AP Government Summer Reading Assignment

Hi! I am thrilled you will be taking AP Government this next year. As a part of the AP U.S. Government and Politics course you are required to read two books and complete the attached assignments over the summer. The assignments related to these books will be your first grades in the course. These books will help create a foundation knowledge that will be a great jumping off point for our journey together next year. The assignments will be due the first day of your class.

Assignment 1, Focus Questions on A Brilliant Solution:

Everyone will read A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin. While reading you must take rough outline notes, these do not have to cover every detail of the book but should include enough information that you can later refer to them as a good refresher without needing to reread the entire book.These notes should be handwritten and attached to the following questions.After reading A Brilliant Solution, thoughtfully answer each of the following questions. A thorough answer to each question will be at least one or two paragraphs in length, these are somewhat complex questions and deserve complex responses.

1) When the American Revolutionary war ended in 1784 the country was mired in economic depression. Berkin writes that the Continental Congress “faced a host of angry creditors, foreign and domestic, clamoring for repayment of wartime loans. The Continental Congress had no means to put money into the empty federal treasury, its source of revenue being the generosity of the states. Relations between the states were poor, and many questioned whether they would remain united.” What role do you think economic circumstances played in promoting the gathering in Philadelphia?

2) According to Berkin, did the original framers of the Constitution meet in Philadelphia to tear up the Articles of Confederation? Berkin writes: “Wherever one looked, the competing interests of creditors and debtors, rural farmers and urban merchants, artisans and importers, acted as centrifugal forces, dividing the nation” (p. 14). How much were delegates aware of this and what pressures do you think it placed on them?

3) How does Berkin explain the ways in which the delegates dealt with issues of class, gender, and race? At one point she notes none of the attendees was “a man of ordinary means, a yeoman farmer, a shopkeeper, a sailor or a laborer” (p. 49) How does this figure into her story?

4) The Constitutional Convention was, in the end, all about power. Berkin writes: “Every delegate knew that in a tug-of-war between the states and the central government, any power granted to one must of necessity, diminish the autonomy of the other” (p.45). How did the delegates balance what Berkin refers to as the fear of the mob vs. the fears of a new centralizing power? What other critical issues required compromise as the CC wore on?

5) On p. 172 Berkin describes Alexander Hamilton as cautiously optimistic that the Constitution will be ratified by the states, Hamilton argued that the document’s supporters had “the very great weight of influence of the persons who framed it.” Were today’s news media pundits around back then, do you think the framers could have stuck it out, found numerous middle ways through the myriad divisions in the new nation and rewarded Hamilton’s cautious optimism?

Assignment 2, book review of a political book:

For the second book you may choose any book from the list below or you may also choose to read any political book published since 2000 or a biography of any recent (since 1960) president or prominent American politician.Once again you are to take outline notes as you read the book. These are to be handwritten and attached to your assignment.

READING LIST

  1. The 15 Biggest Lies About Politics - Major Garret
  2. 40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation by James Carville and Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza (2009)
  3. Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin Into a Global Business – James Harding
  4. All Politics is Local - Tip O'Neill
  5. All too Human - George Stephanopolous
  6. The Art of Political War - David Horowitz
  7. The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama
  8. Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms: My Life in American Politics - Ed Rollins
  9. The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - Greg Pallast
  10. Blinded by the Right - David Brock
  11. The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track by T. E. Mann and N. J. Ornstein (2008)
  12. The Buying of the Congress - Charles Lewis
  13. A Call to Revolution - Martin L. Gross
  14. Closed Chambers - Edward Lazarus
  15. Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater (2009)
  16. The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman (2009)
  17. The Conservative Soul by Andrew, Sullivan (2007)
  18. Dead Center: Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderationby Burns and Sorensen
  19. Do the Right Thing by Mike Huckabee (2008)
  20. Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment by KH Jamieson and JN. Cappella (2010)
  21. End the Fed by Ron Paul (2009)
  22. Everything You Think You Know About Politics and Why You Are Wrongby Kathleen Jameson
  23. Eyewitness to Powerby David Gergen
  24. Front Row at the White House - Helen Thomas
  25. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and MarkHalperin (2010)
  26. Hard Callby John McCain
  27. Hardball by Chris Matthews
  28. Hell Fire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American Historyby James Morone
  29. Hill Rat: Blowing the Lid Off Congress by John L. Jackley
  30. How Women Legislate by Sue Thomas
  31. In Defense of Government: The Fall and Rise of Public Trust - Jacob Weisberg
  32. The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew Bacevich (2009)
  33. Managing the President's Program: Presidential Leadership and Legislative Policy Formulationby Andrew Rudalevige
  34. Mass Media and American Politicsby Doris A. Graber
  35. The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton – Bob Barr
  36. Men in Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America by Mark R. Levin (2006)
  37. The New Media Monopoly by Ben H. Bagdikian (2004)
  1. No Fault Politics: Modern Presidents, The Press, and Reformers by Eugene McCarthyThe
  2. Party Polarization in Congress by Sean M. Theriault (2008)
  3. Red State, Blue State, Rich State, Poor State: Why Americans Vote the Way They Do by Andrew Gelman (2009)
  4. The Right to be Wrong: Endingthe Culture War Over Religion in America by Kevin Hasson
  5. Stickin: The Case for Loyalty by James Carville
  6. The Way Things Ought to Be - Rush Limbaugh (We’re Right, They’re Wrong but from a conservative perspective)
  7. We're Right, They're Wrong - James Carville (The Way Things Ought to Be but from a liberal perspective)

Book Review Instructions

You need to write a 3-5 page book review (double spaced, 12 pt font, Times New Roman). On the top of the first page include a basic bibliographical citation --- author, title, place and date of publication.

This review needs to be in essay form, do not simply bullet point answers to the prompts below. A good review will include the following:

  • A brief identification of the AUTHOR(S), which might include answers to the following:
  • When/where born? Where/how were they educated? Special expertise or qualifications to write about this subject? Present position?
  • A brief summary of the book's contents and a description of its general scope and

nature; also a brief identification of the book's major themes, content and conclusion.

  • Points covered might include:

a) Subject matter covered

b) Author's purpose: what is he/she trying to do?

c) Period of time covered?

d) Topics/issues emphasized?

e) Supporting evidence presented

f) Organization?

g) Is the book historical/political/social/economic/biographical?

h) What did the book teach you about how the "game" of politics is played?

  • A critical evaluation of the book, this part should compromise the majority of your paper.
  • Things which you might include:

a) Strengths or weaknesses of the book?

b) Were the sources presented by the author primary or secondary?

c) Was the author balanced, objective or biased?

d) Charts/illustrations used?

e) Literary style?