Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Montesquieu
John Locke
& Hamilton
Galbraith
Balances
Government
Confederation (Constitutionl
Convention, 1787)
Parliamentary v. Presidential
Systems
Federalist v. Anti-Federalists: On
Bill of Rights
Constitutional Amendments:
Practices
What was the first state to form a new government and state
constitution in 1776?
What was the first state to form a new government and adopt a
constitution after the Declaration of Independence was
adopted?
Who wrote the Federalist Papers, why were they written and
where were they originally published?
EXAM 2
Political Activism Focus T 2
Questions to Ponder:
How did Thomas Jefferson feel about newspapers should they be censored?
What connection did Karl Marx, the New York Tribune and the early Republican Party have in the 1850s and 1860s?
What are the responsibilities of Political Party Conventions. What is the business they must complete?
Today a candidate must win 270/538 Electoral Votes to win the Presidency what happens if no candidate receives
a 270 Electoral Votes? Has there ever been a President who won the Electoral Vote but did not win the Popular
Vote?
Why are Third Parties important if they are not likely to win? What impact can their issues have to the Major Political
Parties?
Who are the only Third Parties Candidates to received Electoral Votes in Presidential Elections since 1892? Why do
3rd parties often disappear? How does One Issue oriented messages and one or both major parties steal their
issues? Are they usually organized nation wide in every community?
What does Richard Reeves, Lights, cameras, politics, say about Television and how it has changed American
Politics? What are his view related to Television as an emotional experience, television as our environment.
What does Reeves say about television making us the most informed v. best informed citizens?
How has Television and other Modern Media, Internet Blogs, Social Media, etc., changed American Politics? What
did Richard Reeves mean when he said Television changed what we knew and when we knew it? Why, according
to Reeves, did this weaken Political Parties?
What is the criteria Maddox & Lilie uses to distinguish among Liberals, Conservatives, Libertarians & Populists?
What are some of the issues people have to agree or disagree with to be in one of these categories?
What is the role of the concept of Federalism is the Presidential Preference Primaries and Presidential Caucuses that
are difference from State to State? How does Federalism enter this equation?
What are the Purposes of Primaries & Caucuses in Presidential Elections, how are delegates and what are their roles
at the Party Conventions?
Why are some critical of Iowa & New Hampshire being the first two contests in the Presidential Primary/Caucus
process? Why are they called the Widow makers & what impact do they have on choices other voters have later in
the process?
In primaries, whether for President for State & Local elections, can a voter cast a ballot in both the Democrat &
Republican contests?
How did Jefferson & Hamilton differ on the power of the National Government v. State Governments?
Who is the founder of the Modern Democratic Party? Who were the Republicans during Jeffersons era? When
was the Modern Republican Party founded? Was it a legitimate descendant of Hamiltons Federalist Party? How or
how not?
How have the following impacted financing Political Campaigns? Citizens United Supreme Court Decision, 2010,
Buckley v. Valeo, 1976, Federal Financed Elections and the Federal Election Commission (FEC)
How did the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FCC, 2010 impact financing of American Political campaigns?
What are the following types of Polls? Tracking Polls, Scientific v. Non-Scientific Polls, Random Samples, Poll of
Polls, Psychographics or Life Style Polls
What are the general party affiliation, democrat or republican, of the following groups? Log Cabin Republicans,
Labor Unions, Advocates for National Health Care, National Education Groups, US Chamber of Commerce, Tea
Party Movement and Occupy Wall Street Movement
How had modern media changed American politics? Cable News (CNN, Fox, etc) Computer voting, Blogs and
Social Media, Internet
What is the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) and what does its Equal Time Doctrine Require? How
does it impact television, radio, newspapers, internet, etc.?
MISC.
Know Maddox and Lillies, Beyond Liberal and Conservative, 1984, definition of Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian
and Populist.
Presidential Party Platform involve the following: Adoption by the Convention members, made up of Planks or
individual issues a Party Nominee dies not have to run on the adopted Party Platform some even run away from
them. Party Platforms allow diverse factions within the party reasons to support the nominee.
Groups affiliated with the modern Republican Party include Log Cabin Republicans, Tea Party , US Chamber of
Commerce, etc.
Groups affiliated with the modern Democratic Party include: Labor Unions, National Education Groups, Advocates
for National Health Care, etc.
Primaries in states, e.g. Alabama, are a method by which voters pick party nominees.
The only 3rd Parties that received Electoral votes in Presidential elections since 1892 are Alabama Governor George
Wallace's American Independent in 1968, Strom Thurmonds States Rights Party (Dixiecrats) in 1948, Teddy
Roosevelts Progressive Party (Bull Moose) in 1912 and James Weavers Peoples Party (Populist) in 1892.
In Alabama Elections Primaries choose Democratic & Republican General Election nominees, November General
Elections permit Split Ticket & Straight Ticket voting, and municipalities or cities have non-partisan elections.
Although there is not agreement between Democrats and Republicans, it has become traditional since 1956 that the
party holding the Presidency holds its nominating Convention after the party challenging.
Three States, Louisiana, Alaska and Californian are the only states that have Blanket Primaries, that is a voter can
vote for candidates in different parties. Other states with primaries require voters to vote in one primary or the other.
Open State Primaries allow voters to pick which primary to vote in on Primary Election Day. Closed Primary States
require voters to preregister before the Primary Election Day.
Polls can: Track voter preferences, give horse race snapshots to indicate leaders at a particular moment in the
campaign and identify Psychograpthics or Life Style issues that voters prefer.
Random Samples are required for a poll to be accurate.. Non-Scientific polls are not accurate.
Some reasons 3rd Parties disappear include they are usually one issue parties, one or both national parties will steal
their issue and they are not usually organized in every American community.
The US Constitution and Congressional law does not approve political parties.
Political coverage in early American newspapers and media include: Thomas Jefferson advocated freedom of the
press despite the fact he was frequently attacked by the media, Karl Marx was once a paid foreign correspondent
for the New York Tribune, the official national publication for the early Republican Party in the 1850s and 1860s and
19th Century newspapers were often aligned by political party
The FCC Equal Time doctrine requires the television and radio to sell equal time to all candidates and television and
radio cannot control content of a political commercial. Newspapers, blogs and social media do not have to give
equal time.
Political Conventions Adopt a Platform, Formally nominate a Presidential Nominee, Formally nominate a Vice
Presidential Nominee and Adopt a Platform.
Richard Reeves, Lights, Cameras Politics, Broadcast 1980, ABC News Special
They dont want to talk about the effect of what they do. Theyre here to win damn it. This is the Joe Lewis Areas in
Detroit. This is where the Republican National Convention will be and this will be the next battle ground for network
news. Their troops are all over this place already, they are setting up a television studio, but now the lines from that
studio run to a 150 million sets. And that machinery is the message of this program
Theyve made us the most informed people in the world, but not the best informed
1. Define Bicameral
b. How many members of the House are there from Alabama? Who
represents
North Alabama?
e. What are two powers that the House has that then Senate does not?
c. What are two powers that the Senate has that the House does not?
b. Judicial Powers: What are the Role of the House and Senate in
Impeachment?
c. What are the Roles of the House and Senate in approving Appointments
and
Treaties?
7. What are the roles of the following in the House? Who currently holds
these positions
and to what political party do they belong?
a. Speaker of the House: What are his powers?
10. Define the following types of Committees in and give two examples of
each.
a. Standing Committees
b. Select Committees
c. Joint Committees
d. Conference Committees
12. Define the role or step of the following in passing a bill in Congress.
a. Introducing a bill
b. Roles and options of Committees in Screening legislation
c. Executive Powers
e. Appoint Diplomats
i. Patronage
j. Vetoes
b. Department of Treasury
c. Department of Defense
d. Department of Justice
f. Department of Agriculture
g. Department of Commerce
h. Department Labor
k. Department of Transportation
l. Department of Energy
j. Department of Education
c. Press Secretary
b. NASA
c. TVA
e. Postal System
8. Define Bureaucracy
II. Essays: Complete One (60 points): Essays MUST be submitted in printed
form during the exam. There will be a 5 point penalty for essays emailed or
submitted after the exam is completed, and a 10 point penalty per class day
for late exams. You may use any credible source but you must be cautious
and you must discern what is credible and what is not credible. Sources
must be listed at the end of the essay. All essays should be typed, double
spaced and approximately 2 3 pages in length.
3. Examine the role and functions of the following as they relate to the
operation of the
Legislative and executive branches.
a. Freedom of Expression
b. Citizenship Rights
d. Civil Liberties
e. Civil Rights
f. Bill of Rights
i. Doctrine of Incorporation
j. Prior Restraint
l. Symbolic Speech
m. Miller v. CA, 1973 & Obscenity
t. Special Classification
u. Strict Scrutiny
x. Reverse Discrimination
y. Equality of Opportunities
z. Affirmative Action
ab. Abortion
b. Courts of Appeals
c. Constitutional Court
d. Legislative
d. In Forma Pauperis
e. American Rule
f. Fee Shifting
g. Standing
h. Sovereign Immunity
j. Legal Briefs
b. Stare Decisis
c. Precedent
d. Political Question
f. Remedy
Selected Readings
Document A
Document B
-Thomas
Jefferson, 1821
Document C