AP U.S.

Government Student Outline

Introduction: An Introduction to Government
Chapter 1: Introducing Government in America
I. Two Central Questions
II. Government, Politics, and Public Policy
A. Government
1. What Is Government?
2. What Governments Do
B. Politics
C. What Politics Is
D. Political Involvement
E. Public Policy
III. The Political System
A. Political Issues and Linkage Institutions
B. Making Public Policy: The Policymaking Institutions
C. Policies Have Impacts
IV. Democratic Government

A. Defining Democracy
B. Traditional Democratic Theory
C. Three Contemporary Theories of American Democracy
1. Pluralism
2. Elite and Class Theory
3. Hyperpluralism
V. Challenges to Democracy
1. How Can the People Confront Complex Issues?
2. Are Citizens Doing Their Job?
3. Is American Democracy Too Dependent on Money?
4. Can the Political System Adapt to Todays Rapidly Changing
World?
5. Does Americas Diversity Produce Governmental Gridlock?

Part One: Constitutional Foundations

Chapter 2: The Constitution
I. The Origins of the Constitution
A. The Road to Revolution
B. Declaring Independence
C. The English Heritage: The Power of Ideas
D. Jeffersons Handiwork: The American Creed
E. Winning Independence
F. The Conservative Revolution
G. The Government That Failed: 1776-1787
1. The Articles of Confederation
2. Changes in the States
3. Economic Turmoil
4. Shays Rebellion
5. The Aborted Annapolis Meeting
II. Making a Constitution: The Philadelphia Convention
A. Gentlemen in Philadelphia

B. Philosophy into Action

1. Views of Human Nature
2. Views of Political Conflict
3. Views of the Objects of Government
4. Views of Government
III. The Agenda in Philadelphia
A. The Equality Issues
1. Equality and Representation of the States
2. Slavery
3. Political Equality
B. The Economic Issues
C. The Individual Right Issues

Chapter 3: Federalism
I. Defining Federalism
A. What Federalism Is
B. Why Federalism Is So Important
II. The Constitutional Basis of Federalism
A. The Division of Power
B. Establishing National Supremacy
1. McCulloch v. Maryland
2. Federalism as the Battleground of the Struggle for Equality
C. States Obligations to Each Other
1. Full Faith and Credit
2. Extradition
3. Privileges and Immunities
III. Intergovernmental Relations Today
A. From Dual to Cooperative Federalism
B. Fiscal Federalism
1. The Federal Grant System: Distributing the Federal Pie

2. The Scramble for Federal Dollars

3. The Mandate Blues
IV. Understanding Federalism
A. Federalism and Democracy
1. Advantages for Democracy
2. Disadvantages for Democracy
B. Federalism and the Growth of the National Government

Chapter 4: Civil Liberties and Public Policy

I. The Bill of Rights - Then and Now
A. The Bill of Rights and the States
II. Freedom of Religion
A. The Establishment Clause
B. The Free Exercise Clause
III. Freedom of Expression
A. Prior Restraint
B. Free Speech and Public Order
C. Free Press and Fair Trials
D. Obscenity
E. Libel and Slander
F. Symbolic Speech
G. Commercial Speech
H. Regulation of the Public Airwaves
I. Freedom of Assembly

1. Right to Assemble
2. Right to Associate
IV. Defendants Rights
A. Interpreting Defendants Rights
B. Searches and Seizures
C. Self-Incrimination
D. The Right to Counsel
E. Trial by Jury
F. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
V. The Right to Privacy
A. Is There a Right to Privacy?
B. Firestorms over Abortion
C. A Time to Live and a Time to Die
VI. Understanding Civil Liberties
Chapter 5: Civil Rights and Public Policy
I. Two Centuries of Struggle

A. Conceptions of Equality
B. Early American Views of Equality
C. The Constitution and Inequality
II. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
A. The Era of Slavery
B. The Era of Reconstruction and Resegregation
C. The Era of Civil Rights
D. Getting and Using the Right to Vote
E. Other Minority Groups
III. Women, the Constitution, and Public Policy
A. The Battle for the Vote
B. The Doldrums: 1920-1960

C. The Second Feminist Wave

D. Women in the Workplace

E. Wage Discrimination and Comparable Worth

F. Women in the Military
G. Sexual Harassment
IV. Newly Active Groups Under the Civil Rights Umbrella
A. Civil Rights and the Graying of America
B. Are the Young a Disadvantaged Group, Too?
C. Civil Rights and the People With Disabilities
D. Gay and Lesbian Rights
V. Affirmative Action
VI. Understanding Civil Rights and Public Policy
A. Civil Rights and Democracy
B. Civil Rights and the Scope of Government

Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Action

I. The American People
A. The Immigrant Society

B. The American Melting Pot

C. The Regional Shift
D. The Graying of America
II. How Americans Learn About Politics: Political Socialization
A. The Process of Political Socialization
1. The Family
2. The Mass Media
3. School
B. Political Learning Over a Lifetime
III. What Americans Believe: Public Opinion and Policy
A. Measuring Public Opinion
B. The Role of Polls in American Democracy
C. What Polls Reveal About Americans Political Information
IV. What Americans Value: Political Ideologies
A. Do People Think in Ideological Terms?
B. People Liked Reagan but not his Policies

V. How Americans Participate in Politics

A. Conventional Participation
B. Protest as Participation
C. Class, Inequality, and Participation
VI. Understanding Public Opinion and Political Action
A. Public Attitudes Toward the Scope of Government
B. Democracy, Public Opinion, and Political Action

Chapter 7: The Mass Media and the Political Agenda

I. The Mass Media Today
II. The Development of the Mass Media
A. The Print Media
B. The Broadcast Media
III. Reporting the News
A. Defining News
B. Finding the News
C. Presenting the News
D. Bias in the News
IV. The News and Public Opinion
V. The Policy Agenda and the Special Role of the Media
VI. Understanding the Mass Media
A. The Media and the Scope of Government
B. Individualism
C. Democracy and the Media
Chapter 8: Political Parties

I. The Meaning of Party

A. Tasks of the Parties
B. Parties, Voters, and Policy: the Downs Model
II. The Party in the Electorate
III. The Party Organizations: From the Grass Roots to Washington
A. Local Parties: The Dying Urban Machines
B. The Fifty State Party Systems
C. State Parties as Legal Organizations
D. The National Party Organizations
IV. The Party in Government: Promises and Policy
V. Party Eras in American History
A. 1796-1824: The First Party System
B. 1828-1856: Jackson and the Democrats Versus the Whigs
C. 1860-1928: The Two Republican Eras
D. 1932-1964: The New Deal Coalition
E. 1978-Present: The Era of Divided Government

VI. The Parties Today: Dealignment and Renewal

A. The Democrats: Ensuring Representation
B. The Republicans: Putting Technology to Use
C. Third Parties: Their Impact on American Politics
D. Two Parties: So What?
VII. Understanding Political Parties
A. Democracy and Responsible Party Government
B. Individualism and Gridlock
C. American Political Parties and the Scope of Government
D. Is the Party Over?

Chapter 9: Nominations and Campaigns

I. The Nomination Game
A. Deciding to Run
B. Competing for Delegates
1. The Caucus Road
2. The Presidential Primary Road
3. Evaluating the Primary and Caucus System
C. The Convention Send-Off
II. The Campaign Game
A. The High-Tech Campaign
B. Organizing the Campaign
C. Money and Campaigning
1. The Maze of Campaign Finance Reforms
2. Federal Election Commission (FEC)
3. The Proliferation of PACs
4. Are Campaigns Too Expensive?

5. Does Money Buy Victory?

D. The Media and the Campaign
E. The Impact of Campaigns
III. Understanding Nominations and Campaigns
A. Are Nominations and Campaigns Too Democratic?
B. Do Big Campaigns Lead to an Increased Scope of Government?

Chapter 10: Elections and Voting Behavior

I. How American Elections Work
II. A Tale of Three Elections
A. 1800: The First Electoral Transition of Power
B. 1896: A Bitter Fight Over Economic Interests
C. The 1996 Election: Building a Bridge to the Twenty-First Century
III. Whether to Vote: A Citizens First Choice
A. Who Votes and Who Stays Home?
B. The Registration System
C. A Policy Approach to Deciding Whether to Vote
IV. How Americans Vote: Explaining Citizens Decisions
A. Party Identification
B. Candidate Evaluations: How Americans See the Candidates
C. Policy Voting
V. The Last Battle: The Electoral College

Chapter 12: Congress

I. The Representatives and Senators
A. The Job
B. The Members
II. Congressional Elections
A. Who Wins?
B. The Advantages of Incumbents
1. Advertising
2. Credit Claiming
3. Position Taking
4. Weak Opponents
C. The Role of Party Identification
D. Defeating Incumbents
E. Money in Congressional Elections
F. Stability and Change
III. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy
A. American Bicameralism

1. The House
2. The Senate
B. Congressional Leadership
1. The House
2. The Senate
3. Congressional Leadership in Perspective
C. The Committees and Subcommittees
1. The Committees at Work: Legislation and Oversight
2. Getting on a Committee
3. Getting Ahead on the Committee: Chairs and the Seniority System
D. Caucuses: The Informal Organization of Congress
IV. The Congressional Process
A. Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists
B. Party, Constituency, and Ideology
Chapter 13: The Presidency

I. The Presidents
A. Great Expectations
B. Who They Are
C. How They Got There
1. Elections: The Normal Road to the White House
2. The Vice Presidency: Another Road to the White House
3. Impeachment and Succession
II. Presidential Powers
A. Constitutional Powers
B. The Expansion of Power
III. Running the Government: The Chief Executive
A. The Cabinet
B. The Executive Office
C. The White House Staff
IV. Presidential Leadership of Congress: The Politics of Shared Powers
A. Chief Legislator

B. Party Leadership
1. The Bonds of Party
2. Slippage in Party Support
3. Leading the Party
C. Public Support

.1. Public Approval

D. Legislative Skills
V. The President and National Security Policy
A. Chief Diplomat
B. Commander in Chief
C. War Powers
D. Crisis Manager
E. Working With Congress
Chapter 14: The Congress, the President, And the Budget: The
Politics of Taxing and Spending
I. The Governments Sources of Revenue
A. Income Tax

B. Social Insurance Taxes

C. Borrowing
D. Taxes and Public Policy
1. Tax Loopholes
2. Tax Expenditures
3. Tax Reduction
4. Tax Reform
II. Federal Expenditures
A. Big Governments, Big Budgets
B. The Rise and Decline of the National Security State
C. The Rise of the Social Service State
D. Incrementalism
E. Uncontrollable Expenditures
III. The Budgetary Process
A. Budgetary Politics

1. Stakes and Strategies

2. The Players
B. The Presidents Budget
C. Congress and the Budget
1. Reforming the Process
2. The Success of the 1974 Reforms
3. More Reforms
III. Understanding Budgeting
A. Democracy and Budgeting
B. The Budget and the Scope of Government

Chapter 15: The Federal Bureaucracy

I. The Bureaucrats
A. Some Bureaucratic Myths and Realities
B. Who they are and How they got there
1. Civil Service: From Patronage to Protection
2. The Other Route to Federal Jobs: Recruiting from the Plum Book
II. What They Do: Some Theories of Bureaucracy
A. The Weberian Model
B. The Acquisitive, Monopolistic Bureaucracy
C. Garbage cans and Bureaucracies
III. How Bureaucracies are organized
A. The Cabinet Departments
B. The Regulatory Agencies
C. The Government Corporations
D. The Independent Executive Agencies
IV. Bureaucracies as Implementers

A. What Implementation Means

B. Why the Best-Laid Plans Sometimes Flunk the Implementation Test
1. Program Design
2. Lack of Clarity
3. Lack of Resources
4. Administrative Routine
5. Administrators Dispositions
6. Fragmentation
C. A Case Study: The Voting Rights Act of 1965
V. Bureaucracies as Regulators
A. Regulation in the Economy and in Everyday Life
1. A Full Day of Regulation
B. Regulation: How it Grew, How it Works
C. Toward Deregulation
Chapter 16: The Federal Courts
I. The Nature of the Judicial System

A. Participants in the Judicial System

1. Litigants
2. Groups
3. Attorneys
II. The Structure of the Federal Judicial System
A. District Courts
B. Courts of Appeal
C. The Supreme Court
III. The Politics of Judicial Selection
A. The Lower Courts
B. The Supreme Court
IV. The Backgrounds of Judges and Justices
V. The Courts as Policymakers
A. Accepting Cases
B. Making Decisions
C. Implementing Court Decisions

VI. The Courts and the Policy Agenda

A. A Historical Review
1. John Marshall and the Growth of Judicial Review
2. The Nine Old Men
3. The Warren Court
4. The Burger Court
5. The Rehnquist Court
VII. Understanding the Courts
A. The Courts and Democracy
B. What Courts Should Do: The Scope of Judicial Power

Chapter 17: Economic Policymaking

I. Government and the Economy
A. Elections and the Economy
B. Political Parties and the Economy
II. Governments Instruments for Controlling the Economy
A. Monetary Policy and the Fed
B. Fiscal Policy: Keynesian Versus Supply-side Economics
III. Obstacles to Controlling the Economy
IV. Arenas of Economic Policymaking
A. Business and Public Policy: Subsidies Amid Regulations
1. The Changing Face of Corporate Capitalism
2. Regulating Business
3. Benefiting Business
B. Consumer Policy: The Rise of the Consumer Lobby
C. Labor and Government
V. Understanding Economic Policymaking
Chapter 18: Social Welfare Policymaking

I. Income, Poverty, and Public Policy

A. Whos Getting What?
B. Whos At the Bottom? Poverty in America
II. The Nature of Wealth and Poverty
A. Is There a Culture of Poverty?
B. How Public Policy Affects Income
1. Taxation
2. Government Expenditures
III. Social Welfare Programs
A. Entitlement and Poverty Programs
B. Social Welfare Policy Elsewhere
IV. The Evolution of Americas Social Welfare Programs
A. The New Deal and the Elderly
B. President Johnson and the Great Society
Chapter 19: Policymaking for Health, Energy, and the
Environment

I. Health Care Policy

A. The Health of Americans
B. The Cost of Health Care
C. Access to Health Care
D. The Role of Government in Health Care
E. Policymaking for Health Care
II. Energy Policy
A. Americas Energy Profile
B. Policymaking for Energy Issues
III. Environmental Policy
A. Economic Growth and the Environment
B. Public Concern about the Environment
C. Environmental Policies in America
D. Dealing with Toxic Wastes
Chapter 20: Foreign and Defense Policymaking
I. American Foreign Policy: Methods and Actors

A. Actors on the World Stage

B. The Policymakers
1. The Diplomats
2. The National Security Establishment
3. Congress
II. American Foreign Policy: An Overview
A. The Cold War
1. Containment and Korea
2. The Swelling of the Pentagon
3. The Vietnam War
B. The Era of Dtente
C. The Reagan Rearmament
D. The Final Thaw in the Cold War
III. The Politics of Defense Policy
A. Defense Spending
B. Personnel

C. Weapons
IV. The New Global Agenda
A. The Decreasing Role of Military Power
B. The International Economy
1. International Trade
2. Balance of Trade
C. International Inequality and Foreign Aid
D. The Global Connection, Energy, and the Environment
1. Growing Energy Dependency
2. Environment and the World Commons
V. Understanding Foreign and Defense Policymaking