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ap Gov LHS > EXAM STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS > Flashcards

EXAM STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS Flashcards

1
Q

How many senators are there? How many from each state? How long is their term of office?

A

100 total, 2 from each state, 6 year term

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2
Q

How many U.S house members are there? How many from each state? How long is their term of office?

A

435, varies depending on population, 2 year term

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3
Q

Who are the current speaker of the house, senate majority leader, and chief justice of supreme court

A

Speaker: Mike Johnson
Senate Majority: John Thune
Chief Justice: John Roberts

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4
Q

Who was the main author of the declaration of independence

A

Thomas Jefferson

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5
Q

What was the main premise of the declaration of independence

A

People have natural rights that cannot be taken away and it is the job of the government to protect these natural rights. They can remove leaders that violate these rights

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6
Q

WHat were weaknesses of the articles of confederation

A

-National government could not tax
-No independent leader to direct the government
-The government couldn’t regulate commerce

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7
Q

How were votes determined in the Articles Of Confederation? How many votes were needed on important issues

A

Every state had 1 vote and 9/13 votes were needed on important issues

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8
Q

What were the Virginia and New Jersey Plan

A

Virginia- Legislative branch would have 2 houses, BOTH houses would be decided by population of each state

New Jersey- There would be 1 house and all states would have the same number of representatives

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9
Q

What was the Great Compromise

A

-2 chambers, 1 where each state has the same number of reps, 1 where its decided by population of each state

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10
Q

How many votes does each state get for President under the Electoral College

A

The sum of the representatives and senators for each state

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11
Q

Which clause speaks to when state laws conflict with national laws

A

Supremacy Clause

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12
Q

What year was the constitution written

A

1787

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13
Q

What is separation of powers?

A

-Assigning law making, law enforcing, and law interpreting to separate branches of government

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14
Q

What happens if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes?

A
  • The house of reps pick the president
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15
Q

What was the original plan for how the President and Vice President were selected

A

-Most electoral votes becomes president, second most electoral votes becomes vice president

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16
Q

How long of a term do federal judges serve? How are federal judges appointed?

A

-Life terms
-They are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate

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17
Q

What compromises were made regarding slavery in order to ratify the constitution?

A

slaves counted as 3/5 of a free person , Cant ban the slave trade for at least 20 years, fugitive slaves had to be returned

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18
Q

What were supporters of the Constitution called? Why did they support this?

A

Federalists, they were concerned that the articles of confederation were too weak

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19
Q

WHat were opponents of the Constitution called? Why did they oppose this

A

Antifederalists, they thought the new national gov would be too strong and that states would lose a lot of their rights

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20
Q

What were the federalist papers

A

85 newspaper articles written to defend the constitution

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21
Q

What were the main arguments of Federalist 10, 51, 70, and 78

A

Fed 10: New gov would not be ruled by a faction

Fed 51:Tyranny would be prevented by checks and balances and separation of powers

Fed 70: 1 single executive as the leader of the executive branch

Fed 78: Judicial branch is the least dangerous because they have neither force or will, only judgement

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22
Q

What were the main arguments of Brutus 1

A

-The size of the US was too large for a strong national/ central government

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23
Q

What was added to ensure the ratification of the constitution?

A

-The bill of rights

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24
Q

Which supreme court case established the principle of judicial review

A

Marbury Vs Madison

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25
Q

What is federalism

A

Division of power between the central gov and state governments

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26
Q

What are characteristics of Dual Federalism?

A

-belief that the powers of the national and state governments are clearly different

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27
Q

What are characteristics of Cooperative Federalism?

A

-Allows the National gov and state gov to undertake functions jointly and often share power

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28
Q

What are enumerated powers?

A
  • Powers that are granted specifically to the national gov in the constitution, especially with congress
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29
Q

What is the necessary and proper clause?

A

-grants congress the authority to legislate as it seems fit to carry out its constitutionally granted powers

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30
Q

What is the commerce clause?

A
  • grants congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations among the several states and with Indian tribes.
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31
Q

What is selective incorporation?

A

-the process that the supreme court applies the bill of rights to states on a case by case basis

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32
Q

What are grants-in-aid?

A

-general term for money paid from one level of government to another level of government

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33
Q
  1. What is fiscal federalism?
A

-the federal gov’s use of grant- in aids to influence policies in the states

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34
Q

What was decided in the Supreme Court case of United States vs. Lopez?

A

-there are limits to the national govs ability to regulate behavior based on the commerce clause
-gave states more power over national gov

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35
Q

What was decided in the Supreme Court case of McCulloch vs. Maryland?

A

-national bank is constitutional and states cannot tax it
-gave national gov more power over the states

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36
Q

What is the 10 th Amendment to the Constitution?

A

any powers specifically given to national gov and not denied to the states are given to the states

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37
Q

What is the role of both the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding
impeachment?

A
  • the house can impeach a president with majority vote, The senate holds a trial which needs a 2/3 vote for removal
38
Q

What is descriptive representation?

A
  • a belief that constituents are most effectively represented by legislators that have similar demographics like race or ethnicity
39
Q

Why does Congress use committees? What are standing committees?

A

-congress uses committees to break up the work load they have
-standing committee is a permanent committee that specializes in a certain policy area

40
Q

What is the role of a committee chair?

A

-set the agenda, head of the committee,and are of the majority party,

41
Q

What is a select committee? When are these used?

A

-temporary committee , usually for investigations and the committee disbands after the investigation is over

42
Q

What are the names of the roles of leaders in both the House of Representatives and the
Senate called?

A

-Speaker of the house-Most powerful person in the house

  • Senate Majority leader- most powerful person in the senate
43
Q

What Constitutional Amendment changes the method in which Senators were selected?
How did this happen?

A

-17th amendment in 1913
-senators were appointed before then ( they are now voted for)

44
Q

What is reapportionment? When does this occur?

A
  • redistribution of representatives among the states, based on population change
  • happens every 10 years after the census
45
Q

What is gerrymandering?

A

-belief that political districts are redrawn to give an advantage to the political party in power

46
Q

What is an incumbent? What is the incumbency advantage? Describe some advantages
incumbents have?

A

-current office holder
-they have greater name recognition, usually have more money, also can mail out things to constituents for free ( franking privilege)

47
Q

What is a filibuster? What is cloture?

A

-Nonstop speech making to prevent a vote in the senate

Cloture-Limits the amount of time that can be spent debating a bill

48
Q

What is divided government?

A

-situation where 1 party controls the white house and another party is the majority in at least 1 of the 2 chambers of congress

49
Q

What is the budget setting process?

A

-The budget is set by the president and it is approved by congress

50
Q

What is mandatory spending?

A

-spending that is required by law that congress does not need to approve each year

51
Q

What is discretionary spending?

A
  • things like the military and education that HAVE to be voted on each year
52
Q

What is a budget surplus? What is a budget deficit?

A

-When the gov collects more in taxes than it spends in 1 year

-When the gov collects less money than it spends in 1 year

53
Q

What is bipartisanship?

A

-2 political parties work together to pass legislation

54
Q

What is the delegate role? What is the trustee role?

A

-Delegate role is when they vote based on the majority of how their constituents wish them to

Trustee role is when they votes based on their individual values

55
Q

What was decided in the case of Baker vs. Carr?

A
  • state legislative districts have to be approximately equal based on population
56
Q

What was decided in the Supreme Court case of Shaw vs. Reno?

A

-race cannot be the only factor in creating a congressional district

57
Q

What are the requirements to become president?

A

-have to be a natural born U.S citizen
-have to had lived in the U.S for at least 14 years
-have to be at least 35

58
Q

How are vacancies in the role of vice president now filled? What caused this change?

A
  • president appoints a new VP who has to be confirmed by both chambers of congress (25th amendment)
59
Q

What role does the president have in the legislative process?

A

-the presidents have become increasingly active in all stages of the legislative process

60
Q

How long can a president serve in office total? According to what?

A

-They can serve 2 terms or a total of 10 years under the 22nd amendment

61
Q

What are some of the main reasons someone running for President may consider in
choosing his/her running mate as Vice President?

A

-you could appeal to different geographic regions or to provide a different strength than the president has

62
Q

What is executive privilege?

A

a right claimed by presidents to keep certain convos, records and transcripts confidential from Congress and other places

63
Q

What is the official process for someone to become a Cabinet member?

A

-appointed by the president, confirmed by the senate

64
Q

What is the State of the Union Address?

A
  • That is an annual speech from the president to Congress, updating them on the state of national affairs
65
Q

Describe the role of Chief Executive.

A

-Overseeing the federal bureaucracy

66
Q

What are executive orders?

A

-a presidential directive that creates or modifies a law that does not need to be approved by congress

67
Q

What is the role of commander in chief? Who can declare war?

A

-They oversee the military chain of command
-ONLY congress can declare war (BOTH HOUSES)

68
Q

How many Cabinet departments exist today? How are cabinet departments created?

A

-15 cabinet departments
-congress creates cabinet departments

69
Q

What is civil service?

A

-a merit based system( actually qualified ) for hiring and promotion instead of it being loyalty bases

70
Q

What is an iron triangle?

A

-a relationship between bureaucratic agencies , congressional committees, and interest groups that join forces to create policy

71
Q

What is deregulation?

A

-a bureaucratic reform by which the gov reduces its role as a regulator of business

72
Q

What is oversight?

A
  • congress ensuring laws are being followed by its original intent or to investigate members of the executive branch
73
Q

Describe the terms for commissioners and the reason for it.

A

-appointed for set terms to be insulated from politics

74
Q

What is political patronage?

A

-filing bureaucratic position based on loyalty

75
Q

What is the Hatch Act and why was it created?

A

-it prevents federal workers from engaging in politics

76
Q

How many U.S. district and appeals/circuit courts are there? Describe the relationship
for each state.

A

-94 district courts, 13 circuit courts
-every state has at least 1 district court and no district court covers more than 1 state

77
Q

What is appellate jurisdiction?

A

-authority of courts to hear cases that have already been tried,

78
Q

What is judicial restraint

A

-a belief that judges closely follow laws and precedents

79
Q

What is judicial activism?

A

-when federal judges follow precents and existing laws loosely and interject their own values in the decisons

80
Q

What is a majority opinion?

A

-outcome the most judges vote for, is the decison of the case and is now precedent for future cases

81
Q

What is a concurring opinion?

A

-you agree with the outcome of the majority, but for a different reason

82
Q

What is a dissenting opinion?

A

-you disagree with the majority opinion (you are in the minority of the votes)

83
Q

How are federal judicial appointments part of a president’s legacy?

A

-because they are for a life term and it gives the president a chance to have a lasting impact on the judicial system

84
Q
  1. What are the roles of Chief Justice?
A

-they direct the conferences of the supreme court

85
Q

What roles does the Solicitor General have?

A

-person that represents the government before the supreme court

86
Q

What are amicus curiae briefs?

A
  • are briefs in a court case filed by those who are not a direct party, but have an interest in it
87
Q

What is “senatorial courtesy”?

A

-district and appeals court nominees have to be acceptable to the home state senator from the presidents party

88
Q
  1. What is precedent (stare decisis)?
A

-the name of a judicial ruling that serves as the basis for ruling in a later case

89
Q

how many articles are in the constitution?

A

7

90
Q

how many amendments are in the constitution

A

27

ap Gov LHS (9 decks)

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