AP® United States Government and Politics
2005 Free-Response Questions

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2005 AP® UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONSUNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND POLITICSSECTION II
Time—100 minutes
Directions: You have 100 minutes to answer all four of the following questions. Unless the directions indicate
otherwise, respond to all parts of all four questions. It is suggested that you take a few minutes to plan and outline
each answer. Spend approximately one-fourth of your time (25 minutes) on each question. In your response, use
substantive examples where appropriate. Make certain to number each of your answers as the question is numberedbelow.

1. The judicial branch is designed to be more independent of public opinion than are the legislature or theexecutive. Yet, the United States Supreme Court rarely deviates too far for too long from prevalent publicopinion.
(a) Describe two ways in which the United States Supreme Court is insulated from public opinion.
(b) Explain how two factors work to keep the United States Supreme Court from deviating too far frompublic opinion.

2. The power of the federal government relative to the power of the states has increased since the ratification ofthe Constitution.
(a) Describe two of the following provisions of the Constitution and explain how each has been used over time
to expand federal power.
• The power to tax and spend• The “necessary and proper” or “elastic” clause• The commerce clause(b) Explain how one of the following has increased the power of the federal government relative to the power ofstate governments.
• Americans with Disabilities Act• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Clean Air Act

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2005 AP® UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
3. Initially, the United States Constitution did little to protect citizens from actions of the states. In the twentiethcentury, the Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution to protect the rights of citizens from state governments
in a process referred to as incorporation.
(a) Define selective incorporation.
(b) For two of the following, explain how each has been incorporated. Each of your explanations must be basedon a specific and relevant Supreme Court decision.
• Rights of criminal defendants• First Amendment• Privacy rights

4. The United States Congress has debated a variety of campaign finance reforms over the last decade.
The proposals debated have included the following:
Eliminating soft money
Limiting independent expenditures
Raising limits on individual contributions(a) Select one of the listed proposals and do all of the following:• Define the proposal.
• Describe an argument that proponents make in favor of the proposal.
• Describe an argument that opponents make against the proposal.
(b) Select a different listed proposal and do all of the following:• Define the proposal.
• Describe an argument that proponents make in favor of the proposal.
• Describe an argument that opponents make against the proposal.

END OF EXAM

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