AP US Gov - Semester 1 final

a political system in which the national government shares its powers with the state/local governments

 the federal & state government have equal power, though the federal government has some power over the state government 

power that given/belong to the state government 

• Intrastate trade (trading within a state) 

• Statewide laws 

• Education 

powers that both the state & federal government have 

• Taxes

• Borrowing money 

• Maintaining courts 

powers that belong to the federal government only

• Declaring war 

• Interstate trade (trade between states)

• Signing treaties

• This case helped to define how federalism would work in the US, and if the US would follow Hamilton or Jefferson's view of federalism & the constitution 

1. Congress has the power (from the constitution & the necessary and proper clause ) to create a bank if it is seen to be necessary and proper in order for congress to work → congress is also given the power to tax (implying that they can use banks to collect money 

• That federal gov can create banks because of the necessary and proper clause in the constitution 

• The federal gov can tax and take money & their implied powers allow them to form and operate banks  

2. States do not have the power to tax the federal government (because of the supremacy clause) a state cannot tax a bank created by the federal government 

• Federal laws & the federal constitution have more power over state laws & the states constitution

• States cannot pass laws that are created to destroy federal laws 

• States cannot tax institution created by the federal government 

• This clause gives congress the power to make laws that are not especially mentioned in the constitution (this can also be called implied powers)

• This impacts federalism because it gives congress power over others parts of government & it allows congress to create & enforce laws they see as “necessary & proper” to have in order to operate the government (and for them to exercise their enumerated powers 

Supremacy clause = this clause gives the federal government's laws have more power & have power over state, and local laws 

• This impacts federalism because it gives more power to the federal government & less to the states (it doesn’t allow for the states to have control over the federal gov in certain aspects)

• This case started a new era of federalism that helped to strengthen the roles of the state & local government (was the first case in many years that the court decided it surpassed congress’s power under the commerce clause)  

1. Lopez’s crime was not directly connected to economic activity

• Having a gun in as school zone isn’t a direct form of interstate commerce (though it can be classified as commerce because of the money that is connected to violent crimes that affect people)

2. The commerce clause only allows congress the ability to regulate interstate commerce (things that travel from state to state) & economic activities that have a large impact on interstate commerce 

• Insurance related gun violence may cause people to not travel to certain parts of the country & may affect commerce 

3. Congress was allowed to pass the Gun Free School Zones Act 

•  This act doesn’t intrude on states authority because some state already have laws in place that prohibit people from carrying guns on school property

• The supreme court had already established that congress can regulate commerce that isn’t directly connected to interstate commerce (if it affects interstate commerce) → the GFSZA didn’t directly affect interstate commerce (and wasn’t connected to commerce) so this allowed congress to pass the act 

Fiscal federalism = how federal, state & local governments share funding with each other in our federal system 

• The 16th amendment allows congress to ability to offer different types of grants to states 

→ Congress has the power to give out categorical grants & block grants to the state (they prefer categorical grants) 

McCulloch v. Maryland helped define that congress has the power tax, and collect money from state & local governments

money from the federal government that is given to the states 

• Not all grants-in-aid have conditions attached to it 

terms created by the federal government, that states must meet in order to receive the federal government's money 

• Not all grants-in-aid have conditions attached to it 

 a grant that is given to a state or local government in order to help them pay for a program or project 

• States prefer this type of grant because it gives them the power to make decisions

a grant (for federal laws) which are meant to help pay for a specific purpose 

• Ex: airports or college dorms 

• The federal gov prefers this type of grant (because they have control over it)

• This type of grant can require a state or local government to help pay for the grant 

 how federal, state & local governments share funding with each other in our federal system 

• The 16th amendment allows congress to ability to offer different types of grants to states

During the time education was separate but equal for children of color (this meant that kids of color would attend schools separate from white students) → linda brown was a student of color and because of separate but equal she had to attend a school that was an 80 minute walk from her house, and was very dangerous 

• The court voted in favor of linda brown because they believed that segregating schools based on race was unconstitutional 

1. The 14th amendment states that people have equal protection under the law → states cannot treat people differently based on their race (segregating public schools violated the 14th amendment equal protection clause)

2. Access to an education should be made equal for all races  

• This case gave more power to the national government to uphold that public schools were not separated by race 

Confederal System = a system that gives more power to the state, and limits the power of the federal government 

→ Federal system = the federal & state government have equal power, though the federal government has some power over the state government 

Main idea: because Britain has mistreated the colonists, the colonists have the right to declare independence from britain 

1. The king took advantage of the colonies by heavily taxing them (without their consent) and taking control over their government. Colonists felt that the British didn’t protect their rights.

2. The kings heavily taxed the colonies, and in return the colonies didn’t receive the benefits of having a king 

3. Colonists have little to no say over how they are governed (people were heavily taxes, and laws were made without permission)

• Was created to prevent the federal government from abusing their power, and to give more power back to the states 

1. The structure of the national government → the US will be unicameral, they will have 1 chamber (no executive or judicial branch) and the government will be a unified power 

2. Every state will have equal voting power (1 vote per state no matter size, or population) 

3. Selecting representatives → each state could send representative to the national legislature 

4. Distributing power → more power was given to the state rather than the national government 

The problems: 

• The national government was underfunded because they didn’t have the power to tax the state 

• The national government couldn’t have a military (shays rebellion was hard for them to handle)

• The central government (the national government) was extremely weak 

• Each state only had 1 vote → this caused each state to operate independently from each other

• This document was hard to pass as it needed 9/13 votes

• It made it hard for anything to be amended as it needed 13/13 votes in favor (which was extremely unlikely)  

1. Federalism: 

• delegated powers = powers that belong to the federal gov

• reserved powers = powers that belong to the state

• concurrent powers = powers that belong to both the federal & state gov)

2. Separation of powers:

• The legislative branch (congress = house + senate): can draft bills, declare war 

• The executive branch (president): can pardon people, and sign bills into laws 

• The judicial branch (supreme court): can interpret laws & the constitution 
  

• Big idea: Shared powers, checks & balances, and separation of powers

• What changed: How people elected the president, the federal government has power over the state government, people besides white men were given the right to vote, the executive branch (the president) gained more power
  

 dividing up the responsibilities between different branches of government 

• By separating the powers the federal government did not have complete control over the government, and therefore they lost some of their power as it was divided up 

 the power between branches is separate but equal —> branches have individual powers, and have the ability to check branches 

• Ex: the president can veto legislation created by congress

a legislative body that has 2 or more branches or chambers 

(legislative & executive) = powers that require more than 1 branch of government in order to execute it 

powers that can be exercised by only 1 branch of government 

Main idea: to convince the citizens of the US why they shouldn’t ratify the constitution 

1. The constitution includes the supremacy clause → he brutus believes that the states will not receive enough support from congress, and won’t be able to support the people's beliefs 

2. The constitution includes the Necessary & Proper clause  → the clause could be interpreted differently, and could give the branches more power (they could abuse their power)

3. The constitution creates a federal court → the federal courts are supposed to be independent, and as they are independent the courts could overrule the state courts  

4. The constitution gives the federal government the power to tax → the government could abuse their power and tax people too much 

5. The constitution allows the federal government to have an army → the government could abuse their power  

• Was written to convince the people to ratify the constitution 

1. Factions will exist → though people may view factions as a negative things if they are taken away people liberty will also be taken away (people should ratify the constitution so that they have the right to fight for what they believe in)

2. The constitution creates a representative democracy → this type of democracy will allow for the people to vote for their leaders, and to give the leaders they elected the power to make the decisions they think are best 

3. The US is a large republic → having a large republic allows for a wider range of candidates (therefore there will be more & better options for candidates) & a larger republic will allow for more factions (a majority faction will not be able to take complete control 

the idea that all citizens can participate in the making of the  government decisions. As the people have the ability to decide public policy, government officials are responsible for implementing those policies 

• Ex: town meetings, voting 

 competing minority groups that represent different interests/ideas as they compete over public policy though not 1 group dominates over the other 

• Ex: interest groups 

a minority of educated, wealthy, and influential people should control the government, and be able to influence public policy in order to benefit the elite, and to be able to maintain their power 

• Ex: electoral college, and money in politics  

different parties have control over the government is divided between the branches (republicans & democrats do not have complete control over all branches of the government)

• This makes passing laws take a long time because it's harder for the branches to work together if they need to 

Parliamentary system (unified government) = one party has power over the others 

1. In a parliamentary system there is a prime minister instead of a president 

2. This type of government has few protections for minorities 

3. Easier time passing laws (harder/longer passing laws in a presidential system)

groups or organizations that connect citizens to the political process 

• Ex: political parties, interest groups, or the media  

Public Opinion Polls = a survey used to collect the opinions of the general public (done in a small sample) 

• This impacts elections elections as it helps show the opinions of the public, and how people may vote in the next elections 

• Political parties take the information from the polls into account & gatekeep the polls 

• Elected officials can use the polls to determine what their constituents opinions are on certain topics 

• Campaigns can conduct private polls to make informed decisions 

• The media can conduct polls and use them to report on elections/update the public about issues 

 the process in which traits, and background (family & upbringing) influence a person's political views  

• Democratic party → liberal

• Republican party → conservative 

Liberal = thinks that the gov should regulate personal behavior less, and regulate the economy more 

Libertarian = thinks that the gov should regulate personal behavior less, and regulate the economy less

Conservative = thinks that the gov should regulate personal behavior more, and regulate the economy less

Populist = thinks that the gov should regulate personal behavior more, and regulate the economy more 

 a statement of a political party's basic beliefs, objectives, and positions on issues, and the plan of action the party will take in support of these positions 

• Republicans = oppose laws that would limit/ban guns, decreased regulation on american businesses 

• Democrats = allow abortions, give americans better access to affordable healthcare 

a single belief, objective, or position in a party (planks build up to make the party platform)

1. People under 40

2. Women 

3. African americans 

4. Latinos 

5. People who went to college/ graduated with a degree

6. People with no religious affiliation 

7. Millennials 

8. People who arent married 

9. LGBTQ+

10. Lower income individuals

11. People who live in urban areas 

1. People over 50 

2. Men 

3. People who are married 

4. White people 

5. White mainline protestants 

6. Evangelical protestant 

7. Mormons 

8. Christians 

9. Regularly attends church 

10. Southerners 

11. Higher income individuals 

 an election in which candidates compete against people from the same party as them (their goal is to win the nomination)

 a meeting of party members (they are not from the same party) to select the delegates for an elections

 an election that signals the start of a realignment shift (a lasting, and sharp shift in voting) in the popular coalition of one or both major parties 

• As the voters shift, it will stay this way for multiple elections 

Two-Party System → a political party system that has 2 major political parties that have the most power in elections 

• Democrats & republicans 

• These political parties have an advantage over minor parties because they have the most realistic chance of winning & having control over the government 

a process used to select the next US president 

• Votes are given out based on the population of the state (the # of senators & # of representatives a state has = the # of votes) 

• If not candidate were to get the 270 votes they would revote and every state would get to vote based on the top 3 candidates in the electoral college (if a state can’t choose they forfeit) 

• A candidate needs to win at least 270 electoral votes in order to become president 

 whichever candidate gets a plurality of votes gets all of the states electoral votes (this is used by 48 states)

• This makes things harder for the minor parties as they are less likely to completely win over a state (can lead to wasted vote syndrome) 

 whichever candidate gets the plurality of a congressional district gets that electoral vote (whichever candidate gets the most votes out of all of the districts also get 2 extra votes)

 a system in which the winner is whoever receives the most votes out of all of the candidates  (even if they did not receive a majority)

• This makes things harder for the minor parties as they are less likely to completely win over a state (can lead to wasted vote syndrome) 

• This affects how candidates create & run their campaigns as they will attempt to do it in a way that will help them win over states

when someone is legally denied the right to vote 

• Ex: felons, immigrants 

any policy that is created to make it harder for people to vote, by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting

• Ex: limiting days for early voting, voter id laws, closing polling places  

Voter turnout = a measure of the percentage of people who have voted in an election 

→ VAP = voting age population 

→ VEP = voting eligible population 

→ PERV = present of registered voters 

• In comparison to other countries the US has a much lower voter turnout 

when seats in the house of representatives are redistributed based on the states population (its done to show how many representatives a state can have) 

 redrawing the districts within a state (must be done every 10 years, each district must be equal in population, contiguous, and cannot be redistricted based on race) 

• political parties redraw districts 

In the state of tennessee people who lived in rural districts their vote counted for more than people who lived in urban areas 

• They hadn’t redrawn their districts in 50 years 

• Each district was only given 1 representative no matter the population in a district 

• Black voters in urban areas were underrepresented & white voters from rural areas were overrepresented (peoples votes were not counted equally)

• This case established that the supreme court does have the power rule on questions relating to redistricting

1. States cannot violate the equal protection rights of the people in their state  

2. The court can tell state that they need to redistrict 

3. Congressional districts cannot be drawn to benefit people of a certain race  

drawing congressional districts with the intention of giving the advantage to one political party, and a disadvantage to the other party 

• Can result in weirdly shaped districts

• It creates more safe districts (districts in which a party is guaranteed to win), and less toss up districts (where either party could win over the district 

At the time slavery had ended & african american men were given the right to vote, and as states began to suppress black voters, congress passed the voting rights act of 1965 that required specific cities, states, counties & countries with a history of discriminatory practices to request clearance from the federal gov before they could change their laws

• In North Carolina few african americans had been elected into their government & they wanted to create a plan that would ensure that african americans could be elated by a legislative district that was a  majority african american (white voters disagreed with this and filed a lawsuit)

1. Redistricting based on race is similar segregation & promotes the idea that people should be judged based on the color of their skin (will lead to conflict)

2. Racial gerrymandering is not allowed 

3. Voters have the ability to challenge the equal protection clause if they thinking that a redistricting plan may separate people based on race 
   

   • This case helped to define what the court considers acceptable vs unacceptable redistricting  

an issue in which the public is divided between rival candidates or political parties opinions/stances on an issue 

an issue in which most of the public agree, and candidates take similar stances on the issue (that best represent the peoples widely held view)

a group of people that come together and try to influence the government to pass policies that the group either favors, and or benefits off of that policy 

• Political parties want to get people elected 

• Social movements want to a political or social change 

• PACs want to raise, donate, and spend money in order to influence elections 

when people are not involved in an interest group but they are receiving benefits from the organization

• Interest groups overcome this by offering material, and purpose incentives 

money, goods, or services that are provided by an interest group 

when people feel good about the impact they are making (a benefit they feel when serving a cause)

• Both are used as incentives to convince people to join the interest group 

 a legislation is used to describe how the federal government spends taxpayers money (this legislation is passed to benefit people in certain congressional districts/states with the hopes of winning vote of the area in return)

• Is viewed as wasteful government spending

• Legislators like this type of legislation because it gives federal funds to either the district or state, and can help them get reelected 

when a legislator votes in favor of another legislators proposal for “pork” in exchange for the promise of future support for the other legislators own “pork”

• is used by legislators to get their “pork” passe

a provision of law that is hidden within a tax or spending bill (done by law makers without a committee hearing or other from of public discussion) 

• This is successful as these bills are very complex, and typically people don’t read the fine print of the laws 

• is used by legislators to get their “pork” passed 

• interest groups provide credible information to legislators, as legislators rely on the interest groups information (because legislators are not experts on all of the issues they vote on)

• If the issue is narrow/complex interest groups information is of great value for legislators 

• (if an interests groups information isn’t credible legislators won’t trust the group)

• Interest groups will rate politicians based on how often a politician votes in favor of policies that are supported by the group 

• 0-100 rating or A-F rating 

• Attempts to influence voters to show who does, and doesn’t vote for something they are about (who they should, and shouldn’t be voting for)

• Offering government officials (ex: members of congress & and their staff) a future job with an interest group in exchange for they work that they are doing 

• - comes with strings attached!!

• Putting pressure on legislators by mobilizing citizens to contact their legislator about an issue 

• Step 1  Interest group will pressure their members to reach out to government officials

• Step 2 interest group members will reach out to the officials, and pressure them about the issue 

• issue public

• Interest groups will find plaintiffs that have been negatively impacted by a policy (that the interest group wants to challenge), and they will create a lawsuit in hopes of convincing the court to strike down/change the policy 

• Ex: the interest group  the NAACP found Linda Brown then creating the Brown v. Board of education case 

• Amicus curiae = friend of the court 

• Interest groups will submit a brief to judges for them to consider the interest groups opinions 

• This is done by an interest group when they are not a party in the case (they just have an interest in the outcome of the case)

• Interest groups will form PACs (political action committees) in order to raise, donate, and spend money to influence elections (their goal is to “buy” access to politicians  

• Super PACs will create independent expenditures (political advertisements) in order to endorse the interest groups opinions (not to tell people who to vote for)

• Interest groups will hire professional lobbyists who have personal connections to legislators and or their staffers to directly persuade them

• Wining and dining → pay for nice gifts, taking them out to dinner, etc in an attempt to soften them up, and get them to help out interest groups 

strategies that create relationships between lobbyists and government officials 

→ typically involves the lobbyists pressuring the elected officials in order to vote a certain way that would favor the interest group 

• Ex: sugar farmers, or doctors & lawyers fighting for the malpractice reform 

 strategies that used in attempt to change public opinion or policy by trying the influence legislators outside of washington 

→ interest groups will collect their members, and get them to put pressure onto elected officials 

• Ex: NRA (national rifle association), or the Sierra Club

 widely shared belief for change in social or political order 

→ their goal is to bring awareness to an issue

• They are different from interest groups because they do not use insider lobbying tactics (used by interest groups), and they are very loosely organized (whereas interest group are heavily organized) 

Thesis: using nonviolent social disobedience is acceptable last resort for members of a social movement as it is used to bring change during times of oppression 

1. The US isn’t upholding the 14th amendment & the value of equality 

2. Nonviolent civil disobedience can be justified when the law that in question is seen as unjust 

3. Social movements may need to use direct action in order to get the political or societal change that they want 

• Is formed by interest groups to collect money with the purpose of donating or spending it an attempt to influence elections 

• Limitations: PACs must have at least 50 contributors & must donate to at least 5 different candidates, can only spend $5,00o per election per candidate a year, and can only spend $15,00 per year to a national political party 

a political advertisement created by a PAC, corporation, or labor union in order to influence its viewers about a certain topic 

• This impacts elections as many people may watch these ads, and it may impact how they vote on a certain issue 

1. Soft money is banned & political parties cannot accept unlimited amounts of it 

2. The individual contribution limit was raised to $2,000, and the law is altered every 2 years based on elections)

3. Banned independent expenditure ads from running 60 days before general elections, and 30 before primary elections

4. Legally political ads must say who payed for the ad whether is was a pac, or candidate 

Their job is to regulate, and enforce the campaign finance law in all elections 

Federal elections campaign act:

1. An individual limit of $1,000 per election per candidate 

2. A single person can donate up to $5,00 per pac per elections

3. Federal taxes can be used to match funds for presidential campaigns only 

• They regulate PACs & Super PACs

Results of FECA: gave incumbents an advantage, independent expenditures were created  

A presidential nominee of a party can choose to receive federal funds in order to pay for their political campaigns 

• Only $1,000 could be spend towards an individuals campaign 

• Candidates are allowed to spend an unlimited amount of their own money towards their own campaign → is protected by the constitution  (there is a limit on how much outside resources can spend on candidates and parties)

• Placing federal limits onto the contribution to other peoples campaigns does not violate the constitution 

• The court ruled in favor of Citizens United because they believed that the 1st amendment cannot limit the amount of money spent on corporate funding of independent expenditures 

1.  Political speech can be exercised by individuals & corporations 

2. Independent expenditures cannot be limited no matter who makes them 

• Super PACs were created as a result of this case & they cannot be regulated by the government (super PACs cannot directly endorse a candidate) 

• Legally Independent expenditures must include who is responsible for the ad & if it was authorized by a candidate 

Entitlement Programs / Social Welfare Programs = a government program that provides people with certain benefits (these benefits are guaranteed by law)

1. Can be means or means tested programs & contributory or non contributory 

2. These programs have increased the US’s mandatory spending & debt 

3. These programs are apart a mandatory part of the budget 

• Possible future issues - because of how fast/how much the mandatory spending is increasing: the national debt will continue to rise & so will interest payments (this will contribute to the mandatory spending crisis, our current rate of spending won’t support future increases for entitlement programs

Budget deficit = when the government spends more money in a year than it collects from taxes 

• The budget deficit connects to the national debt because it is the total combined deficit from the creation of the US until today (the total of all deficit & surplus)

• The federal government will borrow money to make up for the deficit 

when the government spend less money in a year than it collects from taxes 

the individual/group must fall at a certain income level in order to receive the benefits from the program 

program for people regardless of their income level 

• Non means tested programs have higher public support because more people are able to receive the benefits 

Federal revenue = the money collected by the federal government

1. Individual income taxes

2. Payroll taxes 

3. Corporate income taxes

Progressive tax = the more money a person makes the more $$$ they have to spend on taxes 

• Individual states have their own state income, sales, and property taxes 

• This systems is divided by how much money a person makes (the government controls how much people are taxed by the certain amounts of they make)

→ Ex: overall someone makes $100,000, but for their first $10,000 they are only taxed by 5%, and on their next $30,000 they are taxed by 13%, and so on (this type of tax is based on a person's overall income but its controlled by certain increments in which the makes & the government decides) 

Top 4 areas of spending 

1. Healthcare 

2. Social security 

3. Defense 

4. Income security 

• More of the federal budget is taken up by mandatory spending 

• The amount of money spent on our federal government has increased overtime (so has our debt)

• Trends show that a couple years in the future the US’s debt will sharply increase 

Discretionary Spending = things that the government can choose to spend their money on (is not required)

• Ex: the military

things that the government has to pay for (they cannot change the amount of money they spend on it, unless they change the law) 

• The top 3 areas medicare, medicaid, and social security, national debt (interest rate)

• US spends the most money on defense than the next 11 highest nations combined 7

• The US spends more % of gross domestic product than other countries 

• 45% percent of the discretionary budget is spent on defense 

• Historically the US didn’t spend an increased amount of money on defense (unless they were involved in a war), but defense spending changed after the cold war because the US wanted to contain communism, and after 9/11 when the US wanted to protect themselves against communism 

 the government should spend more money during recession & cut spending during periods of high inflation (to create jobs) → liberals idea

• Raising taxes & continuing the current spending

• this doesn’t fit what the people was because they want the lower taxes & to spend more  

 the government should lower taxes & have less economic regulation to stimulate the economy → conservatives 

• Cutting spending 

• this doesn’t fit what the people was because they want the lower taxes & to spend more