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Three Things to Remember

If the verb is Identify it requires at least one sentence saying WHAT it is. If the verb is Describe, it requires at least two sentences saying WHAT it is and HOW it operates. If the verb is Explain, then it requires at least three sentences saying WHAT it is, HOW it operates, and WHY it is done or WHY this is significant.
Make a specific reference to the scenario in each section of your answer.
If the question asks for one strategy or example and you provide two, the grader will accept the one that is correct—unless the points contradict or negate each other. (Think of this as your spare tire.)

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The essays on the AP exam will be closed book.

Write this practice essay without any resources.

Concept Application Essay (20 minutes)

The following is from the 2016 Republican Party Platform.

“Because the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions affect job creation, upward mobility for workers, and equitable prosperity, they should be transparent. Similarly, the Federal Reserve’s important role as a lender of last resort should also be carried out in a more transparent manner. The Republican Party will advance legislation that brings transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Open Market Committee, and the Federal Reserve’s dealing with foreign banks.”

After reading the passage, respond to A, B, and C below.

Referencing the scenario, describe an action, other than advancing legislation, that members of Congress may take to bring transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve.
In the context of this section of the Republican Party platform, explain how the action to increase transparency and accountability described in part A would affect the Federal Reserve’s ability to make economic policy.
The passage suggests that greater transparency in the Federal Reserve will help workers and create more equitable prosperity for average Americans. Suppose the Democratic Party wants to create a statement about helping workers and reducing inequality in their party platform. Explain how the ideological perspective of the Democratic Party would likely affect how it would address these economic issues.

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Check for the Basics

Did you label your answer A, B, C?
Did you refer to the scenario in each part — Federal Reserve, Republican platform, etc.?
Parts B and C have EXPLAIN as the verb. Do you have WHAT, HOW, and WHY for each section?
Do you have a spare tire for any of the sections? With this question, you could actually include a spare tire in each of the three sections.

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Possible Answers

Note that there may be other perfectly good answers.
These are simply suggestions.

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Possible Answers

Referencing the scenario, describe an action, other than advancing legislation, that members of Congress may take to bring transparency and accountability to the Federal Reserve.
What Is It? — Congress could hold legislative oversight hearings.
How Does It Work? — They could call members of the Federal Reserve Board to testify before congressional committees on Federal Reserve policies, the state of the economy, etc.

What Is It? — Congress could confirm or reject nominees to the Federal Reserve Board.
How Does It Work? — The president has the power to nominate members of the Federal Reserve Board. Those nominees are then approved or rejected by Congress. Congress could limit its approval to nominees whom they felt would be transparent and accountable.

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Possible Answers

In the context of this section of the Republican Party platform, explain how the action to increase transparency and accountability described in part A would affect the Federal Reserve’s ability to make economic policy.
What Is It?— Congress could hold legislative oversight hearings.
How Does It Work? — These hearings could pressure Federal Reserve Board members to explain their policies or their views of the economy.
Why Is It Significant? — These hearings would apply political pressure to Federal Reserve Board. This could nudge the Fed to adopt a particular policy favored by members of Congress. One could argue that the Fed makes better policy when it is not influenced by short-term political concerns.

What Is It?— Congress could confirm or reject nominees to the Federal Reserve Board.
How Does It Work? — The president nominates individuals to fill vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board. Congress holds confirmation hearings to question the nominees and then votes to confirm or reject the nominees.
Why Is It Significant? — This influences Fed policymaking by affecting the make-up of the Federal Reserve Board. Different personnel often means different policy. Again, members of Congress can be more influenced by what will help or hurt in the next election; the Fed is supposed to be concerned with the long-term economic health of the country.

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Possible Answers

The passage suggests that greater transparency in the Federal Reserve will help workers and create more equitable prosperity for average Americans. Suppose the Democratic Party wants to create a statement about helping workers and reducing inequality in their party platform. Explain how the ideological perspective of the Democratic Party would likely affect how it would address these economic issues.
What Is It? — The ideological perspective of the Democratic Party is more liberal. In economics, that means the Democrats are more willing to have government regulate and stimulate the economy and less willing to rely on the unfettered action of market forces.
How Does It Work? — The Democrats might choose to distinguish themselves from the Republicans by supporting the use of Keynesian fiscal policy to help workers and reduce inequality. For example, they might propose a federally funded infrastructure program to create jobs or a child tax credit to reduce inequality.
Why Is It Significant? —

These fiscal policies are important because they are likely to increase deficit spending and increase the national debt.
These fiscal policies are important because, unlike monetary policies, they are more likely to result in political credit accruing to the Democrats. If workers get jobs as the result of a Democrat-sponsored infrastructure policy, those workers are more likely to give credit—and votes—to the Democrats. A monetary policy that, say, reduces inflation is less likely to be directly attributed by voters to a particular party.

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Questions?

On the essay?
On other Government topics?
On the AP exam?

QUESTIONS?

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Remember—

Next Monday our review session will be at 12:35.

Next Wednesday our review session will be at 12:45.

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Current Events

The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press….

As with all the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution, freedom of speech is not absolute.

One of the restrictions is on slander (spoken) and libel (written): false statements that are damaging to a person's reputation.

New York Times v. Sullivan: Public figures enjoy less protection against libel and slander. The holding in this case requires that the public figure show that the defendant knew that a statement was false or was reckless in deciding to publish the information without investigating whether it was accurate.

Dominion, of course, is a private company, not a public figure, so Powell’s speech enjoys less protection.

Legal Nerdery and the Sullivan case:

https://www.stitcher.com/show/advisory-opinions/episode/originalism-of-moral-substance-200222101 18:36 to 43:15

Sidney Powell's legal defense: 'Reasonable people' wouldn't believe her election fraud claims

Ex-Trump attorney Sidney Powell's weekslong campaign to invalidate the results of the 2020 election was not based in fact, her lawyers said Monday.

“No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact,” Powell's attorneys said in a court filing defending her against a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, the manufacturer of the election equipment she claimed was involved in the conspiracy to steal the election.

In November, Powell took part in a freewheeling, conspiracy-riddled news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington that is a key focus of the lawsuit. There, she and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani alleged a coordinated conspiracy using voting systems — including Dominion machines, which she baselessly claimed were created to rig elections for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez — to steal the election from Trump. Dominion is a private U.S. company.