AP U.S. Government & Politics
Course Syllabus 2014-2015
Roxanne Bongiorni Dorand
Twitter: dommibear
AOL IM: roxannemdb
Brief Overview of the Course:
AP U.S. Government and Politics is an intensive study of the formal and informal structures of government and the processes of the American political system, with an emphasis on policy-making and implementation. This course is designed to provide you with a thorough understanding of those topics as well as to prepare you for the AP Exam. This year’s AP U.S. Government exam will be given on Tuesday May 13, 2014 at 8 AM.
Course Outline:
Unit I: The Constitutional Underpinnings of the United States Government (20 days)
Unit II: Political Beliefs and Behaviors (26 days)
Unit III: Political Parties, Interest Groups and Mass Media (24 days)
Unit IV: Institutions of National Government (40 days)
Unit V: Public Policy (18 days)
Unit VI: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (16 days)
Review for AP Exam: Until Tuesday May 13, 2014 at 8AM
Concluding Activities: May 14th through end of school year
Please keep in mind that this syllabus and its assignments are subject to change.
Texts:
Magleby, David B., O’Brien, David M., Light, Paul C., Burns, James MacGregor, Peltason, J.W., and Cronin, Thomas E. Government by the People. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 21st ed.
[This is the main text and will be referred to as “Burns/P” in the attached unit outlines.]
We will also be reading excerpts from the following supplemental texts:
Cigler, Allan J., Loomis, Burdett A., American Politics Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 7th ed.
Lasser, William. Perspectives on American Government. New York, Houghton Mifflin, 4th ed.
Serow, Ann G., Ladd, Everett C., The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity. Baltimore: Lanahan, 3rd ed.
Woll, Peter. American Government: Reading and Cases. New York: Longman, 16th ed.
A Word About What “AP” Means
Like any Advanced Placement class, this is a college level course. It’s important that you understand that for several reasons.
First, I will not check notebooks. You are at a point in your academic career that
you should be responsible enough to take notes on a daily basis. That includes not only taking notes during lectures but during group discussions, when I conduct Socratic questioning, and when you read.
Next, you must come to class prepared. That means that you have to keep up with nightly reading assignments and current events. The former can be lengthy at times. If you start to fall behind in your reading, you will quickly have a hard time staying on top of the course as each chapter and unit builds on what came before it. It also will make it very difficult for you to participate in a meaningful way in our daily classroom discussions and activities. As I stressed in the summer assignment, you also need to stay abreast of current events by reading The New York Times, Washington Post or Philadelphia Inquirer (in that order of preference) on a regular basis and listening to “All Things Considered” (broadcast on NPR, WHYY 90.9 FM weekdays from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm) or watching “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” (broadcast on WHYY, Channel 12, weekdays from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm). There will be periodic pop quizzes to verify that you are keeping up with current events.
Finally, you must do your own work. Our school’s rules on plagiarism and cheating are clear. I will enforce them without exception. If you’re having trouble understanding the material or if there is some other problem, please come and see me (but do not wait until the last minute). When you use someone else’s work, you’re not cheating me; you’re cheating yourself.
Grading Policy:
Please refer to the Bensalem Township School District’s Unified Grading Policy. If you earn a “5” on the AP Exam, your course grade will be changed to 100%.
Note: Attendance and participation are crucial for your academic advancement.
Absenteeism:
All tests, quizzes, projects, and other assignments will be made up upon the student’s return. In the event of a permitted absence, any assignment due on the day of the absence will become due on the day of the student’s return, with one exception: If the assignment was given on a day of an excused absence, and the student continued to be legally absent for each consecutive day up to and including the due date of the assignment, and the total number of days absent did not exceed three days, the assignment will be due on the day after the student’s return.
It is the student’s responsibility to monitor Student Portal in eSchool as I post grades frequently.
Except as stated above, no assignments will be accepted after their due dates.
Students excused for school activities are responsible for all assignments and materials covered during their absence. Unless special arrangements are made in advance, missed assignments can be picked up in my classroom between 7:15 am and 2:45 pm, daily.
For the consequences of unauthorized absences, see the Student/Parent Handbook.
Unit Outlines
Unit 1 Outline
Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government
Total days of instruction: 20
I. Unit Description:
Understanding modern politics in the United States requires knowledge of the political situation at the time of the Constitutional Convention and an awareness of the ideological and philosophical traditions on which the framers drew, because the principles that form the foundation of American Government are a reflection of these situations and traditions. This unit will include an analysis of these foundational principles, including Federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and provisions both allowing and limiting a democratic form of government. Emphasis also will be placed on the evolution and devolution of national/state government relationships.
II. Reading Assignments:
Burns/Peltason Chapter 1 “Constitutional Democracy”
· Lanahan 1 “Democracy in America”
· Woll 1 “The Second Treatise”
· Woll 11 “The Merits of the Federal System”
Burns/Peltason Chapter 2 “The Living Constitution”
· Lasser 12.2 Marbury v. Madison
Burns/Peltason Chapter 3 “American Federalism”
· Woll 12 & 13 McCulloch & Gibbons
III. Chapter Study Questions
a. Chapter 1:
1. Distinguish between direct and representative democracy.
2. Explain the interacting values that comprise the democratic faith, such as popular consent, respect for the individual, equality of opportunity, and personal liberty; and examine how democratic values may conflict with one another.
3. Analyze the interrelated political processes that comprise democracy.
4. Identify the interdependent political structures that make up the American system of democracy.
5. Discuss the educational, economic, social, and ideological conditions conducive to establishing and maintaining democracy. Be sure to explain why Constitutional Democracy is not a “spectator sport”?
6. Trace the historical roots of the American Revolution.
7. Explain the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
8. Discuss the impact of the Annapolis Convention and Shay’s Rebellion on the calling of the Constitutional Convention.
9. List the major issues on which the delegates to the Constitutional Convention had consensus as well as those issues on which the delegates had conflicts and compromise.
10. Summarize the arguments against ratification.
11. Summarize the steps involved in ratifying the Constitution.
12. Discuss the major challenges for the American system of Constitutional Democracy.
13. Discuss the reasons why democracies fail.
b. Chapter 2:
1. Explain the various ways the framers tried to limit government, including federalism, free elections, and checks and balances.
2. Describe the concept of separation of powers and its relationship to checks and balances.
3. Define judicial review.
4. Explain how the case Marbury v. Madison established the principle of judicial review.
5. Explain how the checks and balances system has been modified by the rise of national political parties, creation of an independent regulatory commission, changes in the electoral system, changes in technology, and in international affairs.
6. Contrast the British and American political systems.
7. Explain the process of the impeachment and removal power.
8. List presidential practices, and discuss how such practices have evolved.
9. Discuss how two aspects of the Constitution have made it unnecessary for new constitutions.
10. Explain the two methods for proposing and for ratifying amendments to the
Constitution.
11. Explain how the different philosophies of Supreme Court justices affect their views on the Constitution.
c. Chapter 3:
1. Define federalism and its constitutional basis between the national and state governments.
2. Examine various interpretations of federalism, such as dual, cooperative, marble cake, competitive, permissive, and "New Federalism."
3. Identify and describe alternatives to federalism.
4. List advantages of federalism as they relate to the needs of a heterogeneous people.
5. Examine powers of the national government, powers reserved for the states, and concurrent powers shared by the national and state governments.
6. Identify limits and obligations on both national and state powers.
7. Describe the federal systems found in Canada, Germany, and Switzerland.
8. Discuss the changing role of federal courts in national-state relations, especially following McCulloch v. Maryland.
9. Describe the expanding role of the federal courts in reviewing state and local government activities through the Fourteenth Amendment, federal mandates, and federal preemption.
10. Explain the historical growth in national governmental powers relative to the states, including the debate between the centralists and decentralists.
11. Identify and describe four types of federal grants, and state the goals of federal grants.
12. Examine the politics of federal grants, including how the battle over the appropriate level of government to control the funds tends to be cyclical.
13. Analyze the impact of federal mandates on state and local government.
14. Identify and describe new techniques of federal control.
15. Examine reasons for the growth of big government and reasons why Congress is pressured to reduce national programs.
16. Discuss why federalism has grown increasingly complicated, with changing political power distribution, and the reemergence of the states.
Unit II Outline
Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Total days of instruction: 26
I. Unit Description:
Political beliefs drive political behaviors. We will examine the forces that inform an individual’s political beliefs and discuss why some individuals choose to participate in the political system (and how) and why others do not. In addition, we will address the differences in the beliefs and behaviors of different segments of American society.
II. Reading Assignments:
Burns/Peltason Chapter 4 “Political Culture and Ideology”
· Lasser 5.1 “Democracy in America”
· Lasser 5.2 “One Nation, Slightly Divisible”
· Lasser 5.3 “American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword”
Burns/Peltason Chapter 5 “The American Political Landscape”
· Ciglar/Loomis 6.2 “A Tale of Two Electorates: The Changing American Party Coalitions, 1952 - 2000”
Burns/Peltason Chapter 8 “Public Opinion, Participation, and Voting”
· Lanahan 72 “Why Americans Still Don’t Vote”
· Lanahan 69 “Dirty Politics”
·
III. Chapter Study Questions
a. Chapter 4:
1. Define political culture. Also, explain where we learn the American
political culture.
2. Identify and describe the major values that are shared by most
Americans, in the tradition of classical liberalism.
3. Assess the relationship between political values and economic
change (such as industrialization and depression).
4. List Franklin Roosevelt's “Second Bill of Rights.”
5. Analyze what is meant by the "American Dream" and its impact on
American political, economic, and social life.
6. Define ideology and identify five schools of political thought.
7. Examine liberalism and cite criticisms of this school of political
thought.
8. Examine conservatism and cite criticisms of this school of political
thought.
9. Examine socialism, environmentalism and libertarianism in
American politics.
10. Explain the distribution of ideologies in the American population
and what those ideologies mean to most Americans. Explain why few Americans consider themselves political extremists.
11. Compare the differences between liberals and conservatives on
tolerance and support for civil liberties.
12. Define and explain the significance of Putnam’s “social capital.”
13. How might the Enron scandal, which was clearly
economic/business corruption, be viewed as political corruption as well?
b. Chapter 5:
1. Define ethnocentrism.
2. Define political socialization and demographics.
3. Distinguish between reinforcing cleavages and cross-cutting
cleavages.
4. Assess the impact on the development of American democracy of
geographic isolation and a large land area.
5. Evaluate sectional differences in the United States. Include the
sunbelt/frostbelt idea.
6. Examine the effect of state and local identity on politics.
7. Identify and describe the four kinds of places in which Americans
live.
8. Examine the impact on American politics of race and ethnicity.
9. Outline the agenda of the Women's Movement in American politics
and the current gender issues and the impact of “sexual orientation” as well.
10. Examine the significance of the FAIR ad in Iowa and Proposition
187 in California.
11. Explain how family structure impacts upon the American political
landscape.
12. Identify ways in which religion can be important in American
politics.
13. Evaluate the impact of religious diversity and of the clustering of
religious population groups on politics.
14. Explain what is meant by the “underrepresentation of Hispanics.”
15. Describe income and wealth distribution in the United States.
16. Analyze how aside from race, income may be the single most
important factor in explaining views on issues, partisanship, and ideology.
17. Explain what is meant by the postindustrial American society.
18. Analyze the reasons why social class appears not to have as strong
an impact in explaining political behavior in the United States as it does in other countries.
19. Describe the political agenda of older Americans.
20. Analyze generational and life cycle effects in politics.
21. Examine the relationship between differing educational levels and
political behavior.
22. Discuss reasons for the remarkable national unity and identity that
exists in a land of such demographic diversity.
23. Distinguish between the melting pot and salad bowl analogies.
c. Chapter 8:
1. Identify and define the characteristics of public opinion.
2. Define political socialization and identify sources of our views.