AP/Dual-Enrollment U.S. Government and Politics
This college-level course is designed to promote higher-level thinking skills so students can analyze essential concepts pertinent to U.S. Government and Politics. The subject matter that will be covered in this course will help prepare students for the AP Exam and for Dual-Enrollment credit. All information contained in this syllabus is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.
Contact Information:
(best way to reach me)
480-224-2877
Text and Materials
Classroom Text
1. George C. Edwards, Martin P. Wattenburg, and Robert L. Lineberry. Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy, 14th Ed.
Supplemental
1. Gary Wasserman. Wasserman’s Basics of American Politics, 10th ed
2. The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity, Fifth Edition, Ann G. Serow and Everett C. Ladd
Course Plan
This course is organized into 6 units, each addressing the major concepts covered in the AP/Dual-Enrollment Course Perspective for AP/Dual-Enrollment U.S. Government and Politics. The assigned chapter readings, listed in the course outline, are organized according to its appropriate unit of study.
Assignments
1. Daily Warm-ups
a. Will include, but are not limited to: analyzing graphs and data, evaluating primary sources, making predictions/brainstorming, reviewing and discussing special topics and/or current events.
2. Projects/Essays/Quizzes
a. Mini-projects and/or essays will be assigned for each unit throughout the semester.
b. Weekly quizzes will be administered throughout the semester.
3. Current Events
a. Due every two weeks, therefore, at least 2 weeks current. In completing this assignment, students will address the following: explain themes of government, summarize the event(s) of the article, explain how this event affects individuals/society, and connect their event to an historic, similar event.
4. Unit Tests
a. Unit tests (as listed below) will be given at the end of that particular unit. The tests will consist of multiple choice and free-response questions.
Grading Scale: Tests, Projects and KBATS are weighted at 70%, Quizzes are 20% and Homework is 10% of your grade.
90-100% = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
Less than 60% = F
Semester Grade: Your semester grade will be determined as follows: Each quarter in the semester will account for 40% of the grade, and the semester final will account for 20% of your grade (40%+40%+20%=Semester grade).
Required Supplies:
Blue OR black AND red ballpoint pens
Number 2 pencils
College-ruled notebook paper
3x5 white, lined note cards (one pack)
Spiral notebook or Composition notebook (1)
Late-work Policy: If you are absent the day an assignment is given, you will have the same number of days to complete the assignment as the rest of class did (as long as it was an excused absence). All of my lesson plans are posted on my website, under the “Lesson Plans, Lectures, etc.” link. If you are absent, you have access to everything that you missed in class, and should make every effort to complete the work and turn it in upon arrival in class. You are to turn in your work on your own initiative – I will not ask for it. If you decide to turn in an assignment late, the first day it is late you will receive a maximum of ½ credit, after that I will not accept the assignment. If you are absent for a quiz or test, you are responsible for setting up a make –up date, with me, within one week of the assessment. If you fail to do this, you earn a zero on the assessment. It is your responsibility to make up the assessment. Papers submitted without a heading on them are subject to a 50% deduction.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism means using, utilizing, incorporating, or paraphrasing any information that is not your own. Your homework and/or projects must be COMPLETELY original. Plagiarism is not tolerated and will result in a “0” on the assignment, a loss of all participation/citizenship points for the quarter, a phone call or e-mail home, and a referral to Administration.
Course Outline
Unit 1: Constitutional Underpinnings (3 weeks)
Key Concepts:
1. Considerations that influenced the formulation and adoption of the Constitution.
2. Separation of powers
3. Checks & balances
4. Federalism
5. Theories of democratic government
MCCCD Competencies:
1. State the causes of the American Revolution
2. Explain why the American Revolution is consistent with British constitutional
values
3. List the main weaknesses of the government of the United States that operated
under the Articles of Confederation
4. Identify three historians who attended the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention, and
state briefly their main concepts or theories
5. Identify the four major compromises agreed to by the participants at the Philadelphia
Constitutional Convention
6. Indicate the votes in the “big four” states for and against the adoption of the new constitution
Readings:
Chapters 1-3
Activities:
-Discuss similarities & differences between comparative governments (but not
limited to communism, socialism, parliamentary including democracies, etc…)
and that of the American Democracy (both traditional and contemporary)
-Evaluate the effects politics has on government, public policy, and linkage .
institutions, in addition to its role within
-Examine past and present controversies surrounding issues that exemplify the
loopholes or complications with the Bill of Rights.
(Example: Gun Control v. the Second Amendment)
-Review diagram on checks and balances, and describe the drawbacks and
benefits of this American constitutional principle.
-Read and evaluate Federalist Paper #10 and “Notes on the State of Virginia” (discuss the cases made by both Federalists and Anti-Federalists).
-Debate/Discuss current events pertaining to course content.
Project:
Amendment cards: 1-27
Each note card will contain information on the front & back (amendment number on the front and other information on the back of the note card) addressing the following:
1. Name of Amendment 4. Applicable Supreme Court case
2. Description 5. Applicable Historical Event
3. Year ratified 6. Contemporary Issue
Unit 2: Political Beliefs and Behaviors (2 weeks)
Key Concepts:
1. Beliefs that citizens hold about their government and its leaders
2. Processes by which citizens learn about politics
3. The nature, sources, and consequences of public opinion
4. The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political life
5. Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in terms of poltical beliefs and behaviors
MCCCD Competencies:
18. Explain how procedural rights differ from substantive rights
19. Indicate values held by each of the two major political parties in the United States
Readings:
Chapters 6, 9, & 10
Activities:
-Complete a personal survey on ideology concerning past and current issues.
-Categorize different scenarios (welfare, affirmative action, medicare, etc…)
based on political beliefs, party platform, and/or ideology.
-Identify various political cartoons throughout mainstream media.
-Conduct a survey/poll on a current issue-specify as to type of sampling, data
collected, demographics of those surveyed, & miscellaneous.
-Debate/Discuss current events pertaining to course content.
Unit 3: Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media (2-3 weeks)
Key Concepts:
1. Political parties and elections
a. Functions
b. Organization
c. Development
d. Effects on the political process
e. Electoral laws and systems
2. Interest Groups, including political action committees
a. The range of interests represented
b. The activities of interest groups
c. The effects of interest groups on the political process
d. The unique characteristics and roles of PAC’s in the political process
3. The mass media
a. The functions and structures of the news media
b. The impacts of the news media on politics
c. The news media industry and its consequences
MCCCD Competencies:
19. Indicate values held by each of the two major political parties in the United States
Readings:
Chapters 7, 8, & 11
Activities:
-Students will watch 3 different news channels, and complete an assignment on
the channels’ ideology (if any), time of day ran, issues presented and then
present their findings to the class.
-Review the historical outline of Third parties throughout American history, and
the effects they may or, in fact, have had on government (handout).
-Create a fictional political party (platform, connection with societal issues,
membership, etc…)
-Analyze and discuss major/controversial/influential elections throughout
American history, particularly:
1. Election of 1800
2. Election of (the role of Policy Entrepreneurs)
3. Election of 1960 (the role of the Media and Public Perception)
4. Election of 2000 (the role of key societal issues and the Electoral College)
-Read and evaluate the purpose of Federalist Paper #10 (which includes the
discussion of factions)
-Debate/Discuss current events pertaining to course content.
Unit 4: Institutions: Congress, Presidency, Bureaucracy, and Courts
(6 weeks)
Key Concepts:
1. The major formal and informal institutional arrangements of power
2. Relationships among these four institutions and varying balances of
power
3. Linkages between institutions and the following:
a. Public opinion
b. Interest groups
c. Political parties
d. The media
e. State and local governments
MCCCD Competencies:
7. State the titles held by persons elected to leadership positions in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate
8. Trace the steps involved when a bill becomes a law in the U.S. Congress
9. State the main aspects of the Congressional support staff and describe their general duties
10. Identify constitutional duties of the chief executive officer of the United States, and indicate whether they make high, moderate, or low demands on the office
11. Identify the five major support systems of the President of the United States
12. List the major steps involved in the formation of the U.S. national budget from its beginning in the Office of Management and Budget to its final passage by Congress
13. Describe the composition of a "typical" U.S. board or commission, and the general powers given to such a board or commission by Congress
14. Explain the process by which a person is nominated and appointed to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court bench
15. Present the main points in the judicial review case, Marbury vs. Madison.
16. Describe the structure of the lower federal courts.
Readings:
Chapters 12-16
Activities:
-Letter to Congressman (Congress)
-Create potential bills and follow the procedure as to how they can become a law.
-Evaluate various Presidential speeches.
- Review landmark Supreme Court cases that affirm and/or limit Congressional,
Presidential, and Judicial powers.
-Compare and contrast state law and state jurisdiction versus that at the federal
level.
-Read and evaluate Federalist Paper #51 (checks and balances/three branches)
-Debate/Discuss current events pertaining to course content.
Unit 5: Public Policy (2 weeks)
Key Concepts:
1. Policymaking in a federal system
2. The formation of policy agendas
3. The role of institutions in the enactment of policy
4. The role of the bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation and interpretation
5. Linkages between policy processes and the following:
a. Political institutions and federalism
b. Political parties
c. Interest groups
d. Public opinion
e. Elections
f. Policy networks
MCCCD Competencies:
17. Explain how an amendment is added to the U.S. Constitution
18. Explain how procedural rights differ from substantive rights
19. Indicate values held by each of the two major political parties in the United States
Readings:
Chapters 17-20
Activities:
-Discuss “Policy Formulation and Analysis” diagram
-Review key points in the policy making system and the role of linkage
institutions.
-Research different examples of public policy.
-Debate/Discuss current events pertaining to course content.
Projects:
1. Students will conduct research on the following forms of public policy and
present their findings to the class, as well defining their role as a citizen in
relation to each public policy.
PARAMETERS:
a. Healthcare (Chapter 19)
b. Crime (Supplemental)
c. Education (Supplemental)
d. Social Services (Supplemental)
e. Foreign and Defense (Chapter 20)
f. Economy (Chapter 17)
g. Environmental (Chapter 19)
Focus on: Background information; Major players in this policy area; Major policy initiatives; Current Issues in the policy area; Research the following topics/questions that pertain to your chosen topic of policymaking.
Unit 6: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (2 weeks)
Key Concepts:
1. The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial interpretation
2. Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
3. The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development
of rights and liberties
MCCCD Competencies:
18. Explain how procedural rights differ from substantive rights
Readings:
Chapters: 4 & 5
Activities:
-Review landmark Supreme Court cases exemplifying civil rights & liberties
-Research how the preservation and pursuance of civil liberties and rights affect
public policy at all levels…federal, state, and local.
-Debate/Discuss current events pertaining to course content.
The AP Exam
The AP United States Government and Politics Exam date will be on Thursday, May 4, 2017, at 7:30 a.m. Please check the College Board Website regularly for updated information.
Early testing or testing at times other than those published by the College Board is not permitted under any circumstances. (http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ap/about/dates)
Closing
I understand that during the school year there are a variety of events that can happen that may hinder your ability to complete homework and/or stay focused in class. I strongly encourage you to let me know of situations whether it be technical difficulty, struggling with school in general, or other difficulties. I can not help and be flexible if I do not know what is going on.
I know that we will have a great semester and I look forward to having the opportunity to guide you down the road of U.S. government. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me (contact info on the front of this page).
Items included in this syllabus are subject to change at the teacher’s discretion.
By signing below I am saying that I understand and will adhere to classroom policies, and expectations for the duration of the semester. Neatly write e-mail addresses and names, complete the scavenger hunt, detach this portion of the syllabus, and return it to Mrs. Gardner NO LATER THAN FRIDAY of the first week of school.
Student______Printed Name ______Date______