AP Government and Politics Notes 

Period A 

The Pre-Chapter

Electing the President  

• Parties host a convention every four years to solidify their nominee and determine their party platform. 

  • A belief / concern of a political party is a plank. 

Popular vs. Electoral Vote

• There are two types of notes at stake in a Presidential race. Popular votes are those cast by millions of Americans on Election Day. A state’s electoral votes are then awarded to the candidate who wins the highest number of popular votes in that state. 

• In order to win a state’s electoral vote, popular vote in the state is needed. 

  • Congressional membership only determines a state’s number - congressmen can not serve as electors. 

• The total number of electoral votes is 538 and the majority is 270. 

  • Rhode Island has 4 electoral votes and California has 54. 

  • A census takes place every 10 years that determines each state’s population

  • The Department of Commerce is in charge of this, which is our own Gina Raimondo!

Article II, Section I 

• Each state shall appoint… a number of electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress…

  • To determine the number of electoral votes in a state, combine the number of senators and representatives.

• The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons… And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and the Number of Votes for each; which they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States… The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. 

• The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed…

• In order to win a state’s electoral vote, popular vote in the state is needed. 

• Congressional membership only determines a state’s number - congressmen can not serve as electors. 

The Real Good: Electoral Votes (But who are the electors?)

• When a political party places a candidate on a ballot in a state, it also nominates a list of people who will serve as a state’s electors if that candidate wins the state’s popular vote. 

• It is these electors who will meet in December to officially cast the state's electoral votes. 

• The winner of a state’s popular vote receives that state’s electoral votes. 

  • In Rhode Island, during the 2008 election, four people were chosen to vote if they won the popular vote. 

  • For Obama he chose Maryellen Goodwin, Mark S. Weiner, Charlene Lima, and John McConnell. 

  • For John McCain he chose Theodore Williams, Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, and Mel Ott. 

What is the Electoral College? 

• A ‘college’ is an old term for a group of people gathered to vote on an issue or a leader. 

  • Pope Francis was selected as the Pope by the College of Cardinals. 

• Similarly, the term ‘electoral college’ refers ro the 538 men and women who will gather across the U.S. in their state capitols to formally elect the next president.

Winning the Presidency 

• To win the presidency, a candidate must secure a majority of the total number of electoral votes available. To win requires 270. 

An Exception 

• In most states, the winner of the popular vote wins all of the state’s electoral votes. There are two exceptions: Maine and Nebraska. 

• The winner of the popular vote in each state wins two electoral votes. Then the winner of the popular vote in each Congressional district wins an electoral vote. 

  • Maine has two congressional districts and Nebraska has three. 

• These states argue it's a fairer way for the electoral college. 

• Overall, the districts in Maine and Nebraska have the same populations. 

  • To represent the split vote its blue and red stripes on the state.

Battleground States (aka Tossup States, Purple States) 

• Battleground states are states that can go either way, blue or red. 

  • Battleground states are Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Winconisn, and New Hampshire. 

• Without battleground states 82 electoral votes are up at stake. 

Election of 1824 

• The candidates of the election of 1824 were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford, and Henry Clay. 

• Andrew Jackson had 150,000 and Adams had 113,000 popular votes. 

  • At the time of the election, there were 261 electoral votes with 131 required for majority. 

• No one won this election and they had to take the top three (Jackson, Adams, Crawford) and bring it to the House. 

  • Each state had to vote. 

  • JQA won

• Because of the rise of the two-party system, we don’t have to worry about a tie. 

A Possible Anomaly 

• With the electoral college, it does not matter if the candidate won the popular vote. If the other candidate won states with more electoral votes, they would win. 

  • For example, Hillary won the popular vote but Trump won with states with more electoral college. We were stuck with him for four long years. 

  • And again in 2000 with Bush and Gore. 

Faithless Electors 

• The term ‘faithless electors’ refers to an elector who does not vote in a manner that reflects his or her state’s popular vote. Alexander Hamilton felt electors should “vote their conscience for the good of America”.

• Electors, he said, would be “most likely to have the information and discernment” necessary to select qualified candidates and to prevent the election of someone “not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualification’. 

  • Some states do have requirements. 

  • Over the years, 179 electors have voted their conscience and not followed their states. 

• Some states require faithless electors to be charged. 

  • In 2016, there were a ton of faithless electors. Many voted for third party candidates. 

In the 2000 Election: Popular Vote

• At the end of the night it was clear who had won the popular vote in 49 states and the District of Columbia. 

• Gore had won enough states to earn 267 electoral votes and Bush had captured 246 electoral votes. 

• But, 270 electoral votes are required to win Florida, the popular vote was too close to call. 

  • The sitting V.P Al Gore won 50,996,582, 48.3% 

  • Governor George W. Bush won 50,456,062, 47.8% 

• Thus, it was unclear who won that state’s 25 electoral votes.

• This was critical because if Gore won Florida, he would have 292, Bush would have 271 if he won Florida. 

• The final tally for Florida popular vote was 2,912,790 for Bush and 2,912,253 for Gore 

  • Thus, Florida’s 25 electoral votes went to Bush 

• Ralph Nader ran 3rd for the Green Party, he had 97,488 votes.

  • The Green Party is rooted in the belief of environmentalism. But, Al Gore literally wrote a book about climate change and later won an Academy Award. So in theory, those votes should have gone to Gore. (Bush backed oil companies)

Chapter 1: The American Government

Branches of Government

• Art I: Legislative branch debates and passes laws (Congress) 

• Art II: Executive branch ensures laws are carried out. (President, VP, and Cabinet) 

• Art. III: Judicial Branch interprets laws to ensure they’re applied according to the Constitution. (US Supreme Court) 

What is Political Power? 

• Power is the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first person’s intentions

• Authority is the right to use power. 

• Legitimacy is the political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution

  • For example, President Nicolas Maduro claimed that he ‘won’ the election in Venezuela. However, Edmondo Gonzalez is the actual leader who was voted in by the people. The U.S., E.U, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, and other nations do not recognize Maduro as the legitimate president, China, Iran, and Russia do recognize and support Maduro for some odd reason. 

  • Ted Cruz was the clear victor for the Republican Iowa caucus in 2016, as he defeated Donald Trump by three percentage points. “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!” 

  • In October of 2016, just weeks before the general election. Trump wanted to cast doubt on the results for the popular. There was no evidence of voter fraud. 

• The reason why Trump makes these claims is to create doubt about the legitimacy. 

• Is an action legitimate use of federal power? For example the National Bank or Lincoln suspending Habeas Corpus? Or the New Deal regulating farming?

  • For context, Habeas Corpus can't be held indefinitely without being charged with a crime. 

  • The Supreme Court ruled the National Bank and the New Deal was constitutional. But, Lincoln suspending the Habeas Corpus was unconstitutional. 

Section 9: Powers Denied Congress 

• The Migration or Importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight…

• The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. 

  • President Lincoln was the president, not Congress. That’s why the Supreme Court ruled in opposition. 

• No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law…

• No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.

What is Democracy?

• Democracy is the rule of many. And direct or participatory democracy is a government in which all or most citizens participate directly. 

  • The root words are taken from the Greek language. Dēmos means “the people” and -kratos means “power.” 

  • The only remaining example of this type of democracy in America is town meetings. (primarily in New England)

• Representative democracy is a government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for the popular vote. 

• In a democracy, everyone participates in every decision, majority rules, no protection of individuals rights, no protection of property rights, not practical for large communities, and always ends in turbulence and violence. 

• A republic is governed by an elected representative, governed by an established set of laws, protection of individual rights, protection of property rights, ideal for large and diverse populations, avoiding extremes: mobocracy and tyranny. 

What Form Should the Government Take? 

• Greek city states practiced direct democracy. 

• Aristotle defined democracy as rule by the many (though not women. slaves, for those who lacked property)

• Thomas Hobbes wrote Leviathan in 1651. He argued that an absolute, supreme ruler was essential to prevent civil war – ‘a war of all against all’

• Without strong government, life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”

  • He claims that without government humans would be destructive and there would be no place for growth.

• Two Treatises of Government was written in 1689 by John Locke. 

  • He argued for monarchy in favor of popular consent. Government exists to protect our ‘natural rights’. Our natural rights are given to us by God / when we are born. 

  • Life, Liberty, and Property are our natural rights.

  • The Founding Fathers strongly believed in representative democracy – and that it should not necessarily simply reflect the will of the people, which was not always synonymous with the public good. 

  • Two Treatises of Government were written during the Glorious Revolution. The Glorious Revolution was a change in government without any violence. Parliament invited a king and queen from Holland. 

• Winston Churchill said ‘Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others’. 

How are Political Decisions Made and Who Makes Them? 

• Majoritarian politics is when elected officials are the delegates of the people, acting as the people wish them to act (as if the US were a direct democracy).  

• But decisions on routine issues cannot always be made based upon the will of the majority (for example, a proposed farm subsidy on sorghum of limiting the amount of cod harvested annually)

  • The Cares Act was COVID-19 Phase III Relief Legislation was to help businesses, hospitals, investments in new medicines, therapeutics, and vaccines, and direct payments to the American people. The bill cost the United States $2 trillion dollars. 

  • The House passed it in a near-unanimous voice vote 96-0. 

  • America First was a movement to keep America out of wars overseas. 

• Such decisions are then often made, or heavily influenced, by what are called political elites – those with much political clout who don't hold office. 

• They typically fall into one of four categories: members of a dominant wealthy class, leaders of business execs, military officials, labor union leaders not holding elected office, appointed bureaucrats within government, and representatives of influential interest groups. 

• Sheldon Adelson, a huge casino owner, donated 25 million to Trump in 2016. His wife was awarded a Purple Heart. 

• George Clooney wrote a column in the New York Times titled “I Love Joe Biden.  But We Need a New Nominee.”

Four Views on the So-Called Political Elites 

• Class view is the government is dominated by capitalists (Karl Marx)

• Power elite view is the government is dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government – political leaders, corporate leaders, military leaders, media chiefs, etc. (C. Wright Mills)

• Bureaucratic view is the government is dominated by appointed officials (Max Weber)

• Pluralist view is the belief that in the U.S. today competition among potential factions and special interest  groups with access to fundraising and mass media, means no single elite, no one class, no bureaucratic entity can dominate political decisions (Robert Dahl)

Does Self-Interest Drive Our Democracy? 

• Some say that yes, everyone is in it for themselves! 

• Others say that there are a lot of good people and good legislation that does what is needed, not what is popular. 

• Some say sort of, everyone is in it for themselves so they cancel each other out when policy is written. 

Is Democracy Solely Driven by Self-Interest? 

• A policy may be good or bad independent of the motives of the person who decided it.

  • Dawes Severalty Act, 1187 is an example of this. 

• The self interest of individuals often is an incomplete guide to their actions. 

• Many of the most important political happenings in the U.S. were led against long odds by people who risked much knowing that they might not succeed and suspecting that, even if they did succeed, generations might pass before their efforts truly benefited anyone.  

  • Senator Lyman Trumball (R-IL) voted against removing Andrew Jackson from office in 1868. He was one of seven Republicans to do this. He stood on his decision and lost his political career because of it. 

  • Pres. Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, then the voting rights act the following year.  Johnson knew this was going to cost him the South and Democrats. This is where the switch happens Southern Democrats go to the Republican party. 

  • “..self interest figures mightily in [American politics], but so do ideas about the common good…” Lyndon B. Johnson 

National Debt

• We currently have $35 trillion in debt. 

• Two choices to reduce the national debt either cut spending or raise taxes. 

  • If they decided to raise taxes, people would go crazy. 

  • And if we lower our spending then people won’t be able to receive government benefits. (like Social Security)

Conservatism vs Liberalism 

A Philosophical Struggle 

• The donkey represents the Democratic party, more liberal leaning. 

• The elephant represents the Republican party, a more conservative party. 

  • The origin of the donkey was taken from Jackson who was referred to as a ‘jackass’. 

  • The elephant comes from an elephant lost during a circus in New York. 

Conservatism

• Conservatism is a political and social ideology that promotes the preservation of traditional institutions, practices, values, and customs, favoring gradual social change. 

  • Conservatives are usually hesitant or cautious about adopting new policies especially if they involve government activism in some way. 

  • They feel that the less government there is, the better. 

  • They agree with Jefferson’s view that ‘the best government governs least’. 

• They generally believe in personal responsibility and individual liberty. 

  • Personal responsibility means ‘you build yourself up’ and ‘you do what you wish to do’. 

• Conservatives believe the role of government should be to provide people the freedom necessary to pursue their own goals. They favor a smaller, limited government. 

• Conservatives strictly support law and order. 

• They support 'traditional American’ or ‘Family values’ — and government support/protection of those values. 

• Conservatives want a strong national defense. 

• Conservatives generally champion the empowerment of the individual to solve problems. 

  • Catchphrase of conservatives: ‘Conservatives work for a living, liberals vote for a living.’

• The root of conservatism is conserve; they are ‘protecting’ traditional values that build our country. 

Liberalism

• Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. 

  • Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

• Liberals believe in alleviating social ills. 

  • This can be in the form of social security and FDIC  (created by Franklin Roosevelt) or medicare. This requires citizens to pay higher taxes. Or free school lunches for kids who need it. 

• Liberals favor the government protecting civil liberties and individual and human rights.

• Liberals tend to believe that people are basically good, and generally emphasize a role for the government in helping reform society.

• Guarantee that no citizens lack basic needs.

• Support butter over guns 

  • It is a debate about government spending. One side of the government is in support of more spending on defense. The opposing side is in favor of spending less on defense. 

  • Our defense outspends the next 30 nations combined. 

  • The US is one of the top nations that does not have a national healthcare plan. 

• Liberalism is tolerant, generous, enlightened, broad minded, lavish, and charitable. 

• Antonym: stingy, miserly, regressive, narrow-minded, reactionary, bigoted. $10 to get into a game game, prejudiced, biased

• The root of progressive is progress; they want progression in this country. 

The Political Spectrum

The Estates General 

• In 1789,( the French Revolution) one side wanted democracy and the opposing side wanted monarchy. . 

  •  “Vive la Révolution” had a more left / liberal position. 

  • Supporters of the monarchy are conservatives / right. 

• In general, political views tend to fall somewhere between the extreme liberal and conservative positions. 

  • The range starts with liberal being more left leaning to conservatives being right leaning. Moderates are in the middle of the spectrum.  

  • The farther you move from the center, the more extreme the philosophy and the political and social positions become.

Abortion 

• The right side of the political spectrum argues: 

  • Human life begins at conception. 

  • Abortion represents the destruction of a human life. 

  • Nobody has the right to murder a human being.

• The left side of the political spectrum argues: 

  • An embryo is not a human life.

  • The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice and the government should stay out of it.

  • Women should be guaranteed the right to a safe and legal abortion. It is a matter of privacy and ultimately, it is the women's choice. 

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization 

• In 1973, Roe v. Wade was the Supreme Court decision to prohibit states from banning abortions. 22 states as of now that have banned abortions at 6 weeks. 

• June 24, 2022, The Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi state law, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Which is known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

  • This court decision allows states to ban abortions within the state. This has led individual state governments to criminalize abortions completely. 

The Spectrum of Abortion 

Extended Political Spectrum 

• The farther you move from the center, the more extreme and the more radical the philosophy and the political positions become. 

The Marriage Debate 

• The left argues marriage should be legal for gay couples to ensure equal rights for all. All individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation, have the right to marry, prohibiting same-sex citizens from marrying denies them their civil rights. 

• The right believes marriage is between one man and one woman. They support a constitutional amendment establishing marriage as the union of one man and one woman. They believe that requiring citizens to sanction same-sex relationships violates moral and religious beliefs of millions of Christians, and Jews, Muslims, and others.

  • The debate is quite similar to interracial marriage, Loving v. Virginia. The case was decided in 1967, ruling in favor of Loving. 

• This debate is extremely influenced by Christian Nationalism

  • Christian Nationalism is the set of beliefs that center around white Christian denominations. 

• The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by Congress in 1996. 

  • It declared that “the word ‘marriage’ means only alega; union between man and no one woman as husband and wife, and the word “spouse” refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”

  • Clinton signed it into law, and later changed his mind, and claimed the law was discriminatory and should be overturned.

  • “Even worse than providing an excuse for discrimination, the law itself is discriminatory, it should be overturned” Bill Clinton 42nd President of the United States in 2013.

Party Membership 

• Democrats tend to gain support from low income, union members / blue collar workers, environmentalists, minorities, women, younger voters, urban areas, northeastern and west coast states. 

• Republicans tend to gain support from wealthy, business owners / CEO’s, men, people who identify themselves as religious, military members, older voters, rural / suburban areas, western and southern states. 

The Fourteenth Amendment

• ‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’ .

• In Loving v. Virginia (1967) the Court held that states could not ban interracial marriage since ‘the freedom to marry has been long recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.’  

• The Fourteenth Amendment is the catalyst for many decisions including abortion, interracial marriage, and same-sex marriage.   

Obergefell v. Hodges

• Two issues before court in this case: 

  • Does the 14th amendment require the state to license marriage between two people of the same sex?

  • Does the 14th amendment require states to recognize marriage between two people of the same sex when marriage was lawfully licensed and performed in another state?

• In 2013, the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision ruled that homosexual marriages are legal in every state. 

  • Anthony Kennedy was the justice that broke the tie. 

The Second Amendment 

• ‘A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall be infringed’ 

• Guns kill people, guns kill children, and they should be more rigorously regulated is the liberal argument. 

  • The Second Amendment gives no individual the right to own a gun, but allows the state to keep a militia (National Guard). 

• The Republican argument is that the Second Amendment gives the individual the right to keep and bear arms. 

  • Gun control laws do not thwart criminals. You have a right to defend yourself against criminals.

  • More guns mean less crime. 

  • Someone who is father to the left would agree that we should allow hunting rifles

  • Someone way to the right believes that we should protect the second amendment and should not restrict it  

  • Someone who is far to the left believes no reason for anyone but the police should own firearms. 

The Death Penalty 

• The United States is one of the only western countries that still practices the death penalty. 

• Approximately 140 nations have banned the death penalty, while 60 nations still permit its use. 

  • There was a short period of time in the nineties that it was deemed unconstitutional but since then has been repealed.

• States are able to decide whether to have the death penalty. 

  • Rhode Island does not have the death penalty due to a wrongful execution of an Irish immigrant

• Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. (Amendment 8) 

  • The process of lethal injection is argued to be ‘cruel and unusual punishment’. 

Capital Punishment

• We should abolish the death penalty. The death penalty is inhumane and ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment. It does not deter crime. 

  • Imprisonment is the appropriate punishment.

  • Every execution risks killing an innocent person.

  • The U.S. ranks with nations like China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in the use of capital punishment.

  • The 8th Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

• The conservative argument is completely the opposite. 

  • The death penalty is a punishment that fits the crime; it is either “cruel” or “unusual”

  • Executing a murderer is the appropriate punishment for taking an innocent life.

• Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, stepbrothers, were convicted of rape and murder in 1983, Henry was sentenced to death and Leon to life in prison.

  • DNA evidence, however, proved their innocence. 

  • After 30 years in prison, they were freed September 2, 2014. 

• Since 1973, over 156 people have been exonerated and freed from death row. 

• Lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, firing squad. 

  • In Alabama, there was a man who was killed using a gas chamber. 

The Central Park Five - 1989

• Five black boys were accused of raping a white woman. 

  • Later, a man in prisoner, a serial rapist, confessed to the rape. 

• The Central Park Five were later acquitted and sued the state of New York. 

• The media coverage made the trial even worse. Even Donald Trump taking out an ad calling for them to be executed. 

Taxes 

• Liberal: Support higher taxes (particularly on those with higher income) 

• Higher taxes enable the government to provide for the working class, funding education, and improving healthcare. 

• We can't afford to cut taxes.

  • Only benefits those who pay less taxes, not the people. 

• Conservative: Support lower taxes and a smaller government. 

• Lower taxes create more incentive for people to work, save, invest, and engage in entrepreneurial endeavors.

• Money is best spent by those who earn it. Allowing people to keep more of their money being spent or invested, thus helping the economy. 

• ‘Show me a conservative at 17 and I’ll show you a man without a heart.’ 

  • ‘Show me a liberal at 40 and I’ll show you a man without a brain.’