American Government — College Core flashcards
10 of 78 cards free to study here · 14 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
Founding and the Constitution, federalism, landmark civil liberties and civil rights cases, public opinion, media, parties, Electoral College mechanics, interest groups, Congress, the presidency, the courts, the bureaucracy and public policy.
Learn deck · part of American Government (college) · written against: Standard intro American government course; OpenStax American Government 3e, consulted as a reference; no text copied. Updated 2026-10-10.
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A political scientist finds that a small circle of corporate executives and wealthy donors shapes most major policy, whatever voters want. Which theory of power does this support, and what is its main rival?Elite theory — power is concentrated in a small, wealthy, well-connected few. Its rival, pluralist theory, holds that many competing groups share power and that policy emerges from bargaining among them.Foundations & Constitution
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New York granted a steamboat monopoly, and a rival operating under a federal coasting license challenged it. Which 1824 case resolved this, and how?Gibbons v. Ogden. Chief Justice Marshall held that commerce includes navigation and other commercial intercourse among the states, so Congress's power reached this trade and the federal license overrode New York's monopoly under the supremacy clause.Federalism
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Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a whites-only railroad car in Louisiana. What did the Supreme Court hold in 1896?In Plessy v. Ferguson the Court upheld state-mandated segregation under the doctrine of separate but equal, finding no equal protection violation; Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented alone. Brown v. Board of Education rejected the doctrine for public schools in 1954.Civil Rights
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A poll shows Candidate A at 48 percent and Candidate B at 45 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points. What can you responsibly conclude?The race is too close to call: each figure could plausibly be 3 points higher or lower, so the lead sits within the margin of error.Public Opinion
Watch out: the margin of error for the gap between two candidates is larger than the margin for either one alone. -
How do agenda setting, framing and priming differ as media effects?Agenda setting shapes which issues people think matter. Framing shapes how an issue is understood — immigration presented as a security story versus a humanitarian one. Priming shapes the standards people use to judge leaders by making certain issues prominent.Media
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A third party wins about 15 percent of the vote in every congressional district but no seats. Which feature of American elections explains this?Single-member districts decided by plurality (winner-take-all) rules: only first place wins a seat, so a party with broad but thin support gets nothing. Fear of 'wasting' a vote, ballot-access rules and debate thresholds add further hurdles.Political Parties
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How do the House and Senate divide the work of impeachment?The House impeaches (formally charges) by a simple majority. The Senate holds the trial and needs two-thirds of senators present to convict and remove; the chief justice presides when the president is tried.Congress
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A president vetoes a bill. The House votes 300 to 130 to override, and the Senate votes 60 to 40. Does the bill become law?No. An override needs two-thirds of those voting in each chamber. The House cleared that bar (about 70 percent), but 60 of 100 senators falls short of two-thirds, so the veto stands.Presidency
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What prompted the Pendleton Act of 1883, and what did it change?The 1881 assassination of President Garfield by a disappointed office seeker turned opinion against the spoils system. The Pendleton Civil Service Act began a merit system, filling many federal jobs through competitive exams rather than party loyalty.Bureaucracy
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Why can't Congress cut Social Security spending simply by passing a smaller annual appropriations bill?Social Security is mandatory spending: benefits are set by existing law for everyone who qualifies, so they are paid without yearly appropriations. Only discretionary spending, such as most defense and education funding, is set by annual appropriations; cutting an entitlement means changing the law that creates it.Public Policy
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Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- OpenStax American Government 3e, consulted as a reference; no text copied.
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