Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy

• Enlightenment philosophy of:

  • natural rights

  • popular sovereignty 

  • Republicanism

  • Social Contract

• Declaration of Independence - reflecting those enlightenment philosophies

• Three democratic theories (Participatory, Pluralist, and Elite)

• Connection between these theories and Federalist #10 and Brutus #1

• Key ideas of Federalist # 10

• Key ideas of Brutus # 1

• Major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

• Shay’s Rebellion - causes and effects

• Major Compromises of the Constitutional Convention (US Constitution)

  • Great Compromise (Connecticut)

  • Electoral College

  • 3/5ths compromise

  • Federalism (National powers vs. States Rights)

• Madison’s views on Constitution (evolution)

• Articles V - Amendment process

• Article VII - Ratification (most democratic?)

• Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists (Key issues and arguments)

• Fears of the Founding Fathers

• Bill of Rights (necessity?, pros and cons)

• Separation of Powers (purpose)

• Checks and Balances (purpose and examples)

• Key ideas of Federalist # 51

• Enumerated (Delegated, National, Federal), reserved (States), Concurrent and Prohibited powers to the National and State Governments

• Federal Grants, aid programs, revenue sharing, mandates, categorical grants and block grants

• 10th and 14th Amendment (interpretation)

• Implied powers

• Supremacy Clause

• Commerce clause

• Elastic clause (necessary and proper clause)

• McCulloch v. Maryland

• US v. Lopez

Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government

• Bicameral legislature

• 17th Amendment

• Reapportionment

• Redistricting - Baker v. Carr, safe vs. marginal districts (swing seats), gerrymandering, malapportionment - Shaw v. Reno

• Enumerated, expressed, implied powers, prohibited powers

• Power of the purse, commerce clause, elastic clause, foreign policy/military powers

• Leadership in Congress

• Committees in Congress (standing, joint, temporary, conference)

• Most powerful committees in the House and the Senate

• Filibuster and cloture

• Riders, omnibus or “Christmas tree” bill, pork barrel legislation (aka earmarks), logrolling, 

• Congressional voting (logrolling, delegate model (aka representative or agency model), trustee (aka attitudinal), politico model, organizational or party (line) voting)

• Gridlock, partisan, party polarization

• Article 1, Section 8

• Advice and consent (powers)

• Germane vs. non-germane (amendments to a bill)

• 25th, 22nd, 12th and 20th Amendments

• US vs. Nixon

• NY vs. Clinton (Line-item veto)

• Pardons

• Pendleton Act

• Veto, sign, not sign, pocket veto, overrides?, signing statements, veto message

• Expansion of the Bureaucracy

• President and Congress - concurrent powers

• Problems with Bureaucracy

• Impeachment

• Popularity of the president (approval ratings) honeymoon, lame duck

• patronage/spoils system

• Demographics of the Bureaucracy

• Constitution and President (and Bureaucracy) - literal words

• Presidential powers (Executive, Judicial, Legislative, Diplomatic/Military)

• Bully pulpit

• Formal v. Informal Powers (Formal = in Constitution) (Inherent = not in Const.)

• Federalist 70

• Executive Orders

• Imperial Presidency v. Stewardship Theory

• Structures of the White House Staff (Pyramid, Circular, Ad-hoc)

• Roles of the President (Commander-in-Chief, Legislative leader, Party Leader, Head of State, Chief Executive, Chief Diplomat, Communicator in Chief, Economic Leader)

Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

• Certiorari

• Stare decisis

• Precedent

• In forma pauperis

• Opinions of the Court

• Amicus curiae briefs

• Selective incorporation

• Due process (5^th and 14^th)

• Prior restraint

• Symbolic speech

• Wall of separation

• Establishment and exercise clause (1^st Amendment)

• Lemon test and Litmus test

• Search and seizure (4^th Amendment)

• Exclusionary rule (and exceptions – inevitable discovery and “good faith”)

• Self-incrimination (Miranda v. Arizona)

• Death penalty

• Right to privacy

• Reconstruction Amendments (13-15^th Amendments)

• Circumventing the 15^th Amendment

• Plessy v. Ferguson

• 19^th Amendment

  • ERA (Equal Rights Amendment – never ratified)

  • Title IX (Title 9)

• Lawrence v. Texas

• Obergefell vs. Hodges

• Bakke case → Affirmative Action

Key Supreme Court Cases

• Marbury vs. Madison

• Schenck vs. US

• Tinker Vs. Des Moines

• NY Times vs. US

• Engel v. Vitale

• Wisconsin v. Yoder

• McDonald v. Chicago

• Gideon vs. Wainwright

• Roe v. Wade (No Longer a REQUIRED CASE**)

• Brown v. Board of Education

• FOUNDATIONAL DOCUMENTS: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” + Federalist 78

Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

• Political socialization (definition, influences, religion, race, location, etc.)

  • Political socialization: the process of acquiring and developing political beliefs and values

  • Influences: 

    • Family: #1 influence on political beliefs 

      • Kitchen table politics

    • Religion (religious institutions #2)

    • Race

      • African Americans (left), Hispanic Americans (left), Asian Americans (right)

    • Location

      • West Coast and Northeast (left), South and Midwest (right)

    • Schooling

      • More liberal the more schooling you do

  Political Culture (Core Values)

  LICED: shared values (“unamerican” all use it)

  • Liberty

  • Individualism 

  • Capitalism (free market/free enterprise)

  • Equality (before law + of opportunity)

  • DEMOCRACY

  Gender gap: 

  • Gun regulation (women more men less)

  • Welfare (women more men less)

  Polling (types, sampling, questions, reliability)

  • Benchmark polls: track views and concerns

  • Tracking polls: track views over time

  • Entrance and exit polls: before and after voting

    • Bandwagon effect can change voting results

  • Push polls: swaying opinions through strongly worded “questions”

  • Social desirability effect: What people think pollsters want to hear

  Liberal vs. Conservative (ideologies and differences)

  Ideologies:

  • Liberals:

    • Advocate for social equality, government intervention in the economy, and expanded civil rights.

    • Support a more active role for the government in providing social services and regulating business.

  • Conservatives:

    • Emphasize personal responsibility, limited government, free-market economy, and traditional values.

    • Prefer lower taxes, reduced government spending, and a strong national defense.

  Key Differences:

  • Social Issues: Liberals typically support abortion rights and same-sex marriage; conservatives often oppose these.

  • Economic Policy: Liberals favor progressive taxation; conservatives support tax cuts and deregulation (also flat tax).

  • Government Role: Liberals advocate for a stronger central government; conservatives push for states’ rights and less federal intervention.

  Democratic Party Platform vs. Republican Party Platform

  • Democratic Party Platform:

    • social justice, environmental protection, healthcare reform (e.g., Affordable Care Act), and economic equality.

    • Supports progressive taxation, climate change initiatives, and expanded access to education.

  • Republican Party Platform:

    • Advocates for smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and traditional family values.

    • Emphasizes free-market solutions, deregulation, and individual responsibility.

  • Key Contrasts:

    • Healthcare: Democrats support government-provided healthcare options; Republicans prefer private sector solutions.

    • Taxes: Democrats favor higher taxes on the wealthy to fund social programs; Republicans push for tax cuts to spur economic growth.

    • Climate Change: Democrats prioritize environmental regulations; Republicans are more skeptical of regulations, focusing on energy independence.

  Economic policies (Keynesian, supply-side, monetary and fiscal policy)

  • Fiscal Policy: Taxing/spending

    • Dem: Keynesian economics → Govt. has hands on approach (creating jobs, giving money, etc)

      • FDR new deal

    • Rep: Supply side → Lower taxes = increase supply. Deregulation in business

      • “Job creators” 

      • “Trickle down economics” = Dem mocking

  • Monetary Policy: Value of money, inflation 

    • Republicans are more concerned with monetary policy. 

    • Federal Reserve Board

      • Sets monetary policy ( securities, bonds, regulating money reserves, setting interest rates)

  Public Opinion of Federal Government (Executive vs. Legislative vs Judicial)

  •  Theories:

    • Democratic

      • Majoritarian politics (best for majority)

    • Pluralist

      • Interest groups are in power (lobbying)

    • Elitist

      • Elite are in power (manipulation, lying, cheating)

  • Most believe govt has corruption 

  • Approval ratings: Public's approval of president’s job performance

    • Start high, goes down 

  Political Ideologies (Pure Liberal, Pure Conservative, Populist and Libertarian)

  Culture War (definition, issues)

  RAID (wedge/position issues): Religion, Abortion, Immigration, Drugs

Unit 5: Political Participation

Chapter 12 (AMSCO) / VOTING and VOTER BEHAVIOR

• franchise/suffrage/enfranchisement

• Suffrage Amendments (15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, 26th) wording, causes and effects

• 15th - disenfranchisement (poll taxes, grandfather clause, literacy tests, white primary)

• 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act

• Voter turnout

• Voter Apathy / political efficacy (causes, events)

• Voting blocs (gender gap, old vs. young voters, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans)

• Religions influence on voting (Evangelicals, Catholics, Jews)

• Voting models (Rational-Choice, Party-Line, Retrospective and Prospective voting)

• Motor-voter laws (National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) 1993 - goal, success

• 2000 election - problems with election and HAVA (Help America Vote Act)

• Ballots (Australian, Provisional, absentee)

• Voter ID laws (goals, success/failure, discrimination?)

Chapter 13 (AMSCO) / POLITICAL PARTIES

• Functions of Political Parties (mobilize voters, platforms, campaigning, govern) (how, why)

• RNC vs. DNC (goals, organization, members, superdelegates?)

• History of Political Parties

• 1. Federalists vs. 2. Anti-Federalists evolve into - Democratic-Republicans, evolve into Republicans, evolve into Democrats, Whigs (opposition to Democrats, Republican form against Democrats via combo of Whig, Free-soil and Northern Democrats)

• Party realignment/critical elections (1800, 1860, 1896, 1932, 1968)

• Dealignment

• Straight ticket vs. split ticket voting

• Campaign Finance laws (hard vs. soft money, PACs, Super PACs) FECA + BCRA

• KEY CASE - Citizen’s United vs. FEC (AMSCO p. 508-511)

• Minor/Third Parties (why they form, ideological, splinter/factional/bolter, economic protest, single-issue - examples and impact - “spoiler”)

• Problems/limitations of 3rd Parties (Single-Member Districts, Winner-Take-All Voting)

Chapter 14 (AMSCO) / CAMPAIGNS and ELECTIONS

• Voting wards, precincts, polling place

• Ballot measures (Initiative, Referendum, Recall)

• Presidential Race (invisible primary, incumbent, closed primary, open primary, blanket primary, Iowa Caucus, New Hampshire primary, front-loading, state delegates)

• Incumbency Advantage

• General Election - swing states, Electoral College, winner-take-all

• Congressional Elections - midterm elections, incumbency, coattails

• Federal Election Commission (Cause, effects) 

• Types of PACs (Connected, nonconnected, leadership, Super)

• Buckley v. Valeo (1976) (compare and contrast with Citizens United) p. 508-511

Chapter 15 (AMSCO) / INTEREST GROUPS

• Pluralist theory (pluralism)

• Broad Interest Groups (Labor Interest groups, Business Interest Groups, Social Movements (Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Environmental, Consumer)

• Narrow Interest Groups (NRA,

• Drawbacks of Interest Groups

• Institutional Groups (Intergovernmental, Professional, Corporations

• Member Groups (free rider, Purposive incentives, solidary incentives, material incentives, upper-class bias, public interest groups)

• Single-issue and Ideological Groups (ACLU, AARP, NAACP, NOW)

• PACs 

• Iron Triangles / Issue Networks

• Influencing Policy (insider strategies, direct lobbying, outsider strategies, lobbyists, access, give and take? - corruption???)

• Lobbying/Lobbyists (targeting/strategizing, research/expertise, campaigns/electioneering, grassroots, framing the issue, use of media, 

• Interest Groups  and the … executive, courts, congress, pressure on political parties

• Ethics and Reform?? (scandals, congressional acts on lobbying, FRLA, LDA, HLOGA p. 547 AMSCO)

• Revolving door

Chapter 16 (AMSCO) / THE MEDIA

• Political Reporting (sound bites, FOIA, C-Span, Press Conferences, political analysis

• Roles of the Media (scorekeeper, gatekeeper, watchdog)

• Media Ownership and Bias (narrowcasting, Fairness Doctrine, talk radio, FOX news, mainstream media, confirmation bias, consumer-driven media