Dan and Andrew will discuss the exam, preview sample questions, and explain what students should be studying. They will also be responding to student telephone calls, so encourage your class to call in with their questions.
You can also watch previous Cram for the Exam programs in the C-SPAN Video Library.
Click here to watch the 2012 review.
Click here to watch the 2011 review.
Click here to watch the 2010 review.
Click here to watch the 2009 review.
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A question was asked during this morning's edition of Cram for the Exam:
"What are institutional restrictions on voting in the US?"
Hopefully you will remember that generally republicans are concerned about voter fraud, democrats are concerned about voter supression. Historically, institutions have restricted the vote based on race or gender or even education and income (literacy tests, poll taxes -- now unconstitutional).
Currently you could drop some knowledge on a total of fourteen states across the US have passed a series of 25 measures which will seriously restrict the voting rights of black and Hispanic voters in particular.
• Restrictions to early voting: the early voting period has been reduced in a number of states. This will mostly affect black voters, as research shows African-Americans have been much more likely to take advantage of early voting. They accounted for 22% of early voters during the 2008 general election in Florida.
• Restrictions to voters with felony convictions: Two states (Florida and Iowa) adopted measures that prohibit persons convicted of felonies from voting for life, whilst others restrict felons for voting for a number of years after their convictions.
• Residency restrictions: some states have increased the amount of time a citizen must live in a state in order to be entitled to vote. This particularly affects African-Americans and Hispanics, as they are more likely to move from state-to-state, and are therefore less likely to have lived in there for the required length of time.
• Tighter restrictions to voter registration; requiring citizens to have photo-ID, with documentary proof of their citizenship. Some states will not accept student ID, even if issued by the state, whilst those elderly voters who were born during the time of segregation ('separate but equal' treatment of black citizens), and who were therefore not issued with birth certificates, will also have difficulties at election time.
A report from the NAACP states: "In all of the currently enacted laws states purport to provide for some form of free identification, available before Election Day. But the costs of obtaining a valid government-issued photo ID—even the purportedly "free" IDs—can be significant.
The Brennan Center for Justice, based at New York University law school, estimates that the new measures could prevent up to 5 million eligible voters taking part in the 2012 elections.
Reminiscent of Jim Crow laws and black codes, enacted between 1876 and 1965 which prevented blacks from voting and restricting their human rights, these recent voting measures have elicited much controversy amongst American Ethnic minorities as their democratic rights as US citizens are tightened.
There is a good Google map visual to help you see this at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/dec/06/naacp-voting-rights-black-hispanic
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