Essay 13

Congressional reapportionment is the reallocation of the number of representative each state has in the House of Representatives.  It is import ants to keep updated every ten years so that it is up to date with our societies population.  This will help the states keep their number of electoral votes correct and their amount of influence balanced with their population.  Congressional redistricting is the drawing or redrawing of house and congressional district lines within a state, it does not affect the senate.  During redistricting politicians may gerrymander in the hopes of enhancing their political party's strengths or weakening the opposing party, or protecting their incumbents.  When someone is gerrymandering to maximize their supporting votes they will try to either "pack" or "crack" their voters.  This means they will either try to concentrate their voters into a single electorate district to reduce their influence in other districts, or they will try to spread out their voters among many districts.  These tactics are often used together.  The U.S. Supreme Court has required that districts must be equally populated and compact so that redistricting is fair. 



2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_gopo_us_sgs.pdf

Essay 12

Divided government is when the presidency and congress are from different political parties, which forms a split in our government.  This can lead to a decline of trust and confidence because many of the policies are not agreed on, creating tension and often leading to gridlock or less policy change.  Our society might start to believe that the government doesn't have the ability to pass necessary legislation and keep our government under control, then they start to lose their trust.  The increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in our government because of the perception that they are wasting good money by spending it on things that people believe isn't helping or influencing their election.  This can also lead to a majority of the population believing that you must be a wealth or elite person to be successful in the government or in choosing who you would like to vote for.  Consequences of decline in trust in our government can be decreased voting, increase in protesting, and an increase in independents or third-parties (which could be considered positive or negative).  A decrease in voting could occur because people might think that their vote won't make a difference or it would only be a choice between two wealthy elites, whom they can't relate to.  Many of these reasons can lead to protest because people might think they aren't given a fair option, and they can only resort to protest to try and get their opinions heard. 

2004_4
3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior. 
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap04_sg_gopo_us_37090.pdf

Essay 11

Incumbents have a high reelection rate in both the House and Senate, but the House typically has a higher incumbency rate than the senate.  Incumbents usually have an advantage point because of their experience in the field.  This goes along with the fact that they are usually running against a weaker opponent, who isn't as used to the environment and isn't as politically experienced as an incumbent.  This will usually lead to a challenger defeat.  Another factor that can lead to incumbency advantage is the finance advantage they have. They are experienced in fundraising and will usually have people who favor their view and are willing to donate to them, whereas someone who is new won't already have a following or people who know what their political views are. This makes it much easier for an incumbent to run a campaign successfully.  Consequences of incumbency advantage can either be positive or negative.  A consequence that is considered more positive is that it leads to more experienced lawmakers.  This helps because more people making decisions are experienced and know how to get favorable laws passed.  A more negative consequence is that may of the people becoming selected are the same people we have had before, this leads to fewer women and minorities being elected.

(2001_2) the graph above shows reelection rates for incumbents in the House and Senate. From this information and your knowledge of of the US politics, perform the following 
tasks. 
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_govpol_us_01_7046.pdf