Review sheet for AP Government Semester Final

A test so hard that Amnesty International released a scathing report on the exam condemning it as a violation of the Geneva Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Oslo Peace Accords, and the International Cake and Pastry Standards.

Government terms: definition of government itself, autocracy, oligarchy, representative democracy, direct democracy theocracy, constitutional government, republic.

Colonial divisions and their impact on the revolutionary war, Causes of the American Revolution

Articles of Confederation:  structure, weaknesses and purpose

US Constitution: Compromises, Bicameralism, Supremacy Clause, Elastic Clause,  McCulloch v Maryland

Concerns of the Antifederalists, Positions of the Federalists

Federalism: What is it? How does it work in the US?

Stare Decisis and precedent -- Majority, concurring and dissenting opinions

Nationalization of the Bill of Rights, Free speech standards  

14th amendment -- due process, equal protection, privilege and immunities clause 

Barron v Baltimore, Slaughterhouse,   and incorporation

Civil rights -- strict scrutiny, intermediate, rational basis

Agents of socialization: Race, Family, Gender, Education -- Gender Gap: What is it? What caused it?  

Marketplace of ideas -- what is needed to create

Polling: Test questions, Push polling, illusion of central tendency, illusion of saliency Horse-race Journalism and polling

Bellwether districts: What are they? Pros and cons  

Purpose of elections

Plurality, proportional, and majority elections

The Electoral College

Gerrymandering and Racial Gerrymandering -- Relevant Supreme Court cases

Voting: Personal registration requirements, Straight ticket and the Australian ballot

Fallacies