The file gives an idea of the type of questions asked. Some older questions may refer to previous texts used in the course, and may not be used for the current course. 

New exams of course may use new questions, not the same as those presented here.
 

"Policy is derived ultimately from cultural values in public opinion, ." Discuss fully. [Hint: blackboard diagram from class session, if used.]
[Hints: Janda, lectures]

To what extent is public policy derived from formal institutions and constitutions?

What are the stages of the policymaking process, and in the US what characterizes each stage?
 

Is order incompatible with liberty?    Discuss using course materials.

Explain the connection between (Janda chap.15) Order and Civil Liberties, using some of the following examples from Serow (ed) The American Polity Reader: 76: Miranda v Arizona; 81: Alderman & Kennedy, "In Our Defense"; 82: De Grazia, “Girls Lean Back Everywhere.” 

Does the US system emphasize civil liberties at the expense of a loss of order?  Should the balance be tilted back the other way?  Discuss using course materials.

Does the US system support equality, or are civil rights little more than a band-aid?  Discuss using course materials.

Explain the connection between (Janda chap.16) Equality and Civil Rights, using some of the following examples from Serow (ed) The American Polity Reader: 75: Anthony Lewis, “Gideon’s Trumpet”; 77: Richard Kluger, "Simple Justice: Brown v Board ..."; 78: Ellis Cose, “Rage of Privileged Class”; 79: Bron Taylor, “Affirmative Action at Work”; 80: Steven Epstein, “Gay & :Lesbian Movements in US”; 83: Mary Ann Glendon, “Rights Talk”.

"Americans always think in terms of individuals, but civil rights apply to a whole class."  Discuss using course materials.

Civil rights and liberties are so important in the US precisely because majoritarian democracy is oppressive.  Discuss this statement fully.

Civil rights and liberties in the US have been provided by an unelected judicial elite.  Discuss in the light of case decisions.

[Janda 14 - 19]  How does the United States compare with other developed nations in its balance struck between freedom and equality?  Are these two values always in tension, or can increased equality also increase freedom?

[Janda chapters 15, 16.]  Some say the strength of the American political system lies in individual rights and liberties -- but the weakness is the poor faith in group civil rights.  To what degree is this true, and to what degree does it result from the players in the game of US policymaking? 

To what degree does strength in liberties but weakness in civil rights result from American ideological preferences between equality, liberty and order?

How did civil liberties develop in the US through interest group struggle, legislation and court opinions?  Which of these was more significant?
 

What are the main theories of government control of the economy, and what are the political effects of each?  Discuss using course materials.

Can control of the American economy serve both richer and poorer?  Discuss using course materials.

What are the political arguments over (Janda 18:) Economic Policy?  Refer to some of these arguments found in Serow (ed) The American Polity Reader: 84: JK Galbraith, "The Affluent Society"; 85: Milton Friedman, "Free to Choose"; 86: William Wolman and Anne Colamosca, “Judas Economy”.

What macroeconomic theory is best applied to limiting inflation -- and what are the alternatives?  Discuss using course materials.

Explain the criticisms of laissez-faire, the principle that govenrment should let private business act without regulation.  Discuss using course materials.

Contrast fiscal policy with monetary policy and explain the attractions and faults of supply side theory.  Discuss using course materials.

Describe the history of US macroeconomic policy since 1928.  Can we fairly describe any modern presidents as fiscally responsible or the reverse?

[Janda 18: Economic Policy] How has US economic policy evolved, and how is this connected to the evolution of control of the US budget? 

In what sense do different theories of economic policy have data to support them -- and political winners and losers?
 

Are poor Americans completely left out of the process of (Janda 17:) Policy-Making and consequently out of (Janda 19:) Domestic Policy? 

Contrast some of the arguments about welfare benefits found in Serow (ed) The American Polity Reader: 87: Michael Harrington, "New American Poverty" (1984); 88: Thomas Sowell, "Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?" (1984); 89: Joint Center, "Black Initiative & Govt'l Responsibility" (1987); Theresa Funicello, “Tyranny of Kindness (1993, welfare debate)

Does welfare merely breed dependence on government handouts?  Discuss using materials from Serow (ed) as well as Janda.

Are citizen entitlements growing out of control?  Consider, using Janda's materials.

[Janda Chapters 18 and 19.]  Why has the welfare system in the US not developed to the extent it has in western Europe?  Why has power in US economic policymaking been so dispersed?  To what degree can these be answered by the political power of US businesses in a process of unbalanced pluralism?

Why has the welfare system in the US not developed to the extent it has in western Europe?  Why did it develop significantly in 1935 and 1965?  Can the answers to these two questions be reconciled?

[Janda 19: Domestic Policy] Explain the history of the US welfare system (hint: including old age and disability pensions, health care, cash benefits, in-kind benefits, insurance schemes) and compare it with those of other developed nations. 

Is there any real distinction between social insurance programs and public assistance programs?  Discuss using course materials.

Why has the US policymaking system fallen so far behind other developed nations in the development of the welfare state?

[Janda 18; Brewster 2; Serow readings by Galbraith, Friedman and Thurow.]  Why has the welfare system in the US not developed to the extent it has in western Europe?  Why has power in US economic policymaking been so dispersed? 

Do both welfare policy and economic control indicate the weakness of the presidency in policymaking, sharing power with other institutions -- or do both areas merely give evidence of the effect of American free-market ideology?
 

How is the world different now after the Cold War? Discuss using course materials.

How should US foreign policy be structured now that there is no opposing superpower? Discuss using course materials.

What mix of US military forces fits the post cold war world? Discuss using course materials.

Given that the US is the only remaining superpower, why is American force being deployed abroad more often than before?

Are their practical limits to the utility of using force abroad?

What justifications did the president give for the current (or most recent) war -- and are those justifications supported by the facts?

What should be the dominant strategy for American power these days: force or trade?
 

[Janda 20; Wilson chapter 20; Serow readings by "X", Kennan, Krauthammer, Kahler & Woodward.]  What have been the main problems in US foreign policy, how did these change in the second world war, following that war, and in the early 1990s? 

Which branch of government has usually been more influential in resolving problems of US foreign policy?

What institutions of American bureaucracy are responsible for foreign policy -- and which are more effective?

Is reorganizing American bureaus responsible for intelligence likely to improve our war on terrorism and our defense from other nations?
 

[Wilson chapter 25; Riordan, Plunkitt; local newspaper file; Alabama in the Almanac of Politics.]  Explain state governments and how they differ from the federal.  Then analyze Alabama state government, compared generally to other states and the federal government, and in the light of the Big Jim Folsom video.

[Wilson 25; Riordan, Plunkitt; local newspaper file; Alabama in the Almanac of Politics.]  Analyze Alabama state government, compared generally to other states and the federal government.

Is there currently evidence of a longterm realignment to the Republicans in Alabama and at the federal level?

What is wrong with the Alabama constitution?
 

[Janda Chapters 17 and 18; Wilson 22.]  What are the characteristics of the US policymaking system? 

[Janda Chapters 17 and 18; Wilson 22.]  Considering economic and environmental policy problems, to what degree has the US enjoyed more progress in one area than the other?

[Brewster 3 & 4]  Explain the main problems and attempted solutions of the US health care system in comparison to those of other developed nations. 

[Brewster 3 & 4] What does the official response to the AIDS crisis indicate about the system? 

[Brewster 3 & 4] Can a system which excludes one third of the population from health insurance be considered either "just" or "efficient"?

[Lecture, and Brewster 3] What are the problems of maldistribution and inflation in health care -- and how can we reform the system?

[Janda 17;  Brewster, Introduction.]  What are the characteristics of the US policymaking system?  Which of these is reflected by the process of resolving educational policy problems, and to what degree has the US differed in education from competing countries?

[Brewster, lectures] What reforms have been attempted in US education and to what extent have they succeeded?

[Brewster, lectures] Does the US have any practical role in the education system other than ensuring civil rights for minorities? 

[Brewster, lectures] Should the federal government take on a larger role in education?
 
 

[Brewster, lectures] What is wrong with the criminal justice system?

[Brewster, lectures] What should determine sentencing: strictly following tables, judges' discretion -- or plea bargaining?

[Brewster, lectures] What's wrong with stiffer sentencing as a means of deterring crime?

[Brewster, lectures] Explain the criminal justice system as an hydraulic system.  What does this imply for prison reform?

[Brewster, lectures] What are the suggested alternatives to havy sentencing of felons?

[Brewster, lectures] On what grounds could one argue against the death penalty, even where the majority of the population believes in applying it?
 

[Brewster, lectures] Are immigrantsvaluable to the host economy -- or an unwanted expense?

[Brewster, lectures] Should immigrants be prevented from entering the US -- and why or why not?

[Brewster, lectures] Sketch the development of US immigration policy.  Where will it head with another generation of reform?

[Plunkitt]  What are the characteristics of political machines? 

[Plunkitt] Does the Tammany Hall machine as shown in Plunkitt have anything in common with politics in Montgomery, AL?
 

Explain carefully and in organized fashion, the recent election campaign issues and policy outcomes. 

Analyze a data chart or charts [if made available during the test] discussing systematically the variables used, the results of the data, and any qualifications about the data that you would like resolved.

In recent elections, what were the issues, how well were they discussed publicly for an intelligent democracy, and what were the results?

Which has impressed you more during the course, the evidence that formal institutions or informal groups and processes make US policy?

Discuss with full use of course materials the following quotation from Byron E. Shafer, Present Discontents (1997):

 "A national politics coming to center on the fundamental issue combination that had originally made the southern Democrats deviant, namely, liberal on social welfare but conservative on cultural values, was coinciding with the demise of the southern Democrats as a party faction.  If the rest of the nation now finds itself in the same position that southern voters once did -- preferring liberals on social welfare, cautious conservatives on cultural values -- then there is no basis for such a 'faction' to exist.  We are all southern Democrats now."

A recent Supreme Court case (only if we have discussed one in the course.)

stages of the legislative process: how a bill becomes law.

stages of the nomination and election process for presidential candidates.

de jure versus de facto segregation.  [Janda 16: Equality & Civil rights]

the Equal Rights Amendment.  [Janda 16: Equality & Civil rights]

equality of opportunity versus equality of outcome.  [Janda 16: Equality & Civil rights]

Mapp v Ohio and the exclusionary rule.  [Janda 15: Order & Civil Liberties]

four main stages of the policymaking process.  [Janda 17: Policymaking] 

four policy approaches used to solve problems.  [Janda 17: Policymaking] 

stagflation.  [Janda 19: Domestic Policy] 

the exclusionary rule from Mapp v Ohio.  [Janda 15: Order & Civil Liberties]

the first amendment and the "clear and present danger" test 

the Miranda warning

the case of Roe v Wade (1973) and its sequel Webster v Reproductive Services (1989)

In Britain, public figures occasionally win damages from people who libel them by uttering falsehoods.  What is the American case law on libel of public figures?  [Hint: New York Times v Sullivan].

[Janda 16: Equality and Civil Rights] the case of Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, KS (1954).

[Janda 17: Policymaking] fragmentation of the US policy system

[Brewster 1]  Types and causes of inflation -- and the meaning of stagflation.

[Brewster Introduction]  Robert Leone's "Iron Law".

[Brewster 2]  Outcome-based education.

[Brewster 3]  the present methods of payment for health care.

[Brewster 4]  In polite language, how to avoid AIDS infection.

[Brewster 5]  Types of crime.

[Brewster 6]  Changing origins of immigrants to the US in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

[Tocqueville excerpt on Reserve]  Tocqueville's observation of social equality in Alabama in 1831.

[Plunkitt]  Plunkitt's notion of honest graft.