Advanced Placement US Government and Politics
Course Introduction and Syllabus
2015-2016 – Chris O’Donnell (codonnell@cssu.org)
“Good political science and good citizenship means more than mere obedience and voting;
it means participation through constructive criticism,
being able to pierce through the periphery of great information
explosion to the core of lasting political reality.”
As the introductory quote suggests, Advanced Placement US Government and Politics is designed to
prepare you to be informed and thoughtful participants in the American political tradition. It concentrates
on the contemporary nature and function of the American national political system. We begin with a study
of the framework and foundations of American political values and traditions. The course covers the basic
political institutions (executive, legislative, judicial and bureaucracy) and processes (political parties,
campaigning, voting, media, lobbying) through which public policy (civil rights, economic, education,
environment, foreign policy) is adopted and implemented.
AP US Government and Politics is for the student who has the ability and desire to pursue a collegelevel study while still in high school. It should be understood that you are required to take a great deal of
individual initiative in completing assignments prior to class time. You are expected to take
responsibility for completing and comprehending all of your reading even if they are not covered
explicitly during class activities.
This course introduction provides a basic overview of the materials, information, and activities that you
will encounter in AP Government and Politics. The enclosed syllabus provides more detailed information.
Course Readings:
* It’s Even Worse Than It Looks – Mann/Ornstein – Summer Reading
* Text –Thomas Patterson, The American Democracy, 10th edition, Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2005.
Appendices include Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers #10 and 51, United States
Constitution.
* Supplemental Readings –Teacher generated collection of news articles, Supreme Court cases,
and primary sources.
* Data Packs – Collections of graphs, charts, maps , political cartoons with corresponding
evaluative questions
On-Line : Regularly read: Real Clear Politics, Politico, CNN Politics, rk Times
Semester One:
Unit One: Constitutional Underpinnings
Chapter 1 – American Political Culture: Seeking a More Perfect Union
Chapter 2 –Constitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-Government
Chapter 3 – Federalism: Forging a Nation
Core Ideals of American Political Culture
Liberty, Equality, Self-Government
The Social Contract and Popular Consent: “We, the People”
Separation of powers and checks and balances
The Rules of American Politics
Democracy, Constitutionalism, Capitalism
Majority rule and minority rights
The protection of property rights
Power and Authority
From the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution: How to grant government the power it needs to be
effective and to constrain that power so government does not become abusive
Theories of power: majoritarianism, pluralism, elitism, bureaucracy
The Constitution of the United States
The Great Compromise
The North-South Compromise
The Bill of Rights
Federalism
National, concurrent and state powers
Article I, Section 8: The powers of the nation
Article VI: The Supremacy Clause
Amendment X: Powers reserved to the states
From dual federalism (1789-1901) to cooperative federalism (1901-1960) to contemporary federalism (1960
to present)
Unit Two: Institutions of Government
Chapter 11 – Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests
Chapter 12- The Presidency: Leading the Nation
Chapter 13 – The Federal Bureaucracy: Administering the Government
Chapter 14 – The Federal Judicial System: Applying the Law
( Chapter quizzes, Unit Test, Bureaucracy Project, Essay, Current Events)
Congress
The Constitution: Article I
Incumbency, Reapportionment and Redistricting
Leadership and the Committee System
Functions: Lawmaking, Representation, Oversight
The Presidency
The Constitution: Article II
Foundations of the Modern Presidency
Choosing the President
Staffing the Presidency
Relations with Congress
The Federal Courts
The Constitution: Article III
The Federal Court System
The Judiciary Act of 1789
The Supreme Court
Original and appellate jurisdiction
Selecting and deciding cases
Political influences on judicial decisions
Public opinion, Congress, the president
Legitimacy and Compliance
Judicial restraint and judicial activism
The Federal Bureaucracy
Federal Administration: Form, Personnel and Activities
Policy implementation through rulemaking
Development of the Federal Bureaucracy: Politics and Administration
The merit system and the principle of neutral competence
The Bureaucracy’s Power Imperative
The agency point of view
Bureaucratic Accountability
Through the presidency, Congress and the courts
Within the bureaucracy itself
___________________________________________________________________________
Semester Two:
Unit Three: Mass Politics
Chapter 6 – Public Opinion and Political Socialization: Shaping the People’s Voice
Chapter 7 – Political Participation and Voting: Expressing the Popular Will
Chapter 8- Political Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns: Defining the Voter’s Choice
Chapter 9 – Interest Groups: Organizing for Influence
Chapter 10 – The News Media: Communicating Political Images
The Nature and Measurement of Public Opinion
The statistics of public opinion polling: Samples and populations, randomization, margins
of error, confidence levels
Political Socialization: How Americans Learn Politics
The special importance of the family
Frames of Reference: How Americans Think Politically
Ideology and partisanship
The Influence of Public Opinion on Policy
Factors in voter turnout
Conventional and Unconventional Participation in Politics
Party Competition and Majority Rule
Republicans v. Democrats
Watershed elections and party realignments
Electoral and Party Systems
Single-member plurality districts
Party Organizations and Candidate-Centered Campaigns
Campaign Financing
The Interest-Group System
Inside Lobbying
Iron Triangles and Issue Networks
Outside Lobbying
Constituent advocacy and electoral action
Pluralism: Benefits and Costs
The Madisonian dilemma
The News Media: From the partisan press to objective journalism:
The roles the press can and cannot perform for the public
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Unit Four: Civil Liberties/Civil Rights/ Public Policy
Chapter 4 – Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights
Chapter 5 – Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness
(Supreme Court Case Studies)
The First Amendment
Freedom of Speech, Press and Assembly
Religious Liberty: the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses
Rights of Persons Accused of Crimes
Amendments IV, V, VI and VIII
The Fourteenth Amendment
Due Process of Law
Substantive v. procedural due process
Selective incorporation of provisions of the Bill of Rights
Equal Protection of the Laws
Supreme Court case law: From Plessy to Brown to Bakke
Congressional legislation: The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights
Act
Writ of Habeas Corpus
____________________________________________________________________________
May: AP EXAM – Tuesday, May 10
(Practice Exams, Review Exercises)
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Unit Five: Public Policy Portfolio
Chapter 15 – Economic and Environmental Policy: Contributing to Prosperity
Chapter 16 – Welfare and Education Policy: Providing for Personal Security and Need
Chapter 17 – Foreign and Defense Policy: Protecting the American Way
The making of public policy
The economy
Monetary and fiscal policy; supply-side and demand-side stimulation of the economy; the role of the Federal
Reserve Bank in regulating the money supply, and the roles of the Office of Management and Budget and the
Congressional Budget Office in determining the annual federal budget; the theory and practice of globalized
free trade.
The environment: The role of the Environmental Protection Agency; the Clean Air and Clean
Water acts.
Health, education and welfare: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid: the No Child Left
Behind Act; the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Act.
Foreign and defense policy: The tension between Congress and the president in making foreign
and defense policy; Congress’s attempts to reassert its constitutional war-making pow
Course Requirements
~ A QUIZ AND QUICK WRITE FOR EVERY CHAPTER IN UNITS 1-3
( Each quiz consists of 25 multiple choice reading comprehension questions and
One timed 25 minute in class writing related to the chapter)
~ A TEST FOR EACH UNIT
(50 multiple choice and 2 quick writes. Questions are less text-based)
Unit One: Foundations Test
Unit Two: Branches of Government Test
Unit Three: Politics Test
Unit Four: Civil Liberties/Civil Rights/ Public Policy Test
~ AN INQUIRY-BASED PROJECT FOR EACH QUARTER
( Each of these projects requires students to conduct research, create a Power Point or
paper, and make a class presentation) Examples of recent Inquiry-Based Project:
Unit One: Constution 101 for United States Congress
(This assignment required the student to examine and assess the condition of fundamental
American Ideals.)
Unit Two: The Bureaucracy Project – (This assignment requires student to
complete an in-depth study of one part of the bureaucracy)
Unit Three: 2016 Republican Primary Campaign Project
(Students are asked to serve as consultant to a politician considering elective office –
Representative, Senator, President etc.)
Unit Four: Public Policy Portfolio Project
( The Grande Finale is a massive portfolio (can be electronic or paper) where students
must select a policy/civil rights/civil liberties issue and study a possible action from every
angle that we have studied in this course ( legislative, executive, judicial, bureaucratic,
political party, public opinion (polls), lobby and interest groups, media coverage. Portfolio
culminates in a detailed recommended call-to-action and a presentation/discussion with
experts from the community)
~ SHORT ESSAYS. Examples of Recent Essays
Unit One: DBQ: Constitution
(This teacher-generated DBQ asks students to assess the validity of a Charles
Beard quote [“The Founding Fathers …were impelled by class motives…but
they were also controlled by a statemans-like sense of moderation and a
scrupulously republican philosophy.”] and provides documents from Alexander
Hamilton, Howard Zinn, Edmund Morgan, Thomas Jefferson , Bernard Bailyn
et al.)
Unit Two: How Well Informed Am I?
(Students are asked to close read two recent columns from NY Times op/ed
page, underline everything they do not understand or know, conduct research
based on their needs and write a 2-4 page essay on their learning)
Unit Three: What I Believe and How I Got That Way: a Personal Reflection on Political Socialization
(Students are asked to incorporate 8 agents of socialization [ eg. Age, region,
religion, education] as they reflect on their own personal socialization)
Unit Four: The Opinionator:
( Based on a new blog feature by the New York Times and the writing style of
The Week magazine, students are asked to write a news story about a
contemporary issue that synthesizes and digests five other news sources.)
~ OTHER WORK
Webquests –(Web based assignments using data and polls and information from the
Internet)
Examples: ~ What is your Political Ideology?
~ Analyzing Political Polls – Take Five
~ An Online Look at Political Parties
Data Packs – Analyzing Data
~ Political Institutions Data Pack
~ Political Processes Data Pack
~ Voting Patterns Data Pack
Current Events – On-line
~ Politico - http://www.politico.com/
~ Real Clear Politics - http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
~ Ballotpedia – www.ballotpedia.org
~ 270 to win – 270towin.com
~ five thirty-eight – fivethirtyeight.com
Classroom Participation and Attendance – HUGE !!