Final Exam Study Guide

A word of caution: This is not an exhaustive list by any means; it is not intended as a sole study guide, nor is it intended to reflect what might appear on the Final. In other words there will be material on the exam that is NOT listed on the study guide.

It is intended to serve as a general guide for review not a substitute for studying all the course material. It is your responsibility to review all materials listed on the syllabus and mentioned in lectures. Since the final is partly comprehensive you might also want to look over the previous review sheets.

Remember, it is not enough to simply recognize a term and identify its meaning. You should have a good working knowledge of how specific terms fit into the overall big picture. While a listing of terms implies a narrow review, it is not the intention to force a narrow review. You should make a considerable effort to see the big picture, and know how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

Material Covered on Previous Exams

The Case for Reform; (Ch. 1-4Donovan & lecture notes):

  • Signs pointing to the need for reform
  • Low voter turnout
  • Attitudes about government and political system
  • competitiveness in House and Senate elections
  • evolution of electoral majorities (rise or decline?)
  • Constitutional Amendments (difficult or easy?)
  • number of amendments
  • Bill of Rights
  • achieving electoral reform w/o amendments (examples)
  • Electoral college and possible reforms (See Donovan book); which is the best alternative; Mixed member system of voting;

Theoretical Concepts; (Ch. 1 Kernell):

  • free-rider problem
  • collective/public goods.
  • prisoner’s dilemma
  • plurality
  • majority (simple and supra-)
  • representative vs. direct democracy
  • parliamentary government
  • republic
  • separation of powers

Institutions; (Ch. 2 Kernell):

  • Articles of Confederation (weaknesses)
  • Federalism
  • Electoral College
  • Judicial Review
  • the supremacy clause
  • Marbury vs. Madison (1803) (Judicial Review)
  • Federalist #10 & 51,faction
  • pluralism

Congress; (Ch. 4 Kernell)

  • Proportional representation vs. majority rule
  • rules committee
  • division of labor and specialization
  • the legislative process
  • filibuster
  • sources of funding for congress
  • Buckley vs. Valeo

Representation & Redistricting (Donovan Ch. 3 & lecture notes)

Voting Rights Act of 1965

  • Texas debate over redistricting
  • Competitiveness
  • incumbency advantage

Nomination process (Ch.5 & 6 Donovan)

  • Methods of selecting Presidential delegates: caucuses, closed primaries, open primaries, blanket primaries
  • Consequences for political parties
  • Front loading; consequences
  • What happened in 1968 Democratic primary; consequences
  • Change in presidential nomination process in 1972

The Presidency (Ch. 7 Kernell)

  • Constitutional powers granted to President (commander in chief, head diplomat, chief executive);
  • Presidential popularity
  • unified vs. divided government;
  • the decline of majorities in presidential elections
  • executive and congressional powers in foreign policy and know how this dichotomy contributes to “checks and balances”
  • War Powers Act
  • Know the different instruments of foreign policy

Reforming the Electoral College (Ch. 5 Donovan)

  • What is the electoral college?
  • Problems with electoral college and alternatives—proportional representation, direct election of President; winner-take-all by congressional district;
  • Alternative voting/preference voting

The Bureaucracy (Ch. 8 Kernell)

  • What is bureaucracy?
  • How do people view bureaucracy?
  • Spoils System

Public Opinion (Ch 10 Kernell)

  • Polling techniques
  • Focus groups
  • ideology
  • how do people acquire their political beliefs?
  • Knowledge of politics
  • Stability in beliefs
  • Political socialization
  • Issue publics

Voting (Ch. 11 Kernell)

  • Know the different periods of expanded suffrage, e.g. women, African Americans, young Americans;
  • How do voters decide who to vote for?
  • party identification
  • issues
  • Australian ballot
  • Voting technology
  • First all-mail election
  • problems with internet voting

Material Covered After Second Midterm

Political Parties Ch. 12 Kernell)

  • Political parties and the Constitution (are they mentioned?)
  • What do they do?
  • Why are party labels so useful?
  • Why does the U.S. have a two party system?
  • Duverger’s law
  • Advantages/disadvantages of the two party system
  • Decline/rise in political parties
  • Prospects for third parties

Interest Groups (Ch. 13: Kernell):

  • lobbying
  • access
  • iron triangles (know examples)
  • interest group’s and PAC’s
  • functions of interest groups (provide specialized information)
  • types of interest groups (single/multi-issue groups)
  • how do they overcome free-rider problem
  • what is Sierra Club
  • What is the ACLU
  • what is a citizen interest group
  • interest groups and decline of party affiliation
  • hard v. soft money (what is soft money used for)
  • who does the money predominantly go to

The News Media (Ch. 14 Kernell):

  • media effects
  • sound bite
  • liberal bias?
  • most popular news source
  • how has media ownership changed over time
  • “yellow journalism”
  • “pack journalism”

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Ch. 4 & 5: Kernell):

  • what are civil rights/liberties
  • Jim Crow Laws (poll tax, grandfather clause, etc.)
  • meritocracy
  • Fourteenth & Fifteenth Amendment
  • Plessy v. Ferguson
  • Brown v. Board of Education
  • Bakke v. Board of Regents
  • Lawrence v. Texas
  • affirmative action
  • quotas
  • Gratz v. University of Michigan
  • U.S. Patriot Act
  • Racial Profiling;

The Federal Judiciary (Ch. 9 Kernell):

  • structure of federal judiciary
  • size of Court
  • when does Court accept case for hearing
  • powers of Supreme Court
  • removal of Justices
  • rule of four
  • majority opinion
  • dissenting opinion
  • concurring opinion

Wrap up and miscellany (Ch. 10 Donovan 10)

  • Need and Prospects for reform;
  • Direct democracy
  • term limits
  • registration requirements
  • same day registration
  • vote by mail