GOVT 2305-practice questions for the 4th exam
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Feb 20, 2024
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GOVT 2305—Practice questions for the fourth exam
(Actual exam questions may vary somewhat from this list).
“Federalism”
Articulate how the Constitution divided power between the USA government and the State governments in 1791 following the ratification of the Bill of Rights (i.e. the first ten amendments). What important sections, clauses, and amendments clarified the arrangement?
Articulate the three main constitutional mechanisms by which the State governments were empowered to influence the USA government in 1791 following the ratification of the Bill of Rights (i.e. the first ten amendments).
Of the above three mechanisms, explain how one constitutionally no longer exists, one is constitutionally still an option, but is not currently exercised by any State governments, and another still constitutionally exists, but has a high threshold
making it a rare event.
In 1932, Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D) won the presidential election and his political party won both chambers of Congress. They ran on a “New Deal,” that the Federal Government would not be passive during the Great Depression, but instead would become active in new areas that it had never been active before, including, but not limited to: price controls, labor union—employer contract negotiations, reducing farming production, emergency powers over the banking system, guarantees for bank account deposits, unemployment compensation, minimum wage laws, home mortgage loans, and a federal government-run Social Security retirement system. While this “New Deal” program was certainly popular enough for President Roosevelt and his party to win elections, initially the Supreme Court
ruled these programs unconstitutional based on the rationale that the Federal Government is not delegated these powers in the Constitution, and that instead the 10
th
amendment reserves such powers to the States. Nevertheless, by the end of the Roosevelt administration, the Supreme Court had thoroughly changed its opinion on the constitutionality of these “New Deal” programs and allowed them to proceed. Explain what happened over the course of the Roosevelt administration that caused such an extreme change in the Supreme Court’s rulings concerning the constitutionality of the “New Deal.”
What was the original interpretation of the Commerce Clause, as understood by those who wrote it and ratified it?
What is the Supreme Court’s “post-New Deal” interpretation of the Commerce Clause? Why would this newer interpretation surprise the generation who wrote and ratified the clause? Give an example of one power that the 10
th
amendment appears to reserve to the States, but that has been transferred to the Federal Government via this newer interpretation of the Commerce Clause.
What was the original interpretation of the “due process” clause of the 14
th
amendment by those who wrote it and ratified it in the 1860s? Provide specificity to the clauses’ strong, yet vague-sounding principles.
Give an example of one power in recent US history that has been effectively taken away from States via a newer interpretation of the “due process” clause. Explain the power that was transferred from States to the Federal Government and the logic the majority on the Supreme Court used when doing so. Is that still the case, or has the majority reversed course more recently? Explain.
Why was the Supreme Court using newer (and some might say “creative”) interpretations of older clauses in the Constitution to transfer power from the States to the Federal Government more commonly used in the 20
th
century than
formal new amendments to the Constitution whereby the States clearly grant that new power to the Federal Government?
Articulate how grants are used to encourage States to comply with certain policy outcomes desired by the Federal Government. Give an example from the book or class review whereby the Federal Government has used grants to encourage States to comply with a national standard.
Congressional Elections
What three rules are typically used for elections in the USA (both historical and currently) that encourage only two competitive political parties to exist at any given time (i.e. a “two party system”).
In a party primary, what exactly is being decided?
Explain the difference between an “open primary” and a “closed primary.”
How is California’s “top-two” system fundamentally different than an “open primary” or “closed primary.” What are the
rules for the first round? How does this effect the general election in November?
Identify a State that now requires a majority of the vote to become a member of Congress, and explain how that State’s rules make it clear, even in close elections, which candidate has majority support.
How long is a Senate term? How many Senators are elected every two years?
How long is a term in the House of Representatives? How many Representatives are up for election every two years?
How many total seats, and thus House elections, are there in the USA? Is that number fixed by the Constitution or set by
Congressional law?
How often is the question of how many Representatives each State gets in the House of Representatives revisited? What is the process to reapportion seats among the States for the House of Representatives?
What does Federal Law require that States with multiple representatives do before holding elections for the House of Representatives?
Explain the term gerrymandering
. What are the four possible goals of gerrymandering
?
Identify five meaningful ways discussed in class and the book where States vary in terms of how they conduct their Congressional elections?
Presidential Elections
What is a caucus? What is a closed primary? What is an open primary? Describe the three important ways (from the readings or from class review) in which State Party contests for influencing major party presidential nominations vary.
What are the four States that, for the last half century, have got to hold their State Party contest early in the party’s presidential nomination calendar? What State traditionally has the first caucus? What State traditionally has the first primary? Why does having an early caucus or primary yield extra influence? If having an early State Party contest yields more influence, what stops other States from just passing State laws to ensure that their contests go early as well? What major change to the presidential primary schedule was just made by the Democratic Party to begin in 2024?
How and where is the nomination for president of one of the two major political parties officially decided and concluded? Be clear about the place and process.
What happens if no one secures a major party’s nomination for president at the first official opportunity to officially and decisively do so? Under such a scenario, how will a presidential nominee be settled upon?
How is the vice-presidential nominee of a political party officially selected and officially concluded? Be clear about the place and process.
Why have all 50 State Legislatures chosen to incorporate a Statewide popular vote into the process of selecting the States’ electors for the electoral college? How do they translate a Statewide popular vote for presidential candidates into actual electors who can cast actual electoral college votes?
What rule have 48 of the 50 States adopted in awarding their electors? Why is this rule so common among States that vary from Republican Party-dominated, Democratic Party-dominated, and competitive “swing States?”
How do Maine and Nebraska allocate their electors in the electoral college?
Why is it premature for the television stations to announce who is the “next President of the United States” on the night
of the popular vote in November? Describe the process that still needs to play out. Give a plausible, hypothetical scenario whereby assumptions made by the media on election night in November about “who is the next President of the United States” could prove to be incorrect. It’s OK to be creative, but keep it plausible based on the process that is in place.
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