Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Practice Final Exam

I. Identifications. Explain the meaning and significance of 12 of the 15 following items (4 points each). Each answer should be a brief paragraph. What is fair game for an identification?

  • Items that we have discussed in class or on the blog;
  • Items that appear in bold or italics in the readings;
  • Items that cover several pages in the readings.
  1. National Security Act of 1947
  2. Progressive taxes
  3. Stare decisis
  4. Federal Register
  5. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
  6. Cloture
  7. Embedded journalist
  8. Superdelegates
  9. Exclusionary rule
  10. AmeriCorps
  11. Unfunded mandate
  12. Bill of attainder
  13. Medicaid
  14. Party identification
  15. Thirteenth Amendment

II. Short answers. Answer 3 of 4 (6 points each). Each answer should be a brief paragraph.

1. Explain the difference between unilateralism and multilateralism in foreign policy.

2. Briefly explain: “I go further, and affirm that bills of rights, in the sense and to the extent in which they are contended for, are not only unnecessary in the proposed Constitution, but would even be dangerous.”

3. Briefly explain: “Our written laws are often hard to understand, but everyone can read them, whereas nothing could be more obscure and out of research of the common man than a law founded on precedent.”

4. What has happened to the newspaper industry in recent years? How might the trend affect deliberative democracy?

III. General Essays. Answer 2 of 3 (17 points each). Each answer should take 3-4 small bluebook pages.

1. How can federalism foster deliberation and active citizenship?

2. The unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. Is the president responsible? In your answer, consider the structure of federal economic policymaking.

3. See the article at http://www.wilsoncountynews.com/article.php?id=27305&n=tead-off-americans-national-day-of-pray-gets-wrong-court-decision. Explain how it illustrates basic features of the nation’s civic culture and constitutional structure. Does it get anything wrong?

IV. Bonus questions (one point each) Very briefly identify the following:

  • Annette Polly Williams
  • Christine Todd Whitman
  • Henry Waxman
  • Byron White
  • Sienna Wooten

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