PLSC 201-003, Fall 2017, Midterm Exam Review
Week 1: Why Government?
Understand why governments exist, and the different bases for deciding
who gets to govern
Week 2: American Political Thought and Theories of Power
Elite theory and pluralist theory
Political culture (traditionalistic, moralistic, individualistic)
Philosophical origins of the American political system
Particularly important: John
Locke, the theory of natural rights, and Locke’s influence on Jefferson and the
other Founders
What were the problems with
the Articles of Confederation that led to the Articles being replaced by the
Constitution?
Week 3: The Constitution and the Federalist Papers
How the different branches of government were chosen under the original
Constitution
What powers did the states
have under the Articles of Confederation that were given to the federal
government under the Constitution?
Checks and balances, and
separation powers: Definitions and examples
How the Constitution may be
amended
Why was the Bill of Rights
added to the Constitution?
Federalist 10: What are
factions, why did Madison believe them to be a problem, and why did he argue
that the proposed system of Constitutional government would address this
problem?
Federalist 51: Why did Madison
argue that the Constitutional structure would prevent the federal government
from abusing its power?
Week 4: The Congress
Virginia Plan, New Jersey
Plan, Connecticut Compromise (how seats are apportioned among states)
Reapportionment,
redistricting, gerrymandering
Committees: what do they do,
and why would a member want to join a particular one?
Legislative process: How a
bill becomes a law (what the relevant actors do)
Week 5: The Executive Branch
Formal powers of the President
How the President and Vice President are chosen (Electoral College)
Executive orders and signing statements
Informal powers (Neustadt’s “power to persuade”)
Political psychology and Barber’s typologies of Presidential character
The federal bureaucracy: how it works and what it does
Max Weber’s theories of bureaucracy
Week 6: The Judiciary
Structure of the federal court system
Judiciary Act of 1789
Marbury v. Madison – facts of
the case and why it’s important
Judicial review
Court-packing
Current membership of the Supreme Court (good extra credit question)