Free AP US Government Tests
AP US Government Free Response Question 3: SCOTUS Comparison
Below is our third AP U.S. Government FRQ practice question. This is part of our AP U.S. Government Practice Exam. This one focuses on Supreme Court cases and is called a SCOTUS Comparison question. After completing your response, you can follow the link at the bottom of this page to review a sample answer and the scoring rubric.
This question requires you to compare a Supreme Court case you studied in class with one you have not studied in class. A summary of the Supreme Court case you did not study in this class is presented below and provides all the information you need to know about this case to answer the prompts.
McCutcheon v. FEC (2014)
In 2002, Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act imposing aggregate limits per election cycle on campaign contributions. The aggregate limit established by the law was a total of $48,600 to federal candidates and a total of $74,600 to other political committees per election cycle. The effect of the aggregate limits was to impose a restriction on how much money a donor can give to any particular candidate or committee.
In 2011–2012, Shaun McCutcheon, a donor from Alabama, contributed over $33,000 to 16 different candidates, but wanted to contribute even more. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act banned him from going over the aggregate limit. McCutcheon filed a complaint before the federal courts challenging the law.
On appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that the aggregate limit imposed by the law violated the United States Constitution. In the majority opinion, the Court reasoned that spending large sums of money during elections is permissible as long as it does not give rise to quid pro quo corruption.
(A) Identify the clause in the First Amendment that is common to both McCutcheon v. Federal Election Committee (2014) and Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee (2014).
(B) Explain how the facts in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Committee and Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee led to similar holdings.
(C) Explain how the decision of McCutcheon v. FEC could lead to an increase in participatory democracy.
After you finish typing your FRQ answers, be sure to review our sample response along with an explanation of the scoring process.