AP Government and Politics (College Level C & E)

Due – The first day of classes

Summer Reading Assignment -Defying the Odds: The 2016 Elections and American Politics by James W. Ceaser, Andrew E. Busch, and John J. Pitney Jr.

The 2016 presidential election was historic and extraordinary in many ways. Elements of that election will provide the basis for much of what we will be discussing this year as far as the role in elections of the media, primaries, parties, and interest groups. To get a start, the summer reading book is Defying the Odds (2017). (ISBN: 144227347X)

The book covers the 2016 elections from the primaries to the general election and then looks to the future. In addition, the book provides some historical context as it contrasts 2016 with the election with some previous elections. This book will provide you with a foundation for understanding electoral politics as well as examples that we will be using all year long in A.P. Government.

Bookstores probably won’t have many copies in stock, although they can order it for you. We recommend that you order a copy from Amazon which has some used copies and a Kindle edition available. Mrs. Newmark has a link on her website for this book and for the collection of readings, The Lanahan Readings in American Polity – Sixth edition , plus the pocket copy of the Constitution which will be required materials for the course, so you can buy all three at the same time. The readings book and Constitution will also be available for purchase at the book fair before school begins.

Make sure to do both parts A and B of this assignment.

A. Read the indicated chapters and answer the questions.

You can download this assignment from Mrs. Newmark’s website on the Amazon page link above or from the school website and use the questions to help you keep the questions with your answers. We strongly recommend that since it will help you in class discussions throughout the year to be able to remember the question that prompted your answer.

Your question answers/notes should either be neatly written or typed. You will be turning them in on the first day of class and we don’t want to be handed chewed up scraps of paper with indecipherable scribblings that purport to be your question answers. It is perfectly acceptable to write your answers as a series of bullet points. You don’t need fully developed paragraphs for each question. Don’t feel that you need to go overboard in how much you write. Most of these questions can be answered in a few sentences or bullet points. Do not simply copy from the book. We want to see your own words to make sure you understood what you read.

We did the first question for you so you’d get an idea of what you should be doing to answer the questions.

Preface

  1. (a) Identify the six critical assets of successful campaigns listed by the authors, and (b) explain their arguments regarding Donald Trump’s deficiency in them.
    Sample Answer:
  2. Critical Assets:
  3. a record of public service,
  4. a professional, well-structured campaign organization,
  5. money,
  6. political endorsements,
  7. favorable media, and
  8. support from intellectuals and agenda-setters
  9. Deficiencies:
  10. Unlike every president before him, Donald Trump never held appointed or elective office.
  11. Additionally, throughout the election, he was outspent by his opponents, and his campaign lacked the professional organization of his rivals.
  12. His endorsements were few -- by political leaders, intellectuals, and newspapers.
  13. His media coverage, while ample, was mostly negative.
  14. On page ix, the authors argue, “Trump ran against the assets (or establishments) that normally contribute to success, and he turned these deficiencies into advantages.” Explain four ways that Trump turned his shortcomings into advantages.
  15. The authors examine “the numbers” of presidential races throughout history. Explain two of their findings.

Chapter One -- Twenty-Four Years Later

  1. On pages 1-4, the authors compare the “upside down and inside out” elections of 1992 and 2016. Explain these comparisons.
  2. Define “outsiderism,” and summarize the outsider campaign of George Wallace. Then, select one of the following campaigns to summarize: Jesse Jackson, Pat Buchanan, or Ross Perot.
  3. Explain Trump’s views on affirmative action and “American exceptionalism.” Why do the authors posit that Trump’s ideas “put him at odds with a major strain” of conservatism and “appeal[ed] to ‘alt-right’ activists?”
  4. In the “Coming Apart” section, the authors explain that since 1992, economic life improved for college graduates but worsened for people without a bachelor’s degree. Identify several ways this was true. Next, explain why these forces had such a powerful impact in 2016.
  1. Briefly describe the media environment of the 2016 campaign.

Chapter Two -- From Little Rock to Chappaqua

  1. According to the authors, how did President Bill Clinton shift the Democrat Party to the right? What evidence is included that the party shifted back to the left by 2016?
  2. Summarize Hillary Clinton’s and Bernie Sanders’ paths to the primaries, found on pages 43-49.
  3. Briefly explain Clinton’s campaign strategies and the challenges she faced.
  4. On pages 53-58, the authors discuss Clinton’s campaign from April 2015 to June 2016. As you read, create a timeline that includes significant moments during the campaign.

Chapter Three – Trumped: The Republican Nomination Contest

1. Give a brief summary of the strengths and weaknesses as candidates of Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich.

2. Briefly outline the events and actions that contributed to Trump’s success in winning the GOP nomination.

3. Answer one of the following questions:

A. Explain how the results in Iowa and New Hampshire prefigured Trump’s eventual victory in the nomination fight.

B. Pick one of the elections from Super Tuesday through Indiana and explain why and how the results failed in stopping Trump’s momentum.

4. What problems did Trump face in uniting the Republican base and how/why did he eventually succeed?

5. Explain the factors that the authors provide for why Trump was able to win the nomination.

Chapter Four – Race to the Bottom: The General Election

1. The authors divide their discussion of elections into the “fundamentals” of how elections have usually been decided and “contingencies” or unpredictable events that change the trajectory of the campaign. What were the fundamentals in 2016 and which parties did they favor?

2. Summarize what the book says about Hillary Clinton’s tactical strengths and strategy compared to Donald Trump’s strategy.

3. Pick three events or key moments for each side and explain their impact on the campaign.

4. What are the explanations that the book gives for how Trump won?

5. What are the explanations that the book gives for why Trump won?

We’re not assigning Chapter Five, but you certainly can read it and learn more about other elections in 2016.

Chapter Six – Aftermath and Future

1. After reading the debate about the Electoral College and National Popular Vote Interstate Compact on pages 170-171 and 175, summarize the arguments for each side about the Electoral College and how it should work.

2. Summarize what the book says about the impact of voter fraud, early voting, and campaign spending in the wake of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.

3. On page 174, they describe the election as “the utter triumph of [what] one might call democratic norms against what one might call representative norms” in relation to the 2016 election. Explain what that means as you talk about what the 2016 election said about the strengths or weaknesses of political parties in the nominating process.

4. Summarize what the authors present about questions going forward for both Republicans and Democrats.

B. Following Current Events – Article Analysis

A lot of the curriculum of this course involves making connections between what is going on in current events today and the broader theories and trends that we’ll be talking about in American government and politics. Please get in the habit of following the news whether through TV, the radio, newspapers and magazines, or internet sites. Pay attention to stories concerning the President Trump’s administration, the interplay of foreign or domestic policy and politics, partisan polarization, critical Supreme Court decisions, Congress’s relations with the President, and media coverage of politics in Washington. These are all topics that will provide the examples for the broader concepts that we will discuss this year. You will be more successful in the class if you are familiar with what is going on in current events.

Then write up an analysis that connects what you have read in the article to what you learned from Defying the Odds. Give citations to the sources from which you find your information. Your analysis will probably be about one page, double-spaced. You will be graded on the substantive connections that you can make. Attach your article to your assignment when you turn it in.

If you have any questions over the summer about your project, feel free to email one of us and ask about it; Wenever mind hearing from students and answering their questions. or .