Air Midterm

Relax. This “air midterm” does not count toward your grade; do not even turn it in. Instead, use it to appraise your own progress in the course. Try out this test, either in your head or on paper.If you flounder, then you should take more care with class sessions and assigned readings.

I. Identifications  In a short paragraph each, explain the meaning and significance of the following items. What is fair game for an identification?

• Items that we have discussed in class or on the blog;
• Items that appear in bold or italics in the readings;
• Items that cover several pages in the readings.

1. “Energy in the executive”
2. Jon Huntsman
3. “Selective incorporation”
4. Self-evident truths
5. Spaghetti chart
6. Moeurs
7. Ninth Amendment
8. Iowa caucuses
9. The Seneca Falls Declaration
10. The Supremacy Clause
11. Super PAC
12. Federal Register

II.   Short essays.  In a couple of paragraphs each, answer the following.

• Explain different meanings of political party.
• Explain the political impact of the Three-Fifths Clause.
• “[A]nd to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit.”  Explain.
• “The President of the United States possesses almost royal prerogatives which he has no occasion to use, and the rights of which he has been able to make use so far are very circumscribed; the laws allow him to be strong, but circumstances have made him weak.” Explain.

III. General Essays (2-3 bluebooks pages each)

• According to Tocqueville, what are the main causes that maintain a democratic republic in the United States? Explain.
• Is federalism beneficial? Explain.
• Should we amend Article V to make it easier to amend the Constitution and call a constitutional convention?

IV. Bonus questions (one point each) Very briefly identify the following:

• Denny Rehberg
• David Rivera
• Susan Rice
• Jay Root
• Ricci Ramos