Week of April 27. The AP US Government and Politics exam is two weeks from today at 4 pm

1. Review chapter 16

2. Practice essay

3. Here is the College Board exam description and study guide. The exam has been changed again... to a 25 minute Free response Question, a 15 minute FRQ, and time to upload each of the questions.

4. DO watch the videos linked below. In a perfect world, watch last Monday's and then watch today's live at 3.

5. Here's a link to C-SPAN review materials. I like the Jennifer Hitchcock ones better, but there are some handy lists of vocabulary and mandatory documents collated by C-SPAN.

6. AP U.S. Government and Politics- Saturday, May 9 from 9:00 - 10:00am ET on C-SPAN and C-SPAN.org

Dan Larsen and Andrew Conneen, teachers from Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, join us for our 12th annual Cram for the Exam program to help A.P. Government and Politics students around the country prepare for their upcoming exam. Dan and Andrew will discuss the exam and make suggestions as to what students should be studying. They will also respond to student questions asked via telephone and social media.

During the program, students may Tweet questions they'd like answered to @cspanwj, post on Facebook, or via email journal@c-span.org. For Twitter, students can use the hashtag #CSPANCram4Exam.

Question 1

Item 1

Respond to all parts of the question. In your response, use substantive examples where appropriate.

In 1995 the United States House of Representatives approved a bill that would make English the official language of the United States. The vote was 259 to 169, with 223 Republicans and 36 Democrats voting in favor and 8 Republicans, 160 Democrats, and 1 independent voting against. The debate was intense . . . and partisan. . . . Arizona is one of several states that have passed “Official English” or “English Only” laws.

Source: Robert King, “Should English be the Law?” The Atlantic, April 1997

After reading the scenario, please respond to A, B, and C below.

1. Describe how another political institution can influence the advancement of the federal legislation in the scenario.

2. Explain how the institution described in part A is affected by another governmental entity in the context of the scenario.

3. As of 2018, states have continued to pass English-only laws, but the national government has not yet passed a federal law declaring English as the official language. Currently, a total of 31 states have English-only policies. Explain how this information and the scenario illustrate Madison’s argument in The Federalist 10.

Respond to all parts of the question. In your response, use substantive examples where appropriate.

This question requires you to compare a Supreme Court case you studied in class with one you have not studied in class. A summary of the Supreme Court case you did not study in class is presented below and provides all the information you need to know about the case to answer the prompts.

In 1963, James P. Wesberry lived in a Georgia congressional district that had a population double than that of other congressional districts in the state. He argued that because there was only one member of Congress for each congressional district, his vote did not count because of the state’s failure to adjust the congressional districts to meet the changing population. Wesberry sought to prevent the Georgia government from conducting elections under the current districting system. The district court dismissed his complaint. Wesberry appealed to the Supreme Court.

The majority opinion of the Supreme Court was that congressional districts must have roughly equal populations. The court further held that the state apportionment statute was invalid because it abridged the Constitution.

Based on the information above, please respond to the following questions.

1. Identify a difference in the facts of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) that affected the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision.

2. Explain how the decision in Baker v. Carr is similar to the decision in Wesberry v. Sanders.

3. Explain the role stare decisis likely played in the Wesberry v. Sanders decision.