District 87



AMERICAN GOVERNMENT FINAL EXAM REVIEWName: ____________________________________________________________Period: _____Directions: Please review the following documents and complete the prompts to prepare for your U.S. Constitution Exam. We will review in class on Wednesday (11/16). Your final exam is Friday (12/18). Per state mandate and District 87 guidelines, you must pass the Constitution Exam. Unit 1: What is Government? (Chapters 1 & 2)John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government (excerpt and short answer response)Declaration of Independence- what does Thomas Jefferson suggest about the relationship between the people and their government? (document and short answer response)Unit 2: The U.S. Constitution (Chapters 3 & 4)Define federalism (short answer response)Apply the concept of federalism from the perspective of the state government, using gun laws as your example (short answer response)Article V and the amendment process (excerpts and short answer response)Unit 3: Public Opinion, Political Parties, and Interest Groups (Chapters 5, 8, & 9)Voting Rights Act of 1965 (excerpt, chart, multiple choice)Unit 4: The Legislative Branch- Congress (Chapters 10, 11, & 12)Article I Section 8 (multiple choice)Checks and Balances- how can the legislative branch check the executive branch? (short answer)The Lawmaking Process (visual and multiple choice)What is gerrymandering? Why are gerrymandered districts oddly shaped? (short answer)Review how to gerrymander the state of Illinois to benefit one of the major political parties. (you will draw lines to benefit the Republicans on one map and the Democrats on the other map)Unit 5: The Presidency (Chapter 13) & Unit 6: The Executive Branch (Chapters 14 & 15)Article II Section I and the 12th Amendment (excerpts and multiple choice)War Powers of the President (review class activity- excerpt and short answer)Unit 7: The Judicial Branch (Chapter 18) Article III Section 1 (excerpt/summary and multiple choice)Unit 8: Civil Liberties (Chapters 19 & 20) Bill of Rights- you will use this document to help you answer multiple choice and short answer prompts from two political cartoons; you will also use it to respond to one hypothetical situation.Skills Review: The following activities will help you practice the “skills” you will be expected to use on the Constitution Exam.In order to save paper, adequate space has NOT been provided to answer all questions. Do not assume that limited space means the answer the question is limited in scope.Gerrymandering:Gerrymander the state below by creating five voting districts of at least four (4), but no more than five (5) counties in each. In the first map, gerrymander in favor of the Republican party. In the second map, gerrymander in favor of the Democratic party.Amendment Process:Proposed 28th Amendment: Marijuana LegalizationRead Article V of the U.S. Constitution, then the information below.State Marijuana Laws states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form.Four states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use. In Alaska, adults 21 and older can now transport, buy or possess up to an ounce of marijuana and six plants. Oregon voters approved a similar measure allowing adults to posses up to an ounce of marijuana in public and 8 ounces in their homes, set to take effect July 1. Colorado and Washington previously passed similar ballot measures legalizing marijuana in 2012.A number of states have also decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Most recently, Delaware passed legislation that decriminalizes the private use of up to an ounce of marijuana, replacing penalties with a civil fine.Other states have passed medical marijuana laws allowing for limited use of cannabis. Some medical marijuana laws are broader than others, with types of medical conditions that allow for treatment varying from state to state. Others states (not shown on the map below) have passed laws allowing residents to possess cannabis oil if they suffer from certain medical illnesses. Most recently, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a law legalizing the possession of up to 20 ounces of cannabis oil.Considering the process used to amend the Constitution (Article V) and the information above, assess the possibility that a 28th Amendment, legalizing all forms of marijuana use in the United States, would be ratified. The Judicial Branch:Read Article III section 1 and 2 of the Constitution and answer the questions below.The Supreme Court is the only court specified in the Constitution, yet well over 100 additional courts have been added to the system since it was written. Cite the language from Article III that has allowed for the creation of these additional courts.Why does the language specify that the compensation of judges cannot be “diminished during their continuance in Office?”Identify five types of cases that go to federal (as opposed to state courts) based on the language in section 2. The Powers of Congress:Read Article I section 8 of the Constitution and answer the following questions.The last clause of section 8 give Congress the power “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing power.” Explain why this clause is known as the “elastic clause.”Identify at least three examples of how Congress has used the “elastic clause.”Cite language from section 8 that gives Congress a check over the judicial branch and executive branch.Presidential Election:Read Article II section 1 and the 12th Amendment to the Constitution before answering the questions below.Before the 12th Amendment was added to the Constitution, how was the Vice President chosen?How did the 12th Amendment change the process used to choose the Vice President?What problem was solved by this change?Federalism:Read the article below before answering the questions that follow.Federalism and School Choice’s Note: This Op-Ed?was submitted to Breitbart Texas by the Texas Public Policy Foundation and was written by Michael Barba and Nathanael Scherer.When progressive U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis gave his now famous dissent in the landmark case?New State Ice v Liebmann, he wrote, “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.”Possessing skepticism towards what politics could realistically achieve, our founding fathers saw the benefit of the rule of law. But such rule would be hard to accomplish. “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men,”?wrote Publius, “the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”One way America achieved this is through a system of checks and balances—between the national branches and between the national government and state governments. The latter check is exemplified in the?Tenth Amendment.While federalism primarily serves as a means of restraining government, Brandeis was right about federalism’s happy accident: good innovations could be tested by the American people. Every power not given to the national government by the Constitution would be a testing ground for state law. In this sense, the American system of government would be bottom-up rather than top-down. It would promote diversity and creativity, rather than cohesion and uniformity.This is especially true of education.The U.S. Supreme Court?once declared, “Education, of course, is not among the rights afforded explicit protection under our Federal Constitution. Nor do we find any basis for saying it is implicitly so protected.”Americans have strong feelings about this issue. They want the freedom to choose where they send their children to school, just as they have the freedom in many other parts of their life. These feelings are exemplified in?a recent survey, which found that 70 percent of Americans support school choice.At present, 26 states, the District of Columbia, and Douglas County, CO, offer private school choice. And the number is growing fast. Just this year,?Nevada established?the nation’s first universal school choice program.For many Americans, a person’s geographical location often determines the type of school they will attend. According to the?National Center of Education Statistics, 73% of children attended their assigned public school, down from 80% in 1993. This should be encouraging to those who believe in equality of opportunity, and it’s especially encouraging to parents. As one Nevada mother?wrote, “For me, using an education savings account isn’t a form of protest or an act of defiance against the school system. It’s a chance to give Nathan a better future.”Still, parents are playing the hand they’re dealt. According to the U.S. Department of Education,?1 in 3?families moved to their neighborhood?because of?the school their children would be assigned to. But among the poor and near-poor, the DOE found that only?1 in 5?made such a move.If we want equality of opportunity, every child needs to have access to a great education. Parents deserve the right to choose—regardless of income—which school best suits their children’s needs. No one questions the states’ role in providing the funds to support the “general diffusion of knowledge” among the people. However, allocating funds for education is entirely different than administering schools themselves.A federal system takes into account the many historical differences that exist between different parts of the country. It allows freedom of choice to parents and competition among schools. The success of school choice in states would be a sign that both public education and our federal system are healthy and improving.Based on the information in the article, define federalism.Explain the relationship between the 10th Amendment and federalism.Does the concept of federalism support or oppose school choice? Explain your paring Documents: The Second Treatise on Government and the Declaration of Independence.John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government“If a man in the state of nature is free, if he is absolute lord of his own person and possessions, why will he give up his freedom? ?Why will he put himself under the control of any person or institution? ?The obvious answer is that the rights in the state of nature are constantly exposed Inthemselves with equity and justice, the enjoyment of rights in the state of nature is unsafe and insecure. ?Hence each man joins in society with others to preserve life, liberty, and Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence.Thomas JeffersonWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.Identify a similarity between the two documents.According to Locke, why would man want to live under the control of a government?According Jefferson, at what point do citizens of a society have the right to change their government?Interpreting Cartoons:Explain the meaning of the political cartoon above.Explain the meaning of the political cartoon above.Explain the meaning of the political cartoon above.Voting Rights and Voter TurnoutDescribe the trend among southern black voters indicated in the chart.Describe (in general) the trend among the other three voting groups indicated in the chart.Explain factors that account for these trends.War Powers:Read Article I section 8, Article II section 2 of the Constitution, the excerpts from the 1973 War Powers Act and the article below before answering the questions that follow.October 30, 2015, 05:35 pmObama's move in Syria reignites war powers debateBy?Jordain Carney Obama's decision to send U.S. troops into Syria is reigniting the debate in Congress over long-stalled legislation authorizing the war.??The administration?announced Friday?that it would send?approximately 50 special operations troops into Syria in an advisory role, putting U.S. boots on the ground in the country for the first time since the country's civil war began.Democrats pounced on the decision, suggesting that it underscores the need for Congress to take up and pass an authorization for use of force (AUMF), which could also place boundaries on military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).??"Regardless of my views, the War Powers Resolution requires Congress to debate and authorize the escalation of U.S. military involvement in Syria," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said, calling the administration's decision to send troops into the country a "mistake."??Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) struck a similar tone in a letter to Obama Friday, adding that "the lack of will from Congress to vote on a new AUMF amounts to a total dereliction of its duties and responsibilities."?Lawmakers?have struggled for months?to overcome the wide divisions on a war bill. The issue has created splits between and within the Republican and Democratic parties.?While Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)?pledged?earlier this year to try to find common ground, members of the committee have made little progress, partially because the issue had been overshadowed by Congress's debate on Iran.??An AUMF proposal that the administration submitted to lawmakers earlier this year sparked concerns from both parties over language banning any "enduring?offensive ground combat operations." While Republicans feared the language could tie the hands of the military, Democrats worried it would be vague enough to create legal backing for an open-ended ground war.?Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has called for banning ground troops from combat roles in Syria, said Friday that an AUMF passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2014 "specifically banned the presence of U.S. troops on the ground in Syria."?“The bottom line is that it is well past time for Congress to do our constitutional duty and debate an authorization for the war against ISIL in Iraq and Syria," he added, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. "I hope that in the shadow of this new escalation, Congress will do its job and debate and pass an authorization to give legal standing to the administration’s fight against ISIL.”?Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) acknowledged the uphill battle to passing legislation, citing a "very sharply divided and very?partisan Congress."?"Well there's a lot of folks … who don't think we can pull together an authorization across the very big differences," he told MSNBC on Friday.??Aside from floor speeches by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who have been leading advocates for congressional action on a war powers bill, debate over an AUMF has been largely absent in the Senate.?Kaine reiterated his position Friday, saying that "it is time for Congress to do its most solemn job, to debate and declare war."??The Virginia Democrat told The Hill earlier this month that?while his?colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee increasingly acknowledged that?legislation needed to be passed, there were few signs of action.??Underscoring the political differences, Republicans largely focused on the need for a strategy from Obama in the wake of Friday's announcement.??"We need a comprehensive strategy that will actually achieve our goal of defeating ISIS," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said. He also suggested earlier this year that the Senate wouldn't pass a war bill until after Obama left office.??In the House, lawmakers defeated a push by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) earlier this year that would have required removal of troops from Iraq and Syria within 30 days. The move was part of an effort by McGovern to either remove troops or force Congress to pass legislation authorizing?the war.??McGovern said Friday that Americans want to know that Washington has "a clear plan to bring this conflict to a peaceful end," adding that "this starts with Congress doing its job and voting on an AUMF."War Powers Act of 1973Public Law 93-148“The President in every possible instance shall consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities.” (Within 48 hours)“Within sixty calendar days after a report is submitted . . . the President shall terminate any use of United States Armed Forces. . . unless the Congress has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces.”“Such sixty-day period shall be extended for not more than an additional thirty days. . . respecting the removal of such forces.”Explain a Constitutional argument that would give President Obama control over the military involvement in Syria.Explain a Constitutional argument that would give Congress control over the military involvement in Syria.In your opinion, does President Obama need the consent of Congress to expand the military involvement in Syria? Explain using information from the documents above and the Constitution. ................
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