Practice Final

The following should give you an idea of the exam format. As you prepare, also take a look at the air midterm.

I. Briefly identify 12 of 14 items (4 points each). Explain each item's meaning and significance.

• War Powers Resolution
• NSC
• "Game-changers" in campaigns
• Executive agreements
• The Russo-Japanese War
• The Reagan Doctrine
• Solicitor General
• Policy streams
• US v. Curtiss-Wright
• Election of 1876
• The 25th Amendment
• Abe Fortas
• Budget resolutions
• The Little Rock executive order

II. Short essays. Answer three of four. Each answer should take about half a page. (6 points each).

• Explain: "But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have been called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all republicans, we are all federalists."
• Why did William Daley have such a short tenure at the White House?
• Explain: "The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization.We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit."
• Tell how Twitter has changed the job of the White House press operation.

III.Answer two of three essay questions (17 points each). Each answer should take about 2-3 large bluebook pages or 3-4 small bluebook pages

• In Federalist 8, Hamilton wrote: “It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.” Have the past two decades confirmed or disconfirmed this observation? Explain, with examples.
• Could Rick Santorum have won the 2012 Republican nomination? If not, why not? If so, how? 
• See the excerpt below. Do you agree or disagree? Explain with reference to course materials.

A Democratic president, you'd think, would stick to Franklin D. Roosevelt or Jack Kennedy as role models. Not Barack Obama. As he faces tough times—economically and politically—I am told that he and his advisers are turning to an unusual source for inspiration: Ronald Reagan. Looking back, it shouldn't be a total surprise. On the campaign trail in 2008, Obama said nice things about the Gipper. Reagan, Obama said, "tapped into what people were already feeling, which was: we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to a sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing." (At the time, Obama's ode to Ronald seemed nothing more than a jab at the Clintons (who were infuriated), and a bid for Republican votes. But now I see that it was Obama's tell: the clue to how he views himself, politics, and the presidency. He thinks he is Reagan in reverse—a patient, genial game changer for the ages—and his confidence helped soothe the economic panic of a year ago. But it isn't clear whether the president really understands the causes of the Old Man's successes, or the sobering lessons of his failures.

Bonus questions (one point each)

• Larry O'Brien
• Bud McFarlane
• Ike Skelton
• Peter Muldowney
• Mike Mullen