1. Top 20 Topics

2. The Incumbency Advantage  Determines outcome of congressional elections  House incumbency is more important than Senate incumbency  Incumbency is helped by “pork-barrel” politics  Use franking privilege to stay in touch with their constituents

3. Federalism  A system of government with power divided by written constitution between a central and regional governments  Federal government prevails over state governments  Necessary and proper clause, commerce clause, Civil Rights Acts of 1964, categorical grants, and federal mandates increase the power of the federal government  Amending the Constitution  Power of interest groups in federalist system

4. Selection of Supreme Court Justices  Appointed by the president and confirmed (majority) by the Senate  Systems of checks and balances  Presidents will choose candidates that represent their pov  Judicial activism  Judicial restraint

5. The Electoral College  The President and VP are not elected by a direct vote  Winner take all system based on plurality  Hard for 3 rd parties to succeed  Campaign focuses on the most populous states  If no majority, vote goes to the HofR where each state gets 1 vote each  Benefits small states

6. African American Voting Patterns  Support Democratic presidential candidates since New Deal  Support the more liberal a candidate  At times, AA have a higher voting rate than whites

7. Voter Turnout  In the US lower than most western democracies  Most do not vote in nonpresidential election  More education; more likely to vote  More income; more likely to vote  Older people more likely to vote  Women more likely to vote  Define political efficacy

8. Divided Government  Define  Heightens partisanship  President use the media to get public support; threaten veto

9. Political Action Committees  PACs  Support incumbents in the House strongly  Limited amount of contributions  Super PACs

10. Vetoes  Checks and balances  Pocket veto – rules  Threats of veto to get Congress to modify the bill  Congress is usually unable to override a presidential veto

11. The President and the Cabinet  President appoints cabinet heads; Senate approves; President can fire w/o Senate approval  Presidents have problems controlling cabinet departments because of the iron triangles with interest groups and congressional committees

12. Presidential Primaries  Primaries weakened party control of process  Closed primary, voters required to identify party preference  Dems use a proportional system to award delegates  Primary voters are usually activist, older, and more affluent  Frontloading

13. Standing Committees and the Seniority System  Permanent bodies; focus on particular area; specialized expertise among members  All bills referred to standing committees – amended, passed, or killed  Divided into subcommittees  Use to be senior members as chairs, now by elected  House Rules Committee is the most important. Sets calendar, types of amendments allowed, time for debate

14. The Federalist Papers  Federalist #10 Madison argued that political factions are undesirable but inevitable  Factionalism would be limited by republican form of government  The size of the United States would fragment political power and limit the threat of majority and minority factions

15. The 14 th Amendment and Selective Incorporation  Made African Americans citizens  Due process forbids a state from acting in an unfair or arbitrary way; Equal protection clause forbids a state from discriminating against or drawing unreasonable distinctions between persons  Uses 14 th amendment to extend most of the requirements of the Bill of Rights to the states

16. Political Socialization  Process by which political values are formed  Passed from one generation to the next  Family the most important agent of political socialization

17. Critical Election  Groups of voters change their traditional patterns of party loyalty (1800, 1860, 1896, 1936, 1980, 2008)  Trigger party realignment

18. Selection of Supreme Court cases  Most come from appellate jurisdiction  Lawyer applies for a writ of certiorari  Rule of four  Supreme court issues the writ

19. The Mass Media  Affects which issues the public think are important  Influence the government’s policy agenda  Focus on polls and the horse race aspect of journalism  Cult of personality and sound bite  No real in depth analysis

20. 19 and 20  The Articles  Role of state legislatures  Set up Congressional districts  Ratify constitutional amendments