Political Science
What the exam tests
Constitutional structure, federalism, civil liberties, political behavior, and comparative government.
Core rules and concepts
- Separation of powers is enforced by checks: veto and override, Senate confirmation, judicial review, impeachment.
- Federalism: enumerated, implied (necessary and proper), reserved (10th Amendment), and concurrent powers. Dual federalism gave way to cooperative federalism with grants-in-aid and mandates.
- Judicial review was established in Marbury v. Madison (1803). Incorporation applies most Bill of Rights protections to states through the 14th Amendment, case by case.
- Incorporation examples: Gitlow (speech), Mapp (exclusionary rule), Gideon (counsel), Miranda (custodial warnings).
- Political socialization agents: family is strongest, then school, peers, and media.
- Interest groups seek policy; parties seek office.
- Comparative: parliamentary systems fuse executive and legislative; presidential systems separate them.
Worked example
Maryland taxed the Second Bank of the United States. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) upheld the bank under the necessary and proper clause and struck the tax under the supremacy clause. Reasoning: the Court read implied powers broadly and denied states power to tax federal instrumentalities - "the power to tax involves the power to destroy." The case is about federal supremacy, not banking policy.
Traps
Saying the 14th Amendment incorporated the Bill of Rights all at once (incorporation was selective); confusing reserved with concurrent powers; treating judicial review as explicit in Article III when it is inferred.