AP+Exam+Short+Answer+Questions+4

= AP Government and Politics Exam Guide for Unit IV=

Each of the links below contain all of the Wilson Study Guides for each chapter (featuring outlines, matching, true/false, multiple choice, and SRQs) that came from the 12th edition of the Wilson workbook. The multiple choice questions found on your unit exam may be taken from this bank of questions...study and review all of them in order to prepare!

[|Chapter 11 Study Guide] [|Chapter 15 Study Guide] [|Chapter 16 Study Guide] [|Chapter 17 Study Guide]

The following SRQ (Short Response Questions) are the actual questions that were originally found in the Advanced Placement United States History Exams that have been held since 1999. Learn from the past and anticipate answering similar questions on the AP Exam this year...


 * 1999 Exam - Question 4:** Using the information in the pie charts above, identify two budgetary barriers that hinder the creation of new policy initiatives. Explain why each of the barriers you identified persists. Using your knowledge of United States politics, identify one nonbudgetary barrier AND explain how this barrier hinders the creation of new policy initiatives. ([|Click here for a copy of the pie chart])

Select two of the obstacles. For each obstacle, provide both of the following.
 * 2000 Exam - Question 4:** The three obstacles listed below have made it difficult for Congress to enact significant campaign finance reform.
 * //Buckley v. Valeo// (1976)
 * Soft money
 * Incumbency
 * A brief description of the obstacle
 * An explanation of how the obstacle has made it difficult for Congress to enact significant campaign finance reform.


 * 2001 Exam - Question 4:** Explain how each of the political factors listed below makes it difficult for the federal government to enact public policy. Provide one example for each explanation.
 * Divided government
 * Weak party discipline
 * Growth in the number of interest groups and political action committees (PAC's)


 * 2002 Exam - Question 2:** Using the information in the figure [|located here] and your knowledge of United States politics, complete the following tasks.
 * Describe what the figure above demonstrates about the distribution of government benefits over time.
 * Identify two politically relevant factors that have affected the changing distribution of government benefits betweens children and the elderly.
 * Explain how each of the two factors identified in the second bullet has affected the changing distribution of government benefits.


 * 2003 Exam - Question 4:** Both party leadership and committees in Congress play key roles in the legislative process.
 * Define two of the following elements of the congressional committee system and explain how each influences the legislative process.
 * Specialization
 * Reciprocity/logrolling
 * Party representation on committees
 * Identify two ways party leadership in Congress can influence the legislative process, and explain how each way inluences the process.

2005 Exam - Question 4: The United States Congress has debated a variety of campaign finance reforms over the last decade. The proposals debated have included the following:
 * Eliminating soft money
 * Limiting independent expenditures
 * Raising limits on individual contributions
 * Select one of the listed proposals and do all of the following:
 * Define the proposal.
 * Describe an arguement that proponents make in favor of the proposal.
 * Describe an agruement that opponents make against the proposal.
 * Select a different listed proposal and do all of the following:
 * Define the proposal.
 * Describe an argument that proponents make in favor of the proposal.
 * Describe an argument that opponents make against the proposal.


 * 2006 Exam - Question 2:** In recent decades, entitlement programs have constituted a substantial portion of the United States federal budget. Social Security is the largest entitlement program in the United States. From the information in the chart [|located here] and your knowledge of United States government and politics, perform the following tasks.
 * Define entitlement program.
 * What is the primary source of revenue for the Social Security program?
 * Identify one threat to the future of the Social Security program should the trends depicted in the chart above continue.
 * Describe one demographic trend that threatens the future of the Social Security program AND explain how it is responsible for the threat that you identified in the third bullet.
 * Explain how any one of the trends in the chart [|located here] would change if the age of eligibility for Social Security were raised.


 * 2006 Exam - Question 3:** The United States Congress and the President together have the power to enact federal law. Federal bureaucratic agencies have the responsibility to execute federal law. However, in the carrying out of these laws, federal agencies have policy-making discretion.
 * Explain two reasons why Congress gives federal agencies policy-making discretion in executing federal laws.
 * Choose one of the bureaucratic agencies listed below. Identify the policy area over which it exercises policy-making discretion AND give one specific example of how it exercises that discretion.
 * Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
 * Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
 * Federal Reserve Board
 * Describe two ways in which Congress ensures that federal agencies follow legislative intent.


 * 2008 Exam - Question 3**: Fiscal policy and monetary policy are two tools used by the federal government to influence the United States economy. The executive and legislative branches share the responsibility of setting fiscal policy. The Federal Reserve Board has the primary role of setting monetary policy.
 * Define fiscal policy.
 * Describe one significant way the executive branch influences fiscal policy.
 * Describe one significant way the legislative branch influences fiscal policy.
 * Define monetary policy.
 * Explain two reasons why the Federal Reserve Board is given independence in establishing monetary policy.


 * 2009 Exam - Question 3:** In the United States Congress, the majority party exerts a substantial influence over lawmaking. However, even when one party has a numerical majority in each chamber of the United States Congress, there is no guarantee that legislation supported by that majority party will be passed by both chambers. Rules of each chamber independently influence the likelihood that legislation will pass in that chamber; legislation passed by one chamber is not always passed by the other.
 * Describe two advantages the majority party in the United States House of Representatives has in lawmaking, above and beyond the numerical advantage that that majority party enjoys in floor voting.
 * Describe two differences between House and Senate rules that may make it likely that legislation may pass in one chamber but not in the other.
 * Explain how the differences identified in the second bullet can lead to the passage of a bill in one chamber but not in the other.

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