AP US Gov Religion Notes

Goes with religion sheet

The Establishment Clause: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”  On its surface, what does this clause mean?  Overall, how has it been interpreted by the Supreme Court?

·      On the most basic level, the point of the clause is that there is no state religion

·      The SC has interpreted it to create a “wall of separation” between government and religion.  The government must be completely neutral (can’t give money to endorse a religion)

I.               Which of the following are Constitutionally allowed?  Do you see any connection/ themes?

A.             The use of state funds for bussing students to Catholic schools

1.             This is constitutional

2.             A state can give money to help religious kids pay for bussing because it is a secular purpose and a safety issue

B.             *The saying of a State written prayer in a public school

1.             Was legal until 1962

2.             Engel v. Vitale

a)             Unconstitutional for the state to write a prayer or set up tie for prayer in school (because that’s endorsing religion)

b)             Kids can pray on their own (teachers can’t force prayer)

c)             There can be religious clubs

C.            A “moment of silence” for meditation or voluntary prayer in a public school

1.             Response from religious people to deal with Engel v. Vitale

2.             Unconstitutional, because even though it does not endorse a religion, there is still a peer pressure aspect

3.             Kentucky decided put the 10 Commandments in every classroom, and this was decided to be unconstitutional.  Kentucky argued that it is a basis of our legal system, but the Supreme Court said it is endorsing religion because it is religious in nature and they are placed on their own (unlike in the SC where the 10 Commandments is balanced because there is also the Code of Hammurabi and other ancient legal writings)

D.            A “public” chaplain starting a session of Congress with a prayer

1.             Constitutional

2.             Can do this in Congress because it has always been done, and it is before adults so there is no issue of peer pressure

E.             Public school teachers can be used in parochial schools to teach remedial courses for needy children

1.             Constitutional

2.             Private schools don’t have the resources to help these kids.  The public school teachers aren’t teaching religion, they are helping children with learning disabilities (secular purpose and not endorsing religion)

3.             The wall can be penetrated

F.             The display of a nativity scene (birth of Jesus) in a public park

1.             Unconstitutional on its own (if it is with a Menorah/ Christmas tree/ other secular scenes it is Constitutional)

2.             Combining does not endorse one religion

3.             A nativity scene with a Christmas tree and Santa Clause (and not a Menorah) is fine still because the Christmas tree and Santa are secular

G.            The offering of a prayer at a public school graduation ceremony

1.             Unconstitutional

2.             Similarly, players on the field at a sporting event cannot gather for a prayer

H.            The teaching of “intelligent design” as a part of a public school’s science curriculum

1.             Intelligent design is an idea that the universe is so complex and finely tuned that there must have been a creator who designed everything.  It is trying to make creationism (teaching creation based on the Bible) scientific

2.             Unconstitutional- intelligent design is not a real science- it’s religious- and therefore it cannot be taught in public schools

I.               *A state government pays the salary of secular teachers working in parochial schools

1.             Lemon v. Kurtzman

a)             Lemon Test- used to determine when public money can be given to religious institutions (especially involving schools)

(1)           The government’s action must have a secular legislative purpose

(2)           The government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion

(3)           The government’s action must not result in an “excessive government entanglement” with religion

2.             Unconstitutional

The Free Exercise Clause: “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion”

II.              Which of the following are constitutionally allowed?

A.             A Mormon having more than one wife

1.             Unconstitutional

a)             It’s “subversive of public order”

2.             Mormons still marry many wives, just without legal licenses

B.             An Orthodox Jew wearing his yarmulke while serving in the Air Force

C.            The US Forest Service allowing private companies to build roads and cut timber in national forests that Native Americans have traditionally used for religious purposes

D.            Forcing students to salute the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance

E.             Giving an exemption for vaccinations to schoolchildren because of religious beliefs

1.             Unconstitutional- putting other kids in the school in danger for not having the vaccination

F.             The government can draft those who have religious objections to military service

G.            Banning animal sacrifices which are part of religious ceremonies

H.            The use of peyote in Native American religious rites

AP US Gov Civil Rights Notes

Chapter 19

Civil rights v. Civil liberties:

Civil rights refers to positive actions of the government to create a more equal society.  Civil liberties refers to restrictions on the government that come from the Bill of Rights- they protect us from the government.

Aim: To examine the path from separate but equal to Brown v. Board of Ed

I.               The Fourteenth Amendment

A.             This amendment was interpreted in two ways

1.             Broad- we should have a colorblind society.  Blacks and whites should be treated equally in any situation

2.             Narrow- legally blacks cannot be treated unequally, but in social and private situations blacks can be treated differently.  This laid the ground for the Jim Crowe Laws (separate social settings- hotels, restaurants, etc.) and the Plessey v. Ferguson decision 1896 (schools can be separate but equal)

4/17/12

II.              “Baby steps” to Brown (NAACP)

A.             Overturn laws that were unconstitutional because they created schools that were obviously unequal

1.             Example: A state had a law school for whites but no law school for blacks

B.             Look at situations that are not obviously unequal but still overturn those laws

1.             Black students had the opportunity to learn in a white school, but in a separate building so they did not have access to things in the white section

C.            Brown v. Board of Ed- separate but equal is inherently unequal

D.            They (NAACP) did not go through Congress

1.             Didn’t have popular support

2.             Needed to overturn Plessey, which Congress didn’t have the power to do

III.            Brown v. Board of Ed

A.             Class action lawsuit- the decision did not only apply to Brown, but to all black kids

B.             Rationale- psychology and sociology

1.             Black kids who are in separate schools with have lower self esteem

2.             Why would he (Warren- chief justice) use this instead of the Constitution?

a)             He could’ve used the equal protection clause from the 14^th Amendment to create desegregated schools, but he didn’t because when the 14^th Amendment was written the issue of segregated schools was debated and the authors did not intend for the amendment at the time to desegregate schools

b)             Warren wanted a unanimous decision, so he did not want to use the 14^th Amendment because that would split the Court because some justices would think that it was an improper use of it

3.             Some people have labeled this case judicial activism because it used social science

C.            Implementation

1.             The district courts would supervise the process of desegregation

2.             “All deliberate speed”- get this done quickly

D.            Was desegregation enough?

1.             It wasn’t just desegregation, it was integration (make schools mixed)

2.             Goal: “unitary, nonracial system of education”

3.             It wasn’t enough that blacks were allowed to go to white schools, they were to be mixed and make blacks go to white schools

4.             à Busing to make schools integrated

5.             If the segregated schools were because of living patterns and not a history of segregation, there was no busing

IV.            What made it easier for Civil rights activists to go through Congress

A.             Change in public opinion- white sympathy

1.             Media

2.             Saw harsh segregation (Bull Connor in Birmingham)

B.             JFK’s assassination

C.            1964 Democrats won a lot of seats in Congress

D.            1964 Civil Rights Act

1.             Ended discrimination in public accommodations (hotels, restaurants, etc.)

2.             Used commerce clause to make and enforce the act

4/19/12

Aim: Affirmative Action

V.             What is affirmative action?

A.             To deal with the legacy of discrimination (racism, sexism), people belonging to those groups deserve certain benefits and preferential treatment (equality of results)

B.             Opposition to affirmative action

1.             Call it “reverse discrimination”

2.             Believe that affirmative action is not how to fix the problem

3.             It hurts the people who get the benefits

4.             Believe in a colorblind society

5.             Equality of opportunity- don’t give minorities special benefits.  People who are most qualified should get the jobs and acceptances to colleges

VI.            Affirmative Action cases (handout with brief description of cases)

A.             Bakke Case 1978 (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke)

1.             Got rid of quotas in admissions

2.             Race can be a determining factor in admitting a student (this helps everyone, not necessarily black people because diversity on a campus helps everyone)

B.             University of Michigan Cases

1.             Gratz v. Bollinger (Undergraduate Program)

a)             Struck down on the points system in the admissions process that gave minorities extra points.  The Court felt that this was too close to a quota

2.             Grutter v. Bollinger (Law School)

a)             Just considered race- wanted to use this to overturn Bakke

b)             Court upheld the idea of using race as a determining factor

VII.           

AP US Gov Environmental Policy Notes

Chapter 21

4/3/12

I.               Different environmental politics

A.             Movement started with entrepreneurial politics

1.             Costs are narrow (big companies have to pay the costs) and everyone benefits

2.             Examples:

a)             At the start, power plants had to “pay the costs” by controlling their emissions, and everyone benefited from this

b)             Clean Air Act- the burden to prevent too much car emissions was at first placed on the car companies

B.             Majoritarian

1.             Transition from entrepreneurial to majoritarian- drivers began to feel the pain of cleaning the environment because the people had to pay more to drive/ go through the hassle of carpooling

2.             Costs and benefits are widespread

3.             Once policies became majoritarian rules were dictated, and the people did not support them

C.            Interest Groups Politics

1.             Acid rain

a)             Two groups were against each other- people who burned coal in the Midwest and the people in New England who got the acid rain

2.             Costs and benefits are not widespread- they are spread just amongst two groups that are fighting it out over an issue

D.            Client politics

1.             Use of insecticides/ pesticides (farmers).  Farmers don’t want to pay the costs (it would cost more to grow crops without insecticides and pesticides) and want to use insecticides and pesticides

II.               

AP US Gov Social Policy Notes

Chapter 17

3/27/12

I.               How is policy made?

A.             Majoritarian politics

1.             Benefits and costs are widely distributed

2.             Examples:

a)             Social Security

b)             Medicare

3.             These programs are preserved because everyone benefits from it

B.             Client Politics

1.             Everyone pays for it but only few people benefit

2.             Examples:

a)             Medicaid

b)             Welfare

(1)           When the program was created during the New Deal, the idea was that widowed women would get the aid.  Overtime, it became to be that black women who were never married would have a lot of kids to get more aid from AFDC, which made it unpopular

3.             These programs are vulnerable.  They are connected to our perception of the programs and if we think these people deserve our tax money

II.              FRQ 2006 on social policy

A.             An entitlement program is a program that you must meet specific criteria to be eligible to receive benefits

B.             The primary source of revenue for Social Security is taxes on people’s salaries (payroll tax)

C.            Run out of money- they will pay out more than they take in

D.            More people are retiring (baby boomers) and there are not enough young people to pay their benefits.  Also there is a longer life expectancy, so people are living off social security for longer

E.             Paid in would increase

III.            AFDC/TANF (learn from textbook)

AP US Gov Media Notes

Chapter 10

3/27/12

I.               Roles of the Media

A.             Gatekeeper

1.             Decide what stories are important

2.             Just because they bring up certain stories, doesn’t mean they shape our opinions

B.             Scorekeeper

1.             Track political reputations

2.             Keep score during an election

3.             Leads to a lack of substance in debates

4.             Focus on small things that happen in the competition and not on policy to the point that we don’t get enough of the substance or international news

C.            Watchdog

1.             Watch over the government

2.             Expose scandals

3.             Investigate personalities

II.              Influence of Mass Media (growth of TV and 24 hour cable news cycle)

A.             Weakening of political parties

1.             Candidates can connect with us directly through the media and therefore do not need the parties

B.             Access to more information

1.             We can learn on our own without a filter

2.             People can communicate with us directly

3.             Dangers- information overload and information that is not factual or properly sourced

C.            Made our political system more divisive

1.             Cable news networks are either liberal or conservative, and have polarized us further.  A conservative will only watch a conservative channel and reinforce his/her views, and the same for liberals

2.             It is important to read/ watch both sides to get both points of view

D.             Furthered the idea that the presidency is about celebrity and not policy

E.             More grassroots involvement in politics (this is a positive because people have more participation in politics)

III.             

AP US Gov Interest Groups Notes

Chapter 9

3/16/12

I.               Mission/ Role

A.             Educate on the issues

B.             Can become political

C.            Advice

D.            Sharing of ideas

E.             Influence the political process to get the government to adopt their ideas

F.             Lobbying, raising money

G.            Not all driven on politics; it’s a way of educating people on what’s going on

H.            The most important role interest groups play is providing information to members of Congress

1.             Oftentimes, that information ends up in bills that are passed

II.              Why does the US have so many interest groups?

A.             Parties here are weak and we have fewer parties, so interest groups fill the role.  In Europe, the parties are strong and interest groups work through the parties

B.             There are a lot of divisions in our society; we live in a very diverse nation, so views vary and different types of people with common beliefs form different groups

C.            There are so many different ways of accessing our government (separation of powers and federalism) allows people to feel like they can have an impact and form interest groups

III.            Birth of Interest Groups- What leads to the creation of interest groups?

A.             War

1.             Groups form to represent veterans from war

2.             Veterans get benefits

B.             Economy

1.             Crises

2.             Economic changes

a)             After New Deal, organizations formed to fight what FDR did

b)             New jobs form unions, which are interest groups (during the industrial revolution, factory jobs were created and these people formed unions to ensure their rights)

c)             Farming groups

d)             Trade organizations that resulted from the industrialization and overseas trade

C.            Real dramatic growth of interest groups was in the 1960s

1.             Great Society

a)             Groups were created to protect government benefits

2.             Culture Wars

a)             Civil rights- black organizations

b)             Feminist organizations

c)             Birth of environmental movement

d)             Gay rights groups

3.             Vietnam war- veterans groups

4.             More liberal people and divide in values à groups formed around values issues

D.            A great leader who can motivate people and make a cause appealing can lead to the birth of an interest group

3/19/12

IV.            Types of Interest Groups

A.             Institutional Interest Groups

1.             Representing organizations (not individual people)

2.             Example: Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of businesses around the country

3.             They are very big because they protect powerful corporations

B.             Membership Interest Groups

1.             Represent individual people

2.             We tend to join religious and political membership groups the most

3.             Why do we join organizations?

a)             Political Efficacy- we take part in these organizations to produce a positive result and get good things done

b)             Material- you get direct benefits by joining (discounts, plans, etc.)

c)             Solidary- to be with people who share common interests

d)             Purposive- specific purpose/ goal that you want to accomplish

C.            Ideological Interest Groups

1.             Unified set of goals that you want to achieve

D.            Public Interest Groups

1.             Benefit nonmembers

2.             Many were set up by Ralph Nader

a)             Nader got his start fighting for seat belts in cars.  He went before Congress testifying for seat belts, sued GM, got a lot of money, and set up groups to help people (mainly to protect consumer rights)

3/20/12

V.             Regulating Interest Groups

A.             Many people think that powerful corporation lobbyists meet with Congressmen and dictate what they do, and therefore strongly influence government

B.             First regulation- 1946

1.             This law was a failure

2.             It was too vague and didn’t clearly define a lobbyist

3.             No agency to enforce it

C.            1995

1.             Gave a broader definition of lobbying- more people were considered lobbyists, so they could be regulated

2.             Paperwork- lobbyists have to give reports to the government about who you’re working for and who you are lobbying

3.             Regulations are different for grassroots organizations (coming from the people- the rules are more flexible

4.             95’ was more effective in regulating lobbying than 46’

VI.            Revolving Door

A.             Refers to people working in government (mostly members of Congress) who leave and work for a lobbying firm, and sometimes go back into government in the executive branch

B.             People fear that once someone goes from the private sector back into government, he/she will act to benefit the private corporation he/she worked for, which is corrupt and should be limited

3/21/12

VII.          PACs

A.             PACs try to get candidates elected by raising money and running ads

B.             The populous view PACs as bad, corrupting government, buying votes, and having too much influence

C.            Most scholars say that PACs are not that bad and do not have as much influence and power as we think

1.             PACs educate people.  It is important for the people to be informed

2.             Individuals and political parties donate 3/5 of the money going to candidates, so PACs aren’t really dominating the system

3.             All the money given is tracked and regulate.  So now matter how much money is given, at least we know who is giving, how much, and where it’s going

4.             The general trend is that PACs give to incumbents, but individuals also give to incumbents, and incumbents will most likely win anyway

5.             PACs also support strong challengers, and give money to both people in an election (which is bad)

6.             But in the end, PACs don’t buy votes because people still go out and vote, and politicians tend to listen to their party and constituents more before they listen to PACs

7.             The main problem is money in politics, not only PACs

D.            Checking PACs

1.             Media

2.             Watchdog groups

3.             PACs have influence in our society, but there are still many programs in our society that do not have PACs defending them yet they still exist because people vote for them

4.             Political parties check PACs

VIII.