AP Gov Exam Need to Know

Declaration of Independence / establishes foundational principles

Articles of Confederation / weak, favored state power, couldn’t raise taxes or military, downed by Shay’s Rebellion

Constitution / rebuilt from the AoC failure, establishes base for whole government

Federalist Paper 10 / factions balance each other out naturally

Federalist Paper 51 / the greed of the branches will balance out, checks and balances

Federalist Paper 70 / energy in the executive is necessary

Federalist Paper 78 / the powers and lifelong terms for the judicial branch aren’t too powerful

Brutus Paper 1 / against the constitution and everything it holds dear, main reason for getting the Bill of Rights passed

Letter From A Birmingham Jail / outlines MLK Jr.s reasoning and main goal, injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere, civil disobedience

Article 1 / legislative branch

Article 2 / executive branch

Article 3 / judicial branch

Article 4 / relationships between the states

Article 5 / amendment process

Article 6 / supremacy clause

Article 7 / ratification

1st Amendment / freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and right to petition

2nd Amendment / right to bear arms

3rd Amendment / quartering of soldiers

4th Amendment / search and seizure

5th Amendment / self-incrimination

6th Amendment / rights of the accused in criminal trials

7th Amendment / right of the accused in civil trials

8th Amendment / cruel and unusual punishment

9th Amendment / unenumerated rights left to the people

10th Amendment / unenumerated rights left to the states

11th Amendment / individuals can’t sue states

12th Amendment / pres and vice pres on the same ticket

13th Amendment / prohibits slavery except as punishment for a crime

14th Amendment / guarantees equal citizenship, due process clause

15th Amendment / can’t deny the right to vote based on race

16th Amendment / income tax

17th Amendment / direct election of senators

18th Amendment / prohibition

19th Amendment / can’t deny the right to vote based on sex

20th Amendment / lame duck amendment, pres enters office Jan 20th

21st Amendment / repeals prohibition

22nd Amendment / the pres only gets 2 terms

23rd Amendment / DC can vote in presidential elections

24th Amendment / prohibits poll tax

25th Amendment / presidential succession

26th Amendment / can’t deny the right to vote based on age, above 18

27th Amendment / congressional pay

Marbury v. Madison / establishes judicial review

McCulloch v. Maryland / maryland tried to tax the federal bank, necessary and proper clause, established legislative power

Schenck v. US / Schenck was handing out anti-draft pamphlets, establishes that freedom of speech can be restricted in times of war

Brown v. Board of Education / black schools were inherently unequal to white ones, overturned Plessy v. Ferguson precedent of separate but equal

Engel v. Vitale / establishment clause, school prayer is unconstitutional

Baker v. Carr / allowed federal courts to hear gerrymandering cases, “one person, one vote”

Shaw v. Reno / racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional

Gideon v. Wainwright / right to legal counsel, part of Miranda rights

Tinker v. Des Moines / students wearing armbands protesting Vietnam, freedom of symbolic speech, freedom of expression clause

NYT Co. v. US / prior restraint, government can only restrict publication of gov documents if it presents a clear danger to individuals (can restrict if it reveals the location of an undercover agent, but can’t if it exposes a corrupt budgeting policy)

Wisconsin v. Yoder / Amish kids were learning stuff against their religion after age 14, free exercise clause

Griswold v. Connecticut / protects the freedom of married couples to seek contraceptives

US v. Lopez / 1990 Gun Free School Zones Act, exceeds congressional power, interstate commerce clause

McDonald v. Chicago / a Chicago gun ban, due process clause, selectively incorporates 2nd amendment to the states

Citizens United v. FEC / Citizens United, a PAC, made a movie that presented Hillary Clinton badly, “corporations are people too” and have freedom of speech under the 1st amendment

5 Foundational Values / individualism, popular sovereignty, equal opportunity, limited government, free enterprise

Participatory democracy / lots of individuals participate in democracy

Pluralist democracy / groups (parties, PACs, interest groups) have influence over the government

Elite democracy / individuals have influence over the government and constituencies

Selective Incorporation / the process through which the Supreme Court applies provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states through the due process clause (if a state passes a law restricting free speech, right to bear arms, free expression, etc. it would be deemed unconstitutional)

Judicial checks on other branches / judicial review

Executive checks on other branches / veto, executive order, signing statements (legislative) appointments, pardons (judicial) enforcement is sort of a check on both, but is not an official check because it’s the pres’s job

Legislative checks on other branches / impeachment, override veto, advise and consent, oversight (executive) impeach judges, advise and consent, shape and size of courts, amendments (judicial) law-making is sort of a check on both, but is not an official check because it’s Congress’s job

Checks on the bureaucracy / appointments, executive orders, signing statements (executive) oversight, advise and consent, laws/budgeting (legislative) judicial review (judicial)

Bureaucracy Parts / departments (really big stuff), agencies (smaller stuff), regulatory agencies (makes rules for private businesses)