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$100 $200 $300 $400 $500 COURT CASES KEY CONCEPTS KEY TERMS RANDOM ELECTIONS & INTEREST GROUPS U.S. CONSTITUTION & CONSTITUTIONAL CLAUSES

C1-$100 - $100 What is the importance of the Wesberry v. Sanders (1963) Courthouse? *it ordered House districts to be as near equal in population as possible.

C1-$200 - $200 According to this case, political speech cannot be banned based on the speaker’s corporate identity. In fact the court stated that corporate funding of independent broadcasts are also protected by the First Amendment: *Citizens United v. Federal Election Commision

C1-$300 - $300 This case determined that legislative apportionment was a justiciable issue, or a matter that can be argued and decided in the court of law since it pertains to possible constitutional violations: *Baker v. Carr (1962)

C1-$400 - $400 What did the court case of Shaw v. Reno (1993) state? *race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; no racial Gerrymandering.

C1-$500 - $500 Which Amendment was used in the Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and what was the result of the court case? *The 1st Amendment-protects campaign spending; legislatures can limit contributions, but not how much one spends of his own money on campaigns.

C2-$100 - $100 Fill in the blank: “Interest Groups begets _______ ________.” *Interest Groups.

C2-$200 - $200 What does FECA stand for? Explain it’s purpose. *Federal Elections Campaign Act: series of laws to regulate financing of campaigns, which addresses disclosures, subsidies, and limitations.

C2-$300 - $300 Define Open Primary and Closed Primary: *Open-election to choose candidates that is open to independents, and voters may choose candidates from any one party. *Closed-party election to choose candidates that is closed to independents. Voters may not cross party lines.

C2-$400 - $400 Mention at least 5 TACTICS that Interest Groups use... *Mass Media *Boycotting *Litigation *Use of Amicus Curia Briefs *Campaign Contributions *Endorsement of Candidates *“Targeting” candidates *Issuing “report cards to rate candidates” *Initiative, Referendum, and Recall *Lobbying *Mass Mailing *New techniques: technology

C2-$500 - $500 What are PACs and who do they support: *Political Action Committees (PACs) are interest groups that raise funds and donates to election campaigns. *They don’t really care about political parties; they will mostly support the WINNER! Such as incumbent candidates.

C3-$100 - $100 Mention at least 4 powers that Congress have: *to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises *to borrow money *to regulate state and foreign commerce *to coin money set its value *to create courts inferior to the Supreme Court *to declare war *to raise and support an army and navy *to exercise exclusive legislative powers over the seat of government and other purchased federal facilities

C3-$200 - $200 “Must be thirty years of age.” “Must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years.” “Must be an inhabitant of the state from which elected.” -This are the qualifications for becoming a: *Senator

C3-$300 - $300 Describe the Electoral College. How many votes are required to win an election? *the people chosen to cast each state’s votes in a presidential election. Each state can cast one electoral vote for each senator and representative it has. 270 votes win an election.

C3-$400 - $400 State which branch is exerting its checks and balances: 1. Checks the Congress by declaring a law unconstitutional. 2. Checks the president by refusing to approve a presidential appointment. 3. Checks the Courts by changing the number and jurisdiction of the lower courts. 4. Checks the Courts by nominating judges. 1. Judicial2. Legislative3. Legislative4. Executive

C3-$500 - $500 *This means that the U.S. has an electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections in which the winner is the person who gets the most votes, even if he or she does not receive a majority. Explain the following statement: “The United States is most characterized having a two-party and a plurality system.”

C4-$100 - $100 Separation of Powers: *principle in which the powers of government are separated among three branches: legislative, executive, judicial.

C $200 Political Culture: *the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government.

C4-$300 - $300 Rules Committee: *the “traffic cop” of the House that sets the legislative calendar and issues rules for debate on a bill.

C4-$400 - $400 Informal Amendment: *a change in the meaning, but not the wording, of the Constitution, e. g., through a court decisions such as Brown v. Board.

C4-$500 - $500 Gender Gap: *difference in voting patterns for men and women, particularly in the greater tendency of the latter to vote for Democratic presidential candidates.

C5-$100 - $100 Define Due Process Clause from the 14th Amendment: *State governments must observe fair procedures when they deny a person life, liberty, and property.

C5-$200 - $200 What is the purpose of the Supremacy Clause? *it states that the Federal law is supreme over state law.

C5-$300 - $300 What does the 10th Amendment say?: *Any power that is not granted to the national government, or denied to the states, automatically reverts to the states.

C5-$400 - $400 What are the two ways of proposing an amendment?: *Two-thirds of both house of Congress vote to propose an amendment, or *Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments.

C5-$500 - $500 What are the two ways to ratify a proposed amendment? *Three-fourths of the state legislatures approve it, or *Ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states approve it.

C6-$100 - $100 Federalism breaks into the National, State, and Concurrent Powers. If the States have Reserved Powers, then the National have... *Express (at the Constitution) *Implied (Elastic clause-not stated) *Inherent (by nature)

C6-$200 - $200 Define Political Culture: *the widely shared beliefs, values, and norms that citizens share about their government.

C6-$300 - $300 Which principle did the court case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) established? *it established the principle of national supremacy and validity of implied powers.

C6-$400 - $400 Mention at least 2 characteristics from Centralist and Decentralist views: *limited national government *pro-states’ rights *“strict interpretation” *strong central government *“loose interpretation” *limit to implied powers

C6-$500 - $500 Which is the most likely party affiliation if the voter had/were... *Catholics views *Higher Income *African American *Women -Republican -Democratic