Topics that you should know inside out for the Midterm
q The dominant aspects of
political culture in the U.S.
q The contributions to U.S.
political culture made by the Revolution, our religious heritages, and by the
family
q Beliefs that citizens hold
about their government and leaders
q Processes by which citizens
learn about politics
q Internal and external
political efficacy and how the level of each of these has varied over the past
generations
q Sources of our political
attitudes
q The significance of race,
ethnicity, education, and gender in explaining political attitudes
q Explanations for
crosscutting cleavages between liberals and conservatives in the U.S.
q The liberal and conservative
positions on the economy, civil rights, and political conduct
q The different types of
polling and problems with polls
q The differences between how
the elites and the general public see politics and how the elites influence
public opinion
q The significance of different
turnout statistics in the U.S. and other countries
q Different forms of
participation and why people participate in politics
q The factors that are
associated with high or low political participation
q Factors why political
participation has declined over the past century and factors explaining why
turnout stays low in the U.S.
q The differences in party
structures in Europe and the U.S.
q The development of the U.S.
party system through its four periods
q the functions, organization,
and development of political parties
q Explanations for why parties
have been in decline since the New Deal
q The structure of a major
party; powerful and powerless party units
q Differences between the
Republican and Democratic parties
q Critical elections in our
history
q Why third parties have
trouble and the effect of third parties on elections and platforms of the major
parties
q The differences between
activists and nonactivists
q The differences between the
party-oriented campaigns of the 19th century and the
candidate-oriented ones of today
q The election process from a
candidate’s announcement through the actual election
q The importance of campaign
funding; the sources of campaign funds under current laws; and the success or
failure of reform legislation in removing improper monetary influences from
U.S. elections
q Party realignment and
dealignment; examples of such elections in the past; critical elections
q What the Democrats and
Republicans each must do to put together a successful national coalition to win
an elections
q The relationship between
elections and changes in public policy in the U.S.
q The role of the Electoral
College
q Advantages of incumbents
q Difficulties facing third
parties
q The evolution of journalism
in U.S. political history and the differences between the party press and the
mass media of today
q How the electronic media
affects the actions of public officials and candidates for national office
q The impact of the “national
press;” how the media’s coverage influences elections and the public agenda
q The rules and laws that
govern the media
q The impact of the media on
politics
q The difference in media
coverage of the president and members of Congress
q Determining bias in press
coverage
q What are the differences
between federal and centralized systems of government?
q What are advantages and
disadvantages of federalism?
q How has the Supreme Court
interpreted the relationship between national and state powers over the years?
q Why have federal
grants-in-aid to the states been politically popular? What have been their pitfalls?
q What are the positive and
negative aspects of categorical grants, block grants, and revenue sharing? Be sure that you know the differences in the
different methods for the government giving aid to the states.
q What is the role that
mandates have played on federalism? What
has the effect of devolution on the relationships between the national and
state governments?
The
Constitution
q The concept of “higher law’
by which the colonists felt they were entitled to certain “natural rights”
q The shortcomings and
accomplishments of government under the Article of Confederation
q Why the framers decided to
write a new constitution
q The Virginia and New Jersey
plans and how they led to the “Great Compromise”
q Why separation of powers and
federalism became key parts of the Constitution
q The compromises made about
slavery in the Constitution
q Criticisms that the
Antifederalists had of the Constitution
q The contents of the
Constitution
q Checks and balances among
the three branches of government; which powers each branch has
q The content of each
Amendment and why it was passed
q Ways of Amending the
Constitution
q Modern views of
constitutional reform advocated today
q Why the Constitution has
lasted so long
q Major arguments in the Federalist
Papers, particularly #10 and #51
q The difference between
federal and centralized systems of government
q
The ways in which national and state powers have been interpreted by
the courts and how this has changed over the years
q
The history of federalism and the concepts of nullification and
different types of federalism
q
How the interpretation of the elastic clause has influenced the use of
federal power
q
Why federal grants-in-aid to the states have been politically popular
and the pitfalls of such grants-in-aid.
q
The different types of grants
q
The advantages and disadvantages of federalism
q
The effect of devolution on relationships between the national and
state governments
q
Concurrent, enumerated, reserved, implied, and denied powers in the
Constitution
You are also responsible for
knowing the terms from the Study Guides for each unit. If there is a term that is not in the book
and that we never talked about in class, don’t worry about it.