Reading Questions for Chapter Two: The Constitution 1. Make a list of the points that the text makes on what the Colonial Mind was thinking at the time of the Revolution. 2. Make a detailed list of the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. 3. What was Shay s Rebellion and what role did that play in the push for changing the Articles of Confederation? 4. Why were the Framers suspicious of democracy? 5. Make a chart comparing and contrasting the Virginia Plan, New Jersey Plan, and the Great Compromise 6. What were the other compromises involving the president and the Supreme Court decided at the Convention? 7. What is the difference between a democracy and a republic and how did the Constitution strike a balance between these two forms of government? 8. What is judicial review? 9. List and define the two major principles of American representative democracy? 10. Start memorizing the list of checks and balances. You also need to start learning which powers are given only to the Senate. 11. What was the founders solution to the problem that people will pursue their own self-interest? How is that different from what ancient philosophers believed? What did Madison argue and propose in this context? 12. Make a chart showing the Federalist and Antifederalist arguments about the Constitution. 13. The book lists liberties that are guaranteed in the body of the Constitution. Learn that list. Define writ of habeas corpus, bill of attainder, and an ex post facto law. 14. What arguments did the Federalists use against having a bill of rights? 15. Summarize the three provisions in the Constitution regarding slavery. Why didn t the Founders abolish slavery? 16. Study how to propose and ratify an amendment. Read over the language in Article V of the Constitution. Memorize these methods. 17. In the ratifying conventions, what were the economic divisions of who favored the Constitution? 18. What are the arguments that women were or weren t left out of the Constitution? 19. Outline the criticisms presented of the separation of powers and the counter arguments.
Reading Questions Chapter 3 1. Define federalism and explain how such a system differs from a unitary or a confederal system. 2. Make a chart listing the positive and negative aspects of federalism. 3. List the elements of the Constitution that 1) restrict the powers of the states 2) protect the powers of the states 3) describe how the states should deal with each other and 4) have been used to expand the power of the federal government 4. What was the principle of nullification? 5. Define initiative, referendum, and recall 6. Define mandates. Give examples. Explain the disadvantages to states of federal mandates. 7. Explain what was in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, the 1995 law that the Republicans passed. 8. What are other ways that the federal government imposes costs on state and local governments? 9. Why did the GOP in Congress embrace the idea of devolution and what was the effect of the reform of AFDC?.. 10 11 Why was it possible to enact devolution for AFDC but not for Medicaid? What are the explanations that the book gives for why members of Congress pass laws that cause governors and mayors to complain about the role of the federal government? Reading Questions Chapter 11 1. Read through the six phases of the House of Representatives so that you are clear about the rules changes and the balance of power between the Speaker and committee chairmen. Briefly summarize phases four-six. 2. How has the history and structure of the Senate meant that it would be different from the House of Representatives? 3. What were the main issues in the development of the Senate and how were these issues settled? Make sure that you understand what these terms refer to: filibuster, cloture, Rule 22 4. Why have more congressional districts become safer for incumbent reelection? 5. Summarize the three theories of how members of Congress behave. 6. What are the principal jobs and responsibilities in the party leadership in the Senate?
7. What are the powers of the Speaker of the House? 8. What are caucuses and why are they important? 9. Define the four different types of committees. 10. What do the GAO, and CBO do? 11. How can a filibuster be broken? What do the changes for breaking a filibuster mean for trying to pass a bill in the Senate. 12. What are the arguments for and against term limits? 13. How have the Congressmen s powers and perks been reduced? 14. In general, what type of rules are there to make sure our Congress members are ethical? Reading Questions Chapter 12: The Presidency 1. What does it mean to have a divided or a unified government? Why do we still have gridlock, even with a unified government? 2. How does the difference between representative and direct democracy explain gridlock? 3. What concerns did the Founders have about the idea of having of president? How did the creation of the Electoral College allay those fears? 4. Learn the list of presidential powers. You should know all of them. Pay attention to which powers the Presidents shares with the Senate or Congress as a whole or has sole power. 5. What are the three structures for a president to organize his staff? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? 6. Explain how much influence the president has over his cabinet officials and agency heads. 7. Why is there a tension between the White House staff and cabinet secretaries? 8. Explain the reasons why the president s popularity does and does not have an effect on getting congressional support for his programs. 9. Give details about the following terms: veto message, pocket veto, and the line-item veto. 10. What is executive privilege and what has the Supreme Court said about it? 11. What is impoundment?
12. What are the four groups that the book talks about who have input on a president s program? Be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of each. 13. What are the three constraints on the president s ability to plan a program? 14. What is the role of political polls in decision-making? What are the two models the book describes for using polls? 15. What is the present line of succession if the president should die in office? 16. Summarize the conclusion the text makes about the power of the president and the federal government. 1.What makes American bureaucracy distinctive? Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy 2.What controls does Congress have over the bureaucracy? 3. What concerns does the president have in choosing whom to appoint? 4. How and why has the role of bureaucratic agencies changed since the Civil War? 5. How does the manner in which officials are recruited and rewarded explain their behavior? 6. How can bureaucrats sabotage their political bosses? 7. What are the constraints on what an agency can do? Why do we have such constraints and what effect do these constraints have on agency behavior? 8. Explain what iron triangles are and why they are less common today. 9. How does Congress exercise supervision over the bureaucracy? Explain all the different methods of oversight. 10. What are the five bureaucratic pathologies that the book identifies? Explain why each exists. Why is it so difficult to reform the bureaucracy? Reading Questions - Chapter Seven 1. What are the three political arenas within which a party may be found? 2. In what ways are American political parties weak? (This is an extremely important point so be sure that you understand it and can explain all the reasons ). 3. Briefly summarize the differences between political parties in the United States and in Europe. You can make a bullet point chart.
4. Briefly trace the development of the party system through its four periods, and give reasons for why the parties have been in decline since the New Deal period. Do not go overboard; just make sure you re familiar with the parties and the terms and the chronology. 5. Describe the structure of the major political parties, making sure you understand the roles of the national committees, congressional committees, and the national chairmen. 6. What has been the difference between the two parties in terms of structure and organization? 7. What is a political party machine? How has the power of party machines been weakened? What were some of the positive aspects of party machines? 8. Define and give examples of an ideological party. 9. How does having a personal following reflect a weakened party system? 10. What explanations does the book give for the persistence of the two-party system? 11. Explain why minor parties form, and briefly summarize different kinds of parties. 12. Analyze why third parties are so rarely successful. 13. Describe some of the issue differences between delegates at Democratic and Republican conventions, and indicate whether there are major differences between the parties. Compare these differences with those between delegates of each party and average voters. Reading Questions Chapter Eight 1. How do American elections and those in parliamentary systems differ? 2. How do presidential and congressional campaigns differ? 3. List the key steps in running for president. 4. What are the differences between running in the primaries and the general campaign? Give examples. 5. Define closed, open, and blanket primaries. What does the term coattails refer to? 6. The book discusses the difference between a position and a valence issue. Be sure that you understand this difference. Then, give a couple of examples from the 2008 presidential campaign of position and valence issues. 7. What has been the effect of TV on campaigns? List as many effects as you can. 8. What does the book say are the three factors that determine peacetime presidential elections? Which group normally decides elections? How do the economy and character affect elections? 9. What factors does the book list that people think have an impact on elections, but really don t? 10. What does the book say about the effect of money in presidential elections vs. congressional elections? Explain the connection between elections and incumbency.
11. What are the three reasons that the book gives for why party identification doesn t determine who wins elections? 12. What are the differences between retrospective and prospective voting and what effect does such voting have on elections? Reading Questions Chapter Nine 1. Why are interest groups so common in this country? 2. The book gives four factors that account for the rise of interest groups? Summarize those factors and give examples for each. 3. Define what an interest group is and what its purpose is. What are the differences between institutional interests and membership interests? Give examples of each. 4. Identify and define the incentives to join a mass-membership organization. 5. Define what a public-interest lobby is and give an example. 6. What is the difference between the staff and membership of an interest group? 8. How do interest groups get their funds? 9. Summarize the five activities that the book lists for how interest groups work to influence policy? Give examples for each activity. Assess how successful each type of activity is in influencing policy. This is very important so be sure that you understand this section. 10. What were the weaknesses of the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 and why did Congress decide to enact a new law in 1995? 11. How did the 1995 Lobbyist Disclosure Act strengthen the federal government s regulation of interest groups? Reading Questions Chapter Ten 1. In general, how does American media differ from that of England and France? 2. Define the terms yellow journalism and muckrakers. 3. How have the characteristics of the electronic media and the Internet affected the actions of public officials and candidates for national office? 4. What does the book conclude about the degree of competition in the media?
5. What is the impact of the national press? Define the roles of the national media as gatekeeper, scorekeeper, and watchdog. Think of examples for each. 6. Summarize the rules regulating the media and the government including the following: prior restraint, libel, confidentiality of sources, FCC regulations, Telecommunications Act (1996), Equal time rule, Rightof-reply rule, political editorializing rule, fairness doctrine. Make sure you understand all these rules. 7. Summarize what the book says about the effects of the media on politics. 8. How does press coverage of the president and of Congress differ? 9. What does the book say concerning press bias? 10. Why does American government have so many leaks? 11. Why do people have an increasing lack of confidence in the media? Summarize all the reasons that the book gives. Reading Questions : Chapter 14 The Judiciary 1. What does it mean to say that our system is a dual court system? Explain how our dual court system works. 3. Look at the chart on page 415 and find a way to commit to memory the path that a case takes to get to the Supreme Court. Define writ of certiorari and summarize when the Supreme Court is likely to grant cert. 4. Define judicial review. Make sure you memorize the case, Marbury v. Madison 4. Summarize the two approaches to using the Constitution to decide cases. 5. The book discusses three main stages in the evolution of today s Supreme Court. Give brief generalizations that summarize the main issues of each of these three stages. 6. Summarize the information on the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist courts from the handout 78. Define: district court, courts of appeals, senatorial courtesy, blue slips, and litmus tests. Explain why litmus tests have grown in importance. 8. Summarize rules governing standing. 9. Explain what a class action suit is. What are the pros and cons of having class action suits? 10. Define brief, amicus curiae, Solicitor General, per curiam opinion, opinion of the Court, concurring opinion, dissenting opinion. 11. The book discuses four indicators of how courts have become more powerful. Explain what these four measures are. 12. What arguments does the book present in favor of and against judicial activism? 13. What explanations does the book give for why we have activist courts? 14. List and explain the checks on judicial power from both the other branches of government and public opinion. Chapter 18: Reading Questions 1. What are the three reasons why the liberties claimed by some people become major issues? Give one or two examples for each reason. 2. Explain briefly how the Supreme Court has interpreted the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses. 3. What are the difficulties in using the wall of separation principle?
4. List and explain the circumstances when the Supreme Court has ruled that freedom of speech may be limited. 5. Define the clear-and-present-danger test, libel, preferred position, prior restraint, imminent danger, and symbolic speech. You may just want to put these straight onto your flashcards 6. Summarize the Supreme Court s changing interpretations of how to protect both the due process rights of accused criminals and to preserve the safety of the community. Define the exclusionary rule and the good faith exception. Chapter 19: Reading Questions 1. What does the book say is the pertinent question regarding civil rights? 2. What were the strategies that black leaders followed in order to obtain civil rights? Once basic rights such as voting and integration had been obtained, what issues did civil rights leaders focus on? 3. Briefly outline the steps in the NAACP s strategy in the fight against segregated schools and indicate the success they had in the courts and in implementing desegregation. 4. What was the issue concerning desegregation vs. integration? How has this issue been resolved? 5. What were the four developments that made it possible to pass civil rights bills? 6. What accounts for the change in attitude in Congress towards civil rights issues from the 1960s to the present? 7. How has the Supreme Court changed in its attitudes towards equal rights for women from the early 20 th century to today? What are the two standards the Court uses today to in considering sex discrimination cases? 8. What is the debate between those who support equality of result and those who support equality of opportunity? 9. What are the criteria that the Supreme Court has adapted in defining strict scrutiny of any law involving racial preferences? 10. Briefly summarize the highlights of the government s response to abortion. 11. How did activists for the disabled manage to get The Americans with Disabilities Act passed? Briefly summarize what is included in the law and the objections that some have had to the law Questions on Chapter 16 Economic Policy 1. Summarize how economics affects politics and how politicians respond. 2. How do two kinds of majoritarian (when almost everyone benefits from a policy and almost everyone pays for it) politics complicate the politics of taxing and spending? 3. Summarize the following economic theories: Monetarism, Keynesianism, economic planning, industrial policy, supply-side, Reaganomics. 4. Define fiscal policy, budget deficit, budget surplus, monetary policy, and fiscal year. These are important terms so be sure that you understand them and don t just mindlessly copy them from the book. 5. Summarize the role of the CEA, OMB and secretary of the treasury.
6. What are the two sides of the debate on free trade? 7. How did the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (p. 469) change the budget process? In your answer indicate how the budget process is supposed to work. 8. What are entitlements? What impact do they have on the federal budget? 9. What was in the Gramm-Rudman Act or Balanced Budget Act of 1985? Define sequester. What strategy was adopted when sequestration didn t work? (p. 471) 1 0. Define gross domestic product, recession, fiscal policy, discretionary spending, and mandatory spending. Don t just copy what is in the handout, but try to put your definitions into your own words. Chapter 17: Social Welfare 1. What does it mean to have a means test for a program? 2. What is the political difference between programs like Social Security or Medicare and Aid to Families with Dependent Children that make the latter easier to reform? 3. How do the distinctive factors of social welfare programs in the U.S. affect the programs that we have developed? 4. Study the gray chart on p. 483 and be sure that you are familiar with Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, TANF, Food Stamps, Medicaid, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. 5. What are the three possible solutions for reforming Social Security? 6. What were the problems with Medicare and what are the possible solutions? 7. How was welfare (AFDC) reformed in 1996? Why was it possible to pass this reform? Chapter 20 : Foreign and Military Policy 1. Be sure that you understand how the roles of the President and Congress change according to what type of foreign policy issue is involved. 2. On pp 555 560, the book talks about the extent and limits of presidential power. This should be a review to you from the unit on the Presidency. Make sure you remember all this. Outline briefly the powers that the president has in foreign policy plus the checks on presidential power. Be sure to understand the limits of those checks. 3. What are the limits on the ability of the Secretary of State to direct foreign policy? 4. What is the role of the NSC? 5. Summarize the information about the interplay of public opinion and foreign policy. What is the rally
around the flag effect? 6. Skim through the material on the four world views discussed in the book and be sure you understand what each was. 7. What does the phrase the military-industrial complex refer to? 8. What factors influence the growth or decline of the defense budget? 9. What are the five explanations the book gives for cost overruns on big-ticket items in the defense budget? 1 0. 1 1. 1 2. 1 3. What is the explanation for expensive small-ticket items? Why was readiness given the lowest priority in budgeting? What solution did Congress adopt for base closings? What is the structure of the command in the Department of Defense? The book talks about the 1986 reorganization, the Goldwaters-Nichols Act and how it reorganized the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Summarize that information. 1. Why is environmental policy so controversial? Chapter 21: Environmental Policy 2. How does environmental policy in the United States differ from other countries? 3. The book gives examples of how environmental issues illustrate all four styles of policy-making. From p. 587-596, skim the book and note down how environmental politics represents entrepreneurial, majoritarian, interest group, and client politics. I m interested in your understanding the interplay of different forces on policy-making rather than on your knowing the specifics of environmental policy over the decades. I also want you to understand how the perceived costs of a policy impact public acceptance of that policy.