2021, Set 1, Question 3 · SCOTUS Comparison · 4 points · about 20 minutes
Campaign donations and models of democracy
Compare McCutcheon and Citizens United, explaining speech protections and connecting campaign finance rulings to competing democratic models.
Responses were handwritten, and the essay directions allowed concession when addressing another perspective. The current exam has 4 free-response questions in 100 minutes. The skills these questions practice still count.
Not in the current course. McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. 185 (2014), invalidated aggregate contribution limits, not per-recipient base limits. The supplied excerpt dates the case to 2013.
Lessons this question draws on
1 Read the question
The question is College Board's, from the 2021, Set 1 exam. It starts on page 5 of the PDF. College Board no longer posts this exam, so it opens from the copy of College Board's PDF that the Internet Archive saved on August 3, 2025.
2 Write your answer
Answer each part the way you would on the exam, in full sentences, with your work shown. Your writing saves as you type.
3 Score it
Score your answer against College Board's scoring guidelines, one point at a time. Give yourself a point only when your answer says what the guideline asks for.
Scoring guidelines (PDF, page 4) What the exam readers saw (Chief Reader report)
Question, scoring guidelines and Chief Reader report: College Board, from the Internet Archive. The title, summary are ours.