AP U.S. Government and Politics
Pre-Requisites: U.S. History recommended
Credits: 0.5
Estimated Completion Time: 16-18 weeks
Description
Within AP U.S. Government and Politics, students develop and use disciplinary practices and reasoning processes to explore political concepts, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students examine core principles, theories, and processes through direct study of U.S. foundational documents and Supreme Court opinions. They also participate in a civic project in which they research, study, and compile data on a political science topic and create a presentation that exhibits their findings and experiences.
The AP U.S. Government and Politics course is structured around five big ideas outlined within the College Board Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics Course Framework. Each big idea is aligned to enduring understanding statements and learning objectives that focus on key concepts and essential knowledge about foundations of American democracy, civil liberties and civil rights, interactions among branches of government, American political participation, ideologies, and beliefs.
Major Topics and Concepts
Module 01 - Constitutional Democracy
- Founding documents, Supreme Court cases
- Why Government?
- Founding Principles
- The Constitution
- Federalists and Anti-Federalists
- Separation of Powers
- Federalism
- The Power Debate Today
Module 02 - Civil Liberties, Civil Rights
- Founding Documents, Supreme Court cases
- The Bill of Rights
- The First Amendment
- Security v. Speech
- Liberty v. Safety
- The Accused
- Due Process
- Equal Protection
- And Justice for All
Module 03 - Interaction Among Branches
- Supreme Court cases
- Congress
- Congressional Behavior
- The Presidency
- Executive Power
- The Supreme Court
- The Bureaucracy
- Checks, Balances, and Accountability
Module 04 - Political Culture and Participation
- Supreme Court cases
- Political Socialization
- Ideology
- Public Opinion
- The Media
- The Parties
- Interest Groups
- The Voters
- Elections
- Campaigns
AP Practice Exam
Grading Policy
In Getting Started section, a note is provided about content maturity in this AP course. Deep study of certain topics, including controversial Supreme Court case decisions, is a required component of the course. See the College Board Course and Exam Description for more details.
The course has an e-text and students are expected to complete their assigned readings as part of preparation to complete assignments Students may find quiz and exam questions on content not explicitly taught in the lessons. This is due to either the content's existence in the e-text or because the question has a stimulus to which students are expected to apply analytical skills and knowledge of the content that is required by the College Board framework.
