Textbook Assignments

[Scott Ritsema]

For Friday, 2/15 Test:

Chapter 1, know these bold terms only--government, state, law, natural law, public policies, divine right of kings, social contract, natural rights, public good, monarchy, feudalism, absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, republic, democracy, dictatorship, autocracy, despotism, unitary system, federal systems, confederal system, presidential system, parliamentary system, anarchy, direct democracy, representative democracy

[Scott Ritsema]

TEXTBOOK ASSIGNMENT FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 29th TEST


Chapter 16

Sec. 1
Terms: public opinion, ideology, political socialization
Read the first 2 paragraphs under "Media"
Read the part entitled "The Nature of Public Opinion"

Sec. 2
Terms: polling, George Gallup (not bold), exit poll, sampling, sampling error
Read the first paragraph under "Types of Polls"
Read the first paragraph under "Sampling"
Read the section entitled "Question Wording"
Read the section entitled "Question Order"

Sec. 3
Terms: cencorship, bias, objectivity,
Read "Role of the Media" up until the end of "Serving as Watchdog"


Chapter 17
Sec. 1
Terms: Agribusiness, trade associations, labor unions, AFL-CIO (not bold), public interest groups
Read "Functions of Interest Groups" intro only (through the three bullet points with stars)
Read "Professional Groups" and "Societal Groups"
Read the three paragraphs on p. 388 surrounding the term, public interest groups

Sec. 2
Terms: Single-issue voting, lobbying, grassroots lobbying, class-action suits,
Read "Demonstrations and Protests"

Sec. 3
Read "Benefits of Interest Groups" through the end of "Representing Minority Concerns"
Read "Criticisms of Interest Groups" through the end of "Excessive Power"

[Scott Ritsema]

FOR MARCH 7 TEST

Chapter 7 Section 3
Terms: Nominate, electoral college, elector, caucus, conventions.
Read “Presidential Primaries” including terms (except the last two paragraphs).
Pick it up again at “Caucuses”. Read through “Speeches.”
Terms: Party Platform, planks
Read “State by State Roll Call”
Read “The Election” including terms up until “criticisms…”

Chapter 19
Sec 1
Read “Primary Election” including terms through “Runoff Primary.”
Read “Voter Turnout”
Sec 2
Read “Campaigning in Person Today”
Read “Media Campaigning Today”
Read “Polling”
Read “Campaign Financing” just the first paragraph
Read “Financial Disclosure”
Read “Donor Restrictions”
Sec 3
Term: Single-member districts, secret ballot, absentee ballot, suffrage,
Read “When Elections are Held”
Read “How Elections are Conducted”
Read “Age,” “Citizenship” and “Registration”
Skip Sec 4

[Scott Ritsema]

MARCH 20 TEST (Thursday b/f Good Friday)

Chapter 13
Sec. 2 only
--Term: The Establishment Clause
--Engel v. Vitale (up until “Government aid for religion”)
--Custom and Religion

Chapter 14
You can skip the whole thing; we’ll cover most of this in class.

Chapter 15
Sec. 1
--“By Birth”—just the one sentence
--“Through Naturalization” (read through the red stars)
Sec. 2
--Read “Illegal Immigration”
Sec. 3
--What’s the fallacy in the textbook’s definition of Civil Rights?
--Read “Civil Rights and Equal Protection” to the end of the section
Sec. 4
--Read the big section on “Civil Rights Laws”

[Scott Ritsema]

APRIL 4 TEST

CHAPTER 3
Read Sec 1 ALL
Read Sec 2 ALL
Skip sections 3 and 4

CHAPTER 4
Sec 1: Read the first half through the end of "Powers Denied to Both Levels"

Sec 2:
Read first paragraph under "Increasing Federal Involvement"
Terms: Revenue Sharing, Grants-in-aid, categorical grants, block grant
Read from "Federal Mandates" through the end.

Sec 3:
Read from "States in the Federal System" through the end of the section.

Sec 4:
Read "Checking Power" and "Promoting Participation"




Chapter 10

The following terms:
National Security
Trade Embargo
Realism
Internationalist
Idealism
Presidential Doctrines
Department of State (not bold; on page 223 on right column)
Embassies
Consulates
Ambassador
Consul
Foreign Service
Visas
Passport

Then Read from "Role of the US Department of Defense" through the end of the section (227).

Skip Section 3.

Section 4 terms:
Foreign Aid
USAID
Defense Alliances
Collective Security
NATO
Multilateral Treaty
Bilateral Allance

[Scott Ritsema]

4/18 Test: Congress

Your readings for this 1-week unit are VERY IMPORTANT! Be ready for several questions on the test about these issues.

Ch 5 Sec 1
Term: Constituents
Read "Overseeing Agencies"--first three paragraphs only

Ch 5 Sec 2
This is very important. Lots of facts that you need to know about Congress.

Ch 5 Sec 3
Terms: impeached, ex post facto law, bill of attainder

Ch 6 Sec 1
Terms: Quorum, Term Limits, Incumbents, Majority Party, Minority Party, Speaker, Floor Leader, Party Whips, President pro tempore

Ch 6 Sec 2
Read up until "Congressional Resources"

Ch 6 Sec 3
Terms: Filibuster, Cloture
Read: Presidential Action

Ch 6 Sec 4
Term: Pork-barrel Spending,
Read the first paragraph (2 sentences at the bottom of the page) under "Power of the Committee System."

[Scott Ritsema]

2-week unit on the Executive Branch
Test Friday May 2

Ch 7
Sec. 1: Read "Chief of State"
Read "Qualifications and Terms of Office" through the end of the section.

Sec. 2: Read "Growth of Presidential Power" through the end.


Ch 8
Sec. 1: List of members of the staff on the graphic on page 170 (most important: Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, Press Secretary)
List of the 14 Cabinet Departments in the graphic on page 173. ADD DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY to this list.
Read: "The Vice President"
Terms: Secretaries, Attorney General

Sec. 2.
Read the introductory paragraph.
Terms: Civil Servants, Spoils System, Merit System

[Scott Ritsema]

Judicial Branch Test: Friday, May 16

Chapter 11 Section 1
Read "Authority of the Courts"
See chart on p. 250.

Chapter 11 Section 2
Read pages 255 & 256
Read "Court Appointments"
Read "Choosing Cases"
Terms: Majority Opinion, Concurring Opinion, Dissenting Opinion, Stare Decisis