The final for the 8 week 2305 class will be opened on Blackboard on Thursday December 5 at noon and will close 24 hours later. You have two hours to complete the test. Double check for specifics about the test on Blackboard.
Here are some hints about what topics to focus on for the final. Don't consider this to be complete - but it should be a reasonable start for you.
- the public policy process
- types of elections - direct v indirect
- the content of the amendments to the US Constitution
- the impact of the 14th Amendment
- the delegated powers
- what specific powers are delegated to the national government and why
- the bill making process
- the iron triangle, what binds it together?
- agency capture
- how congressional districts are drawn
- apportionment
- the definition of both civil liberties and civil rights
- how civil liberties are established and maintained
- the source of civil rights
- ideology
- limits on presidential power
- the parts of the Constitution which have led to an increase of national power
- party coalitions
- the two party system
- winner take all elections
- the growth and evolution of political parties
- the arguments in both Federalist #10 and #51
- be able to identify quotes from each
- strict and loose interpretations of the Constitution
- James Madison's thoughts on government
- the original design of the branches of government
- elections in the Constitution
- where funds are drawn and spent in the US budget
- the judicial process
- the role of the national government in expanding suffrage
- the separated powers and the checks and balances
- the content of the First Amendment
- the content of the Bill of Rights and the controversy over its need
- the source of factions
- the elastic clauses
- the role the Supreme Court has played in clarifying constitutional language
- original intent
- the living constitution
- the due process of the law
- specific conflicts over the establishment and free exercise clauses
- House and Senate elections
- the argument over ratifying the Constitution
- detail about the Federalist Papers
- the content of the articles within the Constitution
- differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution
- why the Federalists wanted a stronger national government
- Hamilton's thoughts on the judiciary
- the arguments for and against political parties
- the influence of the Magna Carta and the British Bill of Rights on the US Constitution
- the basic principles within the Constitution
- the relationship between the national and state governments
- slavery
- the design of the judiciary
- types of governing systems and their pros and cons
- the marketplace of ideas
- the role of the states in the national governing system
- the conflict over war powers
- how people process political information
- sedition and the freedoms of speech and the press
- the party eras
- substantive and procedural liberties
- the delegated, reserved, implied and inherent powers
- the impact of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts
- the meaning of the three "vesting clauses" in the Constitution
- the political surrounding the writing of the Constitution
- the framers attitudes towards democracy
- the free rider problem and its solutions
- the impact of interest groups on the political process
- the right to privacy
- the differences between the House and the Senate
- judicial activism and judicial restraint
- the welfare state
- the argument in the Declaration of Independence and the grievances listed
- the role of parties in Congress
- party identification
- committees and bill making
- judicial review
- rulemaking and the nature of bureaucratic power
- economic policymaking
- the budgetary process
- the equal protection clause
- the conflict between the Stuarts and Parliament and why it matters for the US Constitution
- definitions of "politics" and "government."
- John Locke's arguments regarding the proper basis of governing power
- the definition of democracy
- the types of democracy
- the nature and content of public opinion
- how public opinion polls work
- judicial independence
- trials and appeals
- compromises in the US Constitution
- the Preamble of the Constitution
- the role of education in the political process
