Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Midterm study guide



Gerrymandering
What is reapportionment?
What is redistricting?
What is gerrymandering?
What is the difference between packing and cracking?

Filibuster
What is a filibuster?
Which house of Congress uses the filibuster – the House of Representatives or the Senate?
How is the filibuster different now than it was 50 years ago?  
Give a recent example of an issue that caused someone in Congress to threaten a filibuster.

Executive power
Which branch of the government does the Constitution say has the power to declare war?
When was the last time war was officially declared by the United States?  (You can name the conflict or the year.)
What was the effect of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution?
What did the Department of Justice memos under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales authorize during President George W. Bush’s first term?
What is rendition?
Who was Anwar al-Awlaki?  Describe the circumstances surrounding his death.
Who was Abdulrahman al-Awlaki?  Describe the circumstances surrounding his death.
What did the leaked memo from Obama’s administration earlier this month claim as a new power for the executive branch?
Name 5 of the Departments of the executive branch whose secretaries serve on the president’s cabinet.
Describe 5 issues President Obama brought up in his State of the Union address, as well as his proposed solutions to those issues.
Why did the federal and state governments originally begin employing private companies to run their prisons?
Private prison companies need more inmates to make more money.  Describe two ways that private prison companies attempt to increase the number of inmates in their prisons.
What is one way Chalmers Johnson argues that the US can cut the Department of Defense budget?

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