essays

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2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.

2008-2)A number of factors enable presidents to exert influence over Congress in the area of domestic policy. However, presidents are also limited in their influence over domestic policymaking in Congress.

-The Constitution grants the president certain enumerated powers. Describe two of these formal powers that enable the president to exert influence over domestic policy.

-Choose two of the following. Define each term and explain how each limits the president’s ability to influence domestic policy making in Congress.

*Mandatory spending

*Party polarization

*Lame-duck period

2008-3) 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.

2009-1) In The Federalist paper number 10, James Madison expressed concern over the possibility that both majority and minority factions would have too much power over government, and he presented ways of minimizing that danger. The United States Constitution established a democratic government but also contained several provisions that limited majority rule. Throughout the next two centuries, the role of majority rule in the United States government and politics continued to change.

Identify the part of the national government that was originally most closely tied to citizens and explain how it was tied to citizens.

-Explain two ways the United States constitution limited majority rule.

-Choose two of the following twentieth-century developments and explain how each moved the United States from a less democratic system to a more democratic system.

*Primary elections

*The Seventeenth Amendment

*Expansion of suffrage