Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum is designed to give students an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. Students will study both general concepts used to interpret U.S. politics and examine specific examples. The AP Government course requires students to learn facts and concepts and understand typical political processes. The course will require students to master historical and analytic skills, including; chronological and spatial thinking, historical research and interpretation. Students will evaluate viewpoints presented through major print and electronic media, understand statistical data and analyze trends related to significant political events. The curriculum will emphasize analysis and interpretation of data and relationships in U.S. government and politics.

1.  Students will analyze the Constitutional underpinnings, the establishment of the Constitution with particular attention to federalism and separation of powers. Students will focus on the ideological and philosophical traditions on which the framers drew. (Constitution)

• Understand the influence of federalism and separation of powers on our constitutional system.
• Explain the evolving nature of federalism and separation of powers within a judicial framework.
• Understand varying interpretations of the constitution and their philosophical basis.(Federalist Papers)

• Understand differing political ideologies and beliefs.
• Determine why U.S. citizens hold certain beliefs about politics.
• Explore how families, schools, religion and the media act to perpetuate or change beliefs.

• Explore the historical evolution of the U.S. party system.
• Compare the functions and structures of political parties, and their effects on the political process.
• Explain the activities of interest groups and their effects on the political process.
• Investigate the role of the media as a major force in U.S. politics.

• Understand both the formal and informal power arrangements of these institutions.
• Explain the formal and informal links between these institutions.
• Explain the selection and confirmation of federal judges.
• Understand the election and nomination process.

• Understand the formation of policy agendas.
• Understand the multiple processes by which policy is made in a federal context.
• Explain the role of categorical and block grants in the federal system.
• Investigate the role of institutions in the enactment of policy.
• Explore agenda setting.
• Explain linkages between policy processes and the various institutions involved in policy making.

• Understand the development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial interpretation.
• Knowledge of key decisions of the Supreme Court; Marbury v Madison, McCullouch v. Maryland.
• Learn and understand the First Amendment Freedoms.(First Amendment Cyber-Tribune)
• Examine the substantive rights and liberties.
• Know the responsibilities of citizenship.
• Understand the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development of rights and liberties.
• Explore the rights of the accused.
• Research minority-group and women's rights.
• Examine controversies that have resulted over the changing interpretations of civil rights (Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Ed, Miranda v. Arizona, etc.).
• Understand Judicial Activism v. Judicial Restraint and Warren v. Rehnquist courts.

Links Related to AP Government and Politics
http://www.collegeboard.org/ap/gov-pol/html/us_links.htm

AHS Government Links