American National Government: Exam 3 Study Guide

Exam 3 Study Guide

The test covers material from the syllabus and classroom lectures since the second exam. The following terms and concepts should guide study, but is not a comprehensive list. The exam consists of 15 multiple-choice questions (2 points each), 6 short answer/definition questions (6.67 points each), and 1 essay (30 points).

Key Terms and Concepts

  • NY Times v. US

  • Oregon v. Smith

  • Unalienable/Unenumerated Rights

  • 9th Amendment

  • 14th Amendment

  • Due Process Clause

  • Roe v. Wade

  • Trimester Test

  • Planned Parenthood v. Casey

  • Undue Burden Test

  • "Mystery of Life" Passage

  • Dobbs v. Jackson

  • Garrison: On the Constitution and the Union

  • Douglass: The Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?

  • 14th Amendment

  • Equal Protection Clause

  • Plessy v. Ferguson

  • Separate but Equal

  • Harlan’s Dissent in Plessy

  • Brown v. Board of Education

  • Tangible vs. Intangible

  • UC v. Bakke

  • Benign vs. Invidious Discrimination

  • Affirmative Action

  • Quota System

  • Plus System

  • Economic Freedom

  • Friedman: Capitalism and Freedom

  • Roosevelt: The New Goals of Politics

  • Kelo v. New London

  • Eminent Domain

  • Tocqueville, Soft Despotism

Possible Essay Questions

  1. Roe, Casey, and Dobbs on Abortion Rights:

    • Explain how the Court in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey argued that the right to abortion depended upon disagreement and uncertainty about when life begins.

    • Connect this uncertainty with the theory of liberty in the "mystery of life" passage.

    • Explain how Dobbs v. Jackson came to a different conclusion about the abortion right based upon the uncertain status of the fetus.

  2. Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education on Equal Protection:

    • According to Plessy v. Ferguson, explain why segregation is consistent with the "equal protection" clause of the 14th Amendment.

    • How did Brown v. Board of Education reinterpret that same clause to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson?

  3. Brown, Social Science, Affirmative Action, and Harlan's Dissent:

    • How did Brown's use of social science set the stage for affirmative action in the Bakke case?

    • What are the disadvantages of affirmative action compared to Harlan’s colorblind Constitution?

  4. Economic Freedom: Friedman vs. Roosevelt:

    • Imagine Milton Friedman has just concluded his address at a conference on economic freedom.

    • The ghost of Franklin Roosevelt visits the conference and explains to Milton Friedman why he was wrong.

    • You are called on to restore order and settle the dispute: who understood economic freedom correctly? What do you say?