AP Government & Politics Exam Review

The Exam

55 multiple choice questions 80 minutes 50%

4 free response questions 100 minutes 50%

• Concept Application 20 minutes 12.5%
• Quantitative Analysis 20 minutes 12.5%
• SCOTUS Comparison 20 minutes 12.5%
• Argument Essay 40 minutes 12.5%

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The Exam

Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy 15-22%

Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Gov. 25-36%

Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights 13-18%

Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs 10-15%

Unit 5: Political Participation 20-27%

Dos

• Write as neatly as possible (without wasting time). You’ll get a better score if the reader can understand what you’re writing. If you make a mistake, simply draw a line through it and write the correct information above it. And, don’t use arrows or asterisk because they can be confusing to the readers.
• Read the question. And then read it again. Think about what you’re going to write. Outline your answer. Make sure you’re only answering what has been asked.
• Reread your work and make sure you’ve answered each question fully and correctly. Have you appropriately LINKED your answer to the question?
• Leave yourself a few minutes at the end to revise or proofread your answers.
• There is NO PENALTY for wrong information, therefore, write as much as you can. If a question asks for two examples, brainstorm and write as many as you can think.
• At the very least, use the EXACT VOCABULARY from the question in each component of your answer. Most rubrics ask for linkage back to the question. This is the sure fire way to move in that direction.

Don’ts

• Don’t give personal opinions (like your political affiliation or whether you like the president’s policies). The Exam is testing your knowledge and understanding of the political process. Don’t waste time stating an opinion, unless you’re asked to do so.
• Don’t give long, unnecessary introductions. Get to the point.
• Don’t give information you weren’t asked for. You won’t get any extra points if you do. So don’t waste your time writing it.
• Avoid spending more than 25 minutes on any one free-response question.
• Don’t fall asleep. Fight the fatigue. Time generally is not a factor. Wasted time is.
• Spend the time that is provided. This is a high stakes exam, do not look back and think about how you wasted it because you were tired, bored, or indifferent.

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Factors Influencing Public Policy

Formal Institutions (explicit in the Constitution)

• Constitutional Principles
• separation of power
• checks and balances
• representative gov.
• Federalism
• Congress (makes laws)
• Presidency (enforces laws)
• Bureaucracy (implements laws)
• Federal Judiciary (interprets laws)

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Informal Institutions (develops outside the Constitution)

• Elections
• Interest Groups
• Media
• Political Culture
• Political Parties
• Public Opinion

I. Theory of Modern Government

• Direct Democracy—type of government characterized by citizens attending a town meeting and voting on issues raised, with the majority prevailing.
• Elite and Class theory—a group theory that revolves around an economic strata of society controlling the policy agenda.
• Government—those institutions that create public policy.
• Pluralism—a group theory that involves different groups all vying for control of the policy agenda. No single group emerges, forcing the groups to compromise.
• Hyperpluralism—is a group theory characterized by many interest groups vying for control resulting in a government that is tied up in gridlock.
• Linkage institution—the means by which individuals can express preferences regarding the development of public policy. (elections, interest groups, political parties, the media)
• Policy agenda—agenda that results from the interaction of linkage institutions.

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I. Theory of Modern Government

• Political party—a group of people joined together by common philosophies and common approaches with the aim of getting candidates elected in order to develop and implement public policy. It is characterized by an organization that is responsible to the electorate and has a role in government.
• Politics—who gets what, when, how, and why.
• Public policy—the final action(s) taken by government in promotional, regulatory, or distributive form.
• Representative Democracy—form of government that relies on the consent of the people and is often called a republican government.
• Strict constructionists—individuals who believe in a conservative interpretation of the Constitution.
• Unitary system of government—type of government that centralizes all the powers of government into one central authority.

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II. Constitutional Foundations

• Articles of Confederation—the first adopted written constitution of the newly independent United States. Because of its weaknesses, the period of time it governed (1781-1789) became known as the critical period.
• Connecticut Compromise—offered at the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, it was adopted by the delegates and created a bicameral legislature, where one house is represented by population, and the other house is represented by the states.
• Consent of the governed—a derivative of the doctrine of natural rights; a philosophy, later adopted by Jefferson when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, that puts the authority of the government in the people's hands.
• Constitution—provides the basic framework of government. It is the supreme law of the land.

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II. Constitutional Foundations

• Federalists: supporters of the Constitution
• Federalist Papers—Alexander Hamilton, James Madison (and John Jay) wrote a series of articles urging the adoption of the Constitution. They argued for establishing a government that could deal with "the tyranny of the majority" by creating three branches of government having distinctive and separate powers.

• Anti-Federalists—opponents of the Constitution. Its members were farmers and represented the interest of the common people.
• Limited government—derived from the doctrine of natural rights, it was adopted by Jefferson and restricts the power of government especially in the area of protecting the rights of the people.

II. Constitutional Foundations

• Declaration of Independence—blueprint for the American Revolution containing three parts. The first part—an introduction including ideas such as natural rights as related to life, liberty and property, the consent of the governed and the concept of limited government. The second part—a list of grievances against the King of England and the third part—a declaration of independence.
• Democratic-Republicans—led by Thomas Jefferson, they were characterized as the party of the "common man." They believed in a more limited role of the central government.

II. Constitutional Foundations

• Federalist Party—headed by Alexander Hamilton, this party, made up of the country's upper class, supported a strong national government and set a policy agenda that would solve the nation's economic problems.
• Natural rights—part of John Locke's philosophy; rights that are God-given such as life, liberty, and property.
• New Jersey Plan—offered at the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, it urged the delegates to create a legislature based on equal representation by the states.
• Second Treatise of Civil Government—written by John Locke, it contains the blueprint principles found in the Declaration of Independence.
• Shays’ Rebellion—a failed attempt by Daniel Shays, a farmer who lost his property, to revolt against the state government. Helped spur the Constitutional Convention.

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II. Constitutional Foundations

• Three-Fifths Compromise—offered at the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, it was adopted by the delegates and counted every five slaves as three people for representation and tax purposes.
• Unalienable rights—rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are derived from the doctrine of natural rights.
• Virginia Plan—offered at the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, it urged the delegates to create a legislature based on the population of each state.

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III. The Constitution

• Bicameral—a two-house legislature.
• Checks and balances—a key aspect of the Constitution of the United States protecting the balance of power among the three branches of government. The concept was first suggested by James Madison in the Federalist Papers.
• Elastic Clause—found in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, it gives Congress the power to make "all laws necessary and proper" to carry out the other defined powers of Congress.
• Enumerated powers—delegated powers of Congress, including the power to collect taxes, pay debts, provide for the common defense and general welfare, regulate commerce among the states, coin money, and declare war.
• Executive privilege—the ability of the president to protect personal material.
• Full faith and credit—phrase used to describe the mutual respect and legality of laws, public records, and judicial decisions made by states.

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III. The Constitution

• Federalism—the overall division of power between the federal government and state governments; as defined in the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. It specifically tells the states that they have reserved powers. Powers not delegated to the government by the Constitution are given to the respective states.
• Electoral college-- consists of presidential electors from each state. The number of electors is based on the state's population. The states with the greatest population have the most electoral votes. When the voter casts a vote for president, in reality the vote goes to one of the presidential electors designated by the candidate in that state. The number of electors for each state equals the number of senators and representatives that state has in Congress. The candidate with a majority of the electoral votes is elected to office. If no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives will determine the outcome of the election.

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III. The Constitution

• Judicial review—derived from the Marbury v Madison decision, it gives the Supreme Court the power to interpret the Constitution and specifically acts of Congress, the president, and the states.
• Separation of powers—originally developed by Montesquieu in The Spirit of Natural Laws written during the Enlightenment and James Madison in Federalist No. 48, this important doctrine resulted in the establishment of three separate branches of government—the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each having distinct and unique powers.
• Supremacy clause—clause that states that "the Constitution, and the laws of the United States... shall be the supreme law of the land."
• Unwritten Constitution—traditions, precedent, and practice incorporated into our form of government that add to the Constitution's elasticity and its viability. Political parties, the president's cabinet, political action committees, and the federal bureaucracy are important examples.

IV. Federalism

• Block grants—a form of fiscal federalism where federal aid is given to the states with few strings attached.
• Categorical grants—include project and formula grants and aim at assisting the states in areas such as health, income security, and education.
• Competitive federalism—begun under Richard Nixon and known as the new federalism, this approach stressed the downsizing of the federal government and more reliance on revenue sharing and grants.
• Cooperative federalism—developed during the New Deal, it is characterized by the federal government's becoming more intrusive in what were traditionally state powers.
• Creative federalism—developed during President Lyndon Johnson's administration, it was characterized by the Great Society programs, which placed a major responsibility on federally funded programs.

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IV. Federalism

• Dual federalism—the earliest type of relationship established between the federal government and
• the states where the federal government's powers were defined as delegated and the state
• government's powers were reserved.
• Fiscal federalism—a concept of federalism where funding is appropriated by the federal government
• to the states with specific conditions attached. The legislation can be in the form of mandates.
• Funded mandates—those regulations passed by Congress or issued by regulatory agencies to the
• states with federal funds to support them.

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IV. Federalism

• Layer cake federalism—federalism characterized by a national government exercising its power
• independently from state governments.
• Marble cake federalism—also known as cooperative federalism, it developed during the New Deal
• and is characterized by the federal government's becoming more intrusive in what was traditionally
• states' powers.
• Unfunded mandates—those regulations passed by Congress or issued by regulatory agencies to the states without federal funds to support them.

V. The Bill of Rights & Civil Liberties

• Bill of Rights—adopted in 1791 by the states two years after the ratification of the Constitution, it established the basis of civil liberties for Americans.
• Civil liberties—those rights of the people that are protected by the Bill of Rights.
• Clear and Present Danger Doctrine—established in Schenck v United States (1919), it gives the government the right to censor free speech if, during national emergencies such as war, it can be proven that the result of the speech will significantly hurt national security.
• Cruel and unusual punishment—doctrine found in the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution that prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive penalties for crimes committed.
• Double jeopardy—legal concept wherein once a verdict is handed down, you cannot be tried again for the same crime.

V. The Bill of Rights & Civil Liberties

• Free Exercise clause—component of the First Amendment to the Constitution that defines the right of the citizens to practice their religions without governmental interference.
• Exclusionary rule—rule that resulted from the Mapp v Ohio decision determining that police may obtain only that evidence that can be had through a legitimate search warrant. Other evidence found at the scene of the crime is not admissible, or is excluded, in the trial.
• Gitlow v New York (1925)—landmark decision in that the Supreme Court incorporated the First Amendment to a state case for the first time.
• Selective Incorporation of the Fourteenth Amendment— one by one, parts of the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states through SCOTUS decisions. Even though the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, incorporation started to take place in the 1920s, reaching its peak during the Warren Court era.

V. The Bill of Rights & Civil Liberties

• Miranda rights—those rights directing police to inform the accused upon their arrest of their constitutional right to remain silent, that anything said could be used in court, that they have the right to consult with a lawyer at anytime during the process, that a lawyer will be provided if the accused cannot afford one, that the accused understand these rights, and that the accused has the right to answer any questions at any time and request a lawyer at any point.
• Procedural due process—a series of steps that are established by the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments that protect the rights of the accused at every step of the investigation.
• Separation of church and state—Also known as the "establishment clause," it is part of the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the federal government from creating a state-supported religion.

V. The Bill of Rights & Civil Liberties

• Substantive due process—legal process that places limits related to the content of legislation and the extent government can use its power to enact unreasonable laws.
• Symbolic speech—forms of free speech guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution, such as wearing a black armband (Tinker v. DesMoines) to protest a governmental action or burning an American flag (Texas v. Johnson)in protest for political reasons.

VI. Civil Rights & Equal Protection Under the Law

• Affirmative Action—programs for minorities supported by government as a means of providing equality under the law.
• Americans with Disabilities Act (1991)—act that required employers,schools, and public buildings to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of handicapped individuals by providing such things as ramps and elevators with appropriate facilities.
• Civil rights—the application of equal protection under the law to individuals.
• De facto segregation—segregation of schools and other public facilities through circumstance with no law supporting it.
• De jure segregation—segregation by law, made illegal by Brown v Board of Education.
• Jim Crow laws—legislation that legalized segregation even after the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.

VI. Civil Rights & Equal Protection Under the Law

• Plessy v Ferguson (1896)—case that ruled that states had the right to impose "separate but equal" facilities on its citizens as well as create other laws that segregated the races.
• Separate but equal—the judicial precedent established in the Plessy v Ferguson decision that enabled states to interpret the equal protection provision of the Fourteenth Amendment as a means of establishing segregation.

VII. The Presidency

• Cabinet—part of the "unwritten Constitution," it was first established by George Washington and includes federal departments such as state, defense etc.
• Chief executive—used to describe the president. Powers found in Article II of the Constitution.
• Executive office of the president—created by Franklin Roosevelt in 1939; it has four major policy making bodies today—the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
• Imperial presidency—term developed by historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.; refers to presidents who dominate the political and legislative agenda.
• Line item veto—policy that would allow the president to veto selectively what he considers unnecessary spending items contained in legislation. Ruled unconstitutional in Clinton v. New York

VII. The Presidency

• National Security Council—chaired by the president, it is the lead advisory board in the area of national and international security. The other members of the council include the vice president, secretaries of state and defense, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and chair of the joint chiefs of staff.
• Pocket veto—rejection of legislation that occurs if the president does not sign a bill within 10 days and the Congress also adjourns within the same time period.
• Senatorial courtesy—policy that gives senators the right to be notified by the president of pending judicial nominations. Once informed, the approval of the senators from the state from which the judge comes is obtained and the appointment process moves on. This courtesy does not apply to Supreme Court justice nominations.
• Trial balloons—selective leaks aimed at testing the political waters.

VII. The Presidency

• White House staff—managed by the White House Chief of Staff, who directly advises the president on a daily basis, it includes the more than 600 people who work at the White House, from the chef to the advance people who make travel arrangements. The key staff departments include the political offices of the Office of Communications, Legislative Affairs, Political Affairs, and Intergovernmental Affairs. It includes the support services of Scheduling, Personnel, and Secret Service and the policy offices of the National Security Affairs, Domestic Policy Affairs, and cabinet secretaries.

VIII. Congress

• Baker v Carr (1962)—case that established the principle of one man, one vote. This decision created guidelines for drawing up congressional districts and guaranteed a more equitable system of representation to the citizens of each state.
• Cloture—the process in which it takes 60 senators to cut off a filibuster.
• Conference committee—a committee consisting of senators and House members that meets to resolve differences in legislation.
• Congressional oversight—power used by Congress to gather information useful for the formation of legislation, review the operations and budgets of executive departments and independent regulatory agencies, conduct investigations through committee hearings, and bring to the public's attention the need for public policy.
• Distributive policy—results in the government giving benefits directly to people, groups, farmers, and businesses. Typical policies include subsidies, research and development funds for corporations, and direct government aid for highway construction and education.

VIII. Congress

• Gerrymandering—state legislatures, based on political affiliation, create congressional districts, many of which are oddly shaped and favor the political party in power in the state making the changes.
• Gridlock—describes people's perception that Congress and the president are in a state of disagreement that results in little legislation passing.
• Incumbents—those elected officials who are running for new terms of office.
• Logrolling—a tactic used in Congress that is best illustrated by one legislator saying to another, "I'll vote for your legislation, if you vote for mine."
• Pork barrel legislation—the practice of legislators obtaining funds through legislation that favors their home districts.
• Reapportionment—the process in which a state legislature redraws congressional districts based on population increases or declines.

VIII. Congress

• Redistributive policy—policy that results in the government taking money from one segment of the society through taxes and giving it back to groups in need. It includes such policies as welfare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, tax credits for business expenses or business investment, and highway construction made possible through a gasoline tax.
• Regulatory policy—policy that results in government control over individuals and businesses. Examples of regulatory policy include protection of the environment and consumer protection.
• Riders—amendments to bills, often in the form of appropriations, that sometimes have nothing to do with the intent of the bill itself and many times are considered to be pork barrel legislation.
• Select committees—specially created congressional committees that conduct special investigations. (The Watergate Committee and Iran-Contra investigators were select Senate committees.)

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VIII. Congress

• Speaker of the House—the representative from the majority party in the House of Representatives who presides over House meetings, recognizes speakers, refers bills to committees, answers procedural questions, and declares the outcome of votes.
• Standing committees—committees that deal with proposed bills and also act in an oversight function. They are permanent, existing from one Congress to the next, such as the House Ways and Means and Senate Appropriations.
• Whips—also known as assistant floor leaders, they check with party members and inform the majority leader of the status and feelings of the membership regarding issues that are going to be voted on. Whips are responsible for keeping party members in line and having an accurate count of who will be voting for or against a particular bill.

IX: The Judiciary

• Amicus curiae—"friend of the court" briefs that may be sent to support the position of one side or the other.
• Civil law—deals with contract issues and tort cases such as negligence and slander and defines the legal rights of individuals.
• Constitutional courts—courts that were formed to carry out the direction in the Constitution so that the Courts would exercise their judicial power.
• Gibbon v Ogden (1824)—case established the principle that Congress has sole authority over interstate commerce.
• Judicial activism—a philosophy of judicial review that results in decisions that overturn precedent.
• Judicial restraint—a court that maintains the status quo or mirrors what the other branches of government have established as current policy.
• Judiciary committee—key Senate committee that is responsible for recommending presidential judicial appointments to the full Senate for approval.

IX: The Judiciary

• Marshall Court—John Marshall's tenure as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, whose leadership resulted in the landmark decisions of Marbury v Madison, McCulloch v Maryland, and Gibbons v Ogden. These cases shifted power to the judiciary and federal government.
• McCulloch v Maryland (1819)—case that established the principle that the federal government was supreme over the state.
• Original jurisdiction—cases heard by the Supreme Court that do not come on appeal and that "affect ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party.
• Special courts—courts created by Congress to deal with cases deriving from the delegated powers of Congress such as military appeals, tax appeals, and veteran appeals.
• Stare decisis—Latin for judicial precedent.

IX: The Judiciary

• Writ of certiorari—Latin for "to be made more certain," the process in which the Supreme Court accepts written briefs on appeal based on the "rule of four" justices voting to hear the case.

X. The Bureaucracy

• Bureaucracies—large administrative agencies reflecting a hierarchical authority, job specialization, and rules and regulations that drive them.
• Government corporation—such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, created during the New Deal, having specific responsibilities that facilitate a specific operation of the government.
• Hatch Act (1939)—law that places restrictions on the kind of political activity a federal employee may participate in.
• Independent regulatory agencies—agencies that are quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial in nature and operation. Examples include the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency.
• Iron triangle network—the interrelationship among bureaucracies, the government, interest groups, and the public, which also establishes a pattern of relationships among an agency in the executive branch, Congress, and one or more outside clients of that agency.

X. The Bureaucracy

• Pendleton Act—known as the Civil Service Act of 1883, it set up merit as the criterion for hiring, promoting, and firing federal employees.
• Quasi-legislative—a characteristic of independent regulatory agencies that gives them legislative powers to issue regulations.
• Red tape - used to describe the difficulty it takes to get answers from a bureaucratic agency.
• Regulatory policy—policy that results in government control over individuals and businesses. Examples of regulatory policy include protection of the environment and consumer protection.

Iron Triangles

XI. Political Parties & Political Action

• National committee—the governing body of a political party made up of state and national party leaders.
• National nominating conventions—the governing authority of the political party. They give direction to the national party chairperson, the spokesperson of the party, and the person who heads the national committee, the governing body of the party. They are also the forums where presidential candidates are given the official nod by their parties.
• New Democrat—a term created by the Democratic Leadership Council in 1992, it denotes a more conservative, centrist Democrat.
• Party eras—a time period characterized by national dominance by one political party. There have been four major party eras in American history—the era of good feeling, the Republican era following the Civil War, the Democratic era following the election of Franklin Roosevelt, and the Republican era following the election of Richard Nixon.

XI. Political Parties & Political Action

• Party machine—the party organization that exists on the local level and uses patronage as the means to keep the party members in line. Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall are examples.
• Party platforms—voted on by the delegates attending the National Convention, they represent the ideological point of view of a political party.
• Party realignment—the signaling resulting from a national election or a major shift in the political spectrum and characterized by the start of a party era.
• Political participation—the different ways an average citizen gets involved in the political process ranging from conventional means of influencing government to more radical unconventional tools that have influenced our elected officials.
• Political party—a group of people joined together by common philosophies and common approaches with the aim of getting candidates elected in order to develop and implement public policy. It is characterized by an organization that is responsible to the electorate and has a role in government.

XI. Political Parties & Political Action

• Reagan Democrats—traditional Democratic middle-class voters turning to Ronald Reagan during the 1980s.
• Religious right—an evangelical conglomeration of conservative political activists, many of whom support the Republican Party.
• Superdelegates— party leaders and elected party officials who automatically are selected as delegates to the National Convention.
• Third political parties—political parties that can be described as ideological, single-issue oriented, economically motivated, and personality driven. Examples include the Free Soil Party, Know-Nothing, Populist, and Bull Moose Parties.

XII. Nominations, Campaigns, and Elections

• Caucus—party regulars meeting in small groups asking questions, discussing qualifications regarding the candidate, and voting on whether to endorse a particular candidate. The Iowa caucus has taken on almost as much importance as the New Hampshire primary because of its timing.
• Convention bump—an increase reflected in presidential preference polls immediately following a party's nominating convention.
• Direct primary—voters, including cross-over voters from other political parties, can express a preference for candidates.
• Gender gap—a significant deviation between the way men and women vote.
• Keynote address—key speech at the national nominating convention that outlines the themes of the campaign.
• Matching funds—limited federal funds given to presidential candidates that match private donations raised during the campaign.

XII. Nominations, Campaigns, and Elections

• Party regulars—enrolled party members who are usually active in the organization of a political party and support party positions and nominated candidates.
• Political action committees—known as PACs, they raise money from the special interest constituents and make contributions to political campaigns on behalf of the special interest group.
• Presidential primary—elections held in individual states to determine the preference of the voters and to allocate the number of delegates to the party's national convention.
• Super Tuesday—the Tuesday on which a number of primary votes take place, with a heavy concentration of Southern states voting.
• Thirty-second spots—paid political ads 30 seconds in duration.

XIII. Voting Behavior: The Impact of Public Opinion and the Media

• Civil Rights Act of 1964—act that prohibited the use of any registration requirement that resulted in discrimination and paved the way for the involvement of the federal government to enforce the law.
• Fairness doctrine—scrapped in 1987, it provided that the media air opposing opinions of the same issue.
• Mass media—consisting of television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, they reach a large segment of the population. It is also considered one of the linkage institutions.
• Motor Voter Act of 1993—signed into law by President Clinton, it enables people to register to vote at motor vehicle departments.
• Political socialization—the factors that determine voting behavior such as family, religion, and ethnic background.
• Public opinion polls—scientific surveys aimed at gauging public preference of candidates and issues.

XIII. Voting Behavior: The Impact of Public Opinion and the Media

• Solid South—dominance by the Democratic Party in the South following the Civil War. The Republicans made strong inroads when Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980 and after the Republicans gained control of the Congress in 1994.
• Sound bites—brief statements by politicians aired on the evening news shows or Sunday morning talk shows.
• Suffrage—the right to vote. Expanded to include African Americans by the 15th Amendment, women by the 19th Amendment, and 18-20 year-olds by the 26th Amendment.
• Voting Rights Act of 1965—act that finally made the Fifteenth Amendment a reality. As a result of this act, any state not eliminating the poll tax and literacy requirements would be directed to do so by the federal government. It also resulted in the establishment of racially gerrymandered congressional districts in the 1980s and 1990s.

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XIV. Special Interest Groups - Lobbyists and PACs

• Campaign finance reform—legislation aimed at placing limits on political candidates accepting money and gifts from individuals and special interest groups.
• Elite and Class theory—a group theory that revolves around an economic strata of society controlling the policy agenda.
• Freedom of Information Act (1974)—act that incorporates sunshine laws; opened up the government's meetings of record to the public and media.
• Hyperpluralism—is a group theory characterized by many interest groups vying for control resulting in a government that is tied up in gridlock.
• Interest group—a public or private organization, affiliation, or committee that has as its goal the dissemination of its membership's viewpoint.
• Lobbyists—the primary instruments of fostering a special interests group's goals to the policy makers. The term comes from people who literally wait in the lobbies of legislative bodies for senators and representatives to go to and from the floor of the legislatures.

XV. The Economy

• Federal Reserve System—federal body that regulates the money supply by controlling interest rates and the selling of government securities.
• Fiscal policy—policy that determines how the economy is managed as a result of government spending and borrowing and the amount of money collected from taxes.
• Laissez faire—French term literally meaning "hands off." Used to describe an economic philosophy of non-government intervention in economic matters such as regulation of business or establishing tariffs.
• Price supports—the government's price guarantees for certain farm goods. The government subsidizes farmers to not grow certain crops and also buys food directly and stores it, rather than let the oversupply in the market bring the prices down.

XV. The Economy

• Redistributive policy—policy that results in the government taking money from one segment of the society through taxes and giving it back to groups in need. It includes such policies as welfare, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, tax credits for business expenses or business investment, and highway construction made possible through a gasoline tax.
• Regulatory policy—policy that results in government control over individuals and businesses. Examples of regulatory policy include protection of the environment and consumer protection.
• Wagner Act—also called the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, it gave workers involved in interstate commerce the right to organize labor unions and engage in collective bargaining and prevented employers from discriminating against labor leaders and taking action against union leaders.

XVI. The Federal Budget

• Balanced budget—public policy that advocates that the federal budget spend as much money as it receives. Attempt made to pass a constitutional amendment mandating this policy failed.
• Congressional Budget Office—set up by the Congress, this office evaluates the cost of legislative proposals.
• Deficit spending—the government's meeting budgetary expenses by borrowing more money than it can pay back.
• Direct tax—money paid directly to the government in the form of income taxes.
• Indirect tax—money paid to the government as a result of purchased goods.
• Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—its director, appointed with the consent of the Senate, is responsible for the preparation of the massive federal budget, which must be submitted to the Congress in January each year. Besides formulating the budget, the OMB oversees congressional appropriations.

XVII. Social Welfare and Entitlements

• Block grants—a form of fiscal federalism where federal aid is given to the states with few strings attached.
• Entitlements—those benefits guaranteed by law paid to individuals by the federal government, such as Social Security.
• Flat tax—an alternative to the progressive income tax where individuals pay the same percentage regardless of how much they earn.
• Medicaid—a shared program between the federal and local governments that covers hospital and nursing home costs of low-income people.
• Medicare—program that covers hospital and medical costs of people 65 years of age and older as well as disabled individuals receiving Social Security.
• Progressive tax—a tax based upon the amount of money an individual earned, such as an income tax. Became legal as a result of the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

XVII. Social Welfare and Entitlements

• Regressive tax—a tax that is imposed on individuals regardless of how much they earn, such as a sales tax.
• Safety net—a minimum government guarantee that ensures that individuals living in poverty will receive support in the form of social welfare programs.
• Social welfare—Entitlement programs such as Social Security and programs such as Aid to Dependent Children paid for by the federal government.

XVIII. The Environment and Energy