Tuesday's Post

Okay, we've finished the lecture notes. Now is the time for students to review the entire Constitutional Underpinnings lecture and the unit overview which was provided to you on Monday. You also should be reviewing Subato's Chapters 1-3 placing particular emphasis on Chapter 3. You should have a working definition of federalism (ie. a constitutional separation of federal and state power). You should know the basic stages on how federalism has changed throughout the history of the United States, understanding that during crises, the federal government has asserted tighter control over the states. You should also know the various differences between block and categorical grants, mandates, and etc. You should also understand the significance of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution and how states have asserted it in order to assert more of their control. Keep the review going for the next couple of days. Your exam will probably be given on Friday. There will be 30 multiple choice questions as well as an FRQ. The FRQ undoubtedly will be on some aspect of federalism. Many of you performed respectively on the Terms quiz. At least 30% of you receive 50% or better on the quiz. We only had a handful who got at least 3/5 on the FRQ. We need to continue to improve on FRQ's. The Constitutional Underpinnings quiz was much better this time than our first terms quiz on Political Beliefs and Culture. The Jeopardy review helped significantly. Thanks to Teddy I. for the suggestion. Tomorrow, we will have some review of both the lecture notes and the unit overview. Students will work in groups to cover the material. See you tomorrow!