (1st Amendment): Prohibits federal government from establishing a national religion. Extends to appearing to favor one religion over the other. “Separation of Church and State” comes from this clause
  • Free Exercise Clause (1st Amendment): Prohibits federal government from interfering with the practice of one’s religion
  • Takings Clause (5th Amendment): Private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation. Also called “eminent domain” clause
  • Due Process Clause (5th Amendment (fed), 14th Amendment (states)): No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, of property, without due process of law. Used to justify Civil Liberties (Bill of Rights) & through the 14th amendment, incorporation of those to the states (which means that the states cannot have laws which restrict those liberties either)
  • Equal Protection Clause (14th Amendment): No state shall deny any person under US jurisdiction equal protection of the laws. Used to justify Civil Rights legislation

TERMINOLOGY

  • Theories of Government
    • Social Contract Theory: People live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior
    • Participatory Theory of Democracy: Model of democracy that emphasizes broad participation of constituents (people)
    • Pluralist Theory of Democracy: Model of democracy in which competition among all affected interests shapes public policy
    • Elite Theory of Democracy: Model of democracy in which a few powerful “elites” (think business owners and other wealthy individuals) dominate the democratic process
    • Republicanism: The idea that the democratic process is best achieved by a representative government in which the people elect representatives to serve their interests in government
  • Federalism
    • Federalism: A constitutional division of powers between a federal and state/local governments
    • Fiscal federalism: A federal government accomplishing its goals at the state level by means of granting money (block grants, categorical grants, etc.)
    • Centralists: Those favoring government control more at the federal level
    • Decentralists: Those favoring government control more at the state/local level
    • Devolution: The process of power being handed down to the states by the federal government
  • Justice/Civil Rights & Liberties (Unit 3: Civil Liberties)
    • Civil Liberties v. Civil Rights: Civil liberties = Protection FROM the government given to individuals (Bill of Rights). Civil rights = Protections given BY the government to groups in order to create equal conditions (anti-discrimination, given through Equal Protection Clause of 14th Amendment)
    • Due Process (Substantive & Procedural): Due process: fair treatment through the normal judiciary system. Substantive due process: the substance of the laws made must be fair in themselves. Procedural due process: the procedures by which law enforcement and the justice system follow must be fair and abide by the same rules for everyone
    • Selective Incorporation: The process by which the Bill of Rights were “incorporated” into the states. This means that state laws had to also not infringe on the liberties given in the Bill of Rights
    • Judicial Activism (Unit 2: Judiciary): The theory that the Constitution is to be interpreted as needed for the present time, and a belief that judges are to feel free to strike down laws that they believe don’t fit that interpretation of the Constitution
    • Judicial Restraint (Unit 2: Judiciary): The theory that the Constitution should be interpreted as the founders intended, and limits the powers of judges to strike down a law, believing that the court should uphold all acts and laws of Congress and legislatures unless they very clearly oppose the United States Constitution
    • Stare decisis (Unit 2: Judiciary): “Let the decision stand” The idea that judges (in courts lower than SCOTUS) must adhere to established precedent in their rulings
  • Political Ideologies
    • Conservatism: A belief in limited government and economic freedom, Fiscal = Limit government spending, Social = Uphold traditional values. Often tied with evangelical Christians
    • Liberalism: A belief in greater government control with a focus on equality and justice
    • Libertarianism: A strong belief in individual freedom and that government should exist for essential purposes only, such as national defense
  • Economic Theories
    • Smith (Capitalist view): As little government involvement in the economy as possible. Belief that the market will work itself out. “Laissez faire” (meaning literally, let do). Purported by Adam Smith in the 1700s.
    • Keynesian Economics: The belief that government spending is what brings a country out of an economic downturn. Purported by John Maynard Keynes in the early 1900s.
    • Monetary Policy: Policy which controls the money supply. Done by the Federal Reserve (the Fed). Loose monetary policy: interest rates are low, credit is easy to get, goal is to speed up the economy. Tight monetary policy: interest rates are high, credit is harder to get, the goal is to slow down the economy
    • Fiscal Policy: Tax-and-spend policy. Done by Congress (and the President, to a degree) Regulates revenues and expenditures through the budget

IMPORTANT LEGISLATION (not required, but could be useful)

  • Affordable Care Act (2010): a.k.a. Obamacare, An expansion of Medicaid, most employers must provide health insurance, have insurance or face surtax, prevents rejection based on pre-existing conditions. Also referred to as "Obamacare", signed into law in 2010. Features federal mandates and block grants.
  • American with Disabilities Act (1990): federal mandate that requires employers and public facilities to make