AP Government free response questions 2008

1. AP Government free response questions2008 Steve Petoniak and Katie Murphy

2. Question 1 "Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted,  politicians often engage in gerrymandering"

3. Part A. Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states. -Congressional reapportionment is when the number of Representatives changes in proportion to the population change in a state. It is important to states because they would like as many seats in the house as they can receive, in order to gain more representation in the house. 

4. Part B: Define congressional redistricting. -Redistricting is the act of redrawing the lines of congressional districts by the party in power, however they choose to.

5. Part C: Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting -Politicians gerrymander durring redistricting so they can: give minorities an advantage by making them the majority in their representational district, and so they may draw the district lines in such a way that their party has a clear advantage in elections, such as focusing on areas where a specific party reigns supreme (i.e. democrats cutting a predominately republican district in half)

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r7qJvprHXw&feature=related

7. Part D.  Describe two limits that the United States Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting. -Racial gerrymandering was outlawed in 1965 to keep white politicians from redistricting in such a way that would hinder the worth of an African American's vote. -Redistricting cannot dilute the minority parties voting strength in districts. Congress redistricting is overseen by the courts.

8. Question 2 A number of factors enable presidents to exert influence over Congress in the area of domestic policy. However presidents are also limited in their influence over domestic policymaking in Congress.

9. Part A: The Constitution grants the president certain enumerated powers. Describe two of these formal powers that enable the president to exert influence over domestic powers. -The Constitution has included several clauses that enable the President to exert power over domestic policy. This includes his/her legislative powers, which include the veto, pocket veto and signing legislation. These powers allow him/her to decide which legislation he deems fit for american people by either denying passage (veto and pocket veto) or by approving legislation.  -Another way in which The President controls domestic policy is by flexible interpretation of the "faithfully executing the law" clause. This allows him/her to manipulate previously established legislation in order to protect the interests of the nation.

10. Part A. Cont. -One example of the faithfully executing the law clause is Washington's use of the national militias to end the whiskey rebellion. 

11. Part B. Chose two of the following. Define each term and explain how each limits the presidenté's ability to influence domestic policymaking in congress. -Mandatory spending is spending on certain programs that is mandated, or required, by existing law. The president has less power to influence budgetary decisions that deal with mandatory spending because Congress will usually not budge on issues that deal with mandatory spending such as social security and Medicare. -The "lame-duck" period is the time after a new president has been elected but has not been sworn into office yet, and the president who is currently in office loses some of his ability to influence any part of government because they are no longer loyal to him/her, and they are aligned with the new president.

12. Question 3 Fiscal policy and monetary policy are two tools used by the federal government to influence the united states. The executive and legislative branches share the responsibility of setting fiscal policy. The federal reserve board has the primary role of setting monetary policy. 

13. Part A. Define fiscal policy -Fiscal policy is the management of government revenue (mainly through taxation) and expenditures to influence the economy.

14. Part B. Describe one significant way the executive branch influences fiscal policy. -The executive branch has to sign off on the budget and other fiscally-based bills created by Congress in order to be put into effect, although it typically has to undergo a series of changes before it is approved.

15. Part C. Describe one significant way the legislative branch influences fiscal policy. -The legislative branch essentially controls all fiscal policy, as it must draw up and approve all revenue and expenditure bills, later to be approved or denied by the executive branch.

16. Part D. Define monetary policy. -Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money.

17. Part E. Explain two reasons why the federal reserve board is given independence in establishing monetary policy. -To facilitate the process of establishing monetary policy by keeping it from being lost in bureaucratic restrictions -To keep economic policy-making in the realm of professionals who understand the interworkings of finance, Hence why the Fed's chairman is given a 10 year term.

18. Question 4 "The right of citizens of the united states to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude." -Fifteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Despite the ratification of the fifteenth amendment, voter turnout among African American citizens was very low throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Over the past 50 years, civil rights policies has changes substantially. along with the significant increase in African American voter turnout. n00b.

19. A) Explain how two measures taken by some states prior to the 1960's affected voter turnout among African American citizens -One measure taken by states to prevent African Americans from voting are "grandfather" clauses, in which a person could only vote if their grandfather was able to vote. However none of the African Americans were able to vote because none of their grandfathers could, creating a never ending cycle where African Americans could never get the right to vote. -Poll taxes were another method used to hinder the voting turnout in the African American community. Most of these poll taxes were far to high and most African Americans could not afford them, so they were not able to vote.

20. Part B. Facing discrimination at the voting booth, many African American citizens turned to alternative forms of political participation. Describe two alternative forms of political participation to help bring about changes in civil rights policies. -African American citizens channeled their political activism by participating in Black Rights groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP) -Civilly disobedient protests also provided an effective outlet for African Anguish. Sit ins at white-only cafes and other public places advocated  for their demands of equality in a non-violent, and ultimately more successful manner.

21. Choose one of the forms of participation you described in (b) and explain why it was effective in changing civil rights policies. -Civil disobedient protests and demostrations were effective because they contrasted the white's violent and abusive nature, and help link the African American community together into a force powerful enough to overturn legislature. Blacks were doing very little wrong in these protests apart from disobeying the separate but equal clause established in Plessy v. Ferguson, while white backlash was much more disruptive to the peace. The civil disobedience movements of 1950's collectively helped prove the ludicrous nature of the separate but equal doctrine and overturned Plessy v. Ferguson with the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1953.