AP GOV SYLLABUS

AP US Government
Syllabus

AP US GOVERNMENT
Syllabus

Texts:
The course uses the following texts.

Textbook:
Government in America (Edwards/ Wattenberg/Lineberry)

Primary Source collections:
Readings in American Government (Woll)

Current Events:
NY Times Online
Bend Bulletin

Daily instruction:
Note taking techniques/ study techniques/ group discussion.
Lecture Discussion on Material
Discussion of Current events
Instruction in analysis of graphs, charts and political cartoons from our textbook.
Assessment (objective multiple choice, subjective FRQ questions)
Review of assessments for better understanding of test taking techniques

Assessment:
Each chapter is followed by a 10 question, multiple choice quiz, and 2 FRQ questions.

Assessment includes practice in analyzing and interpreting data and other information relevant to U.S. government and politics, providing questions similar to those found on the AP US government and politics exam. These include assessment of students ability to read graphs, and charts, and political cartoons. Also, students will demonstrate an ability to relate primary source documents to contemporary political questions.

During the course of final test preparation, 3-4 FULL AP exams are presented. The time allowance becomes shorter and shorter.

Bi-weekly current events quiz or essay.

After the Exam, the students will write a term paper.


Material to be presented (With specific reading assignments). Material will be assessed as we go through FRQ’s and Objective tests

I Constitutional Underpinnings (5-15%)
3 Weeks

Lineberry 1. Introducing Government in America.
Woll CH 1
• John Locke, Second Treatise, Of Civil Government.
• John P. Roche, The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action.


Lineberry 2. The Constitution.
Woll CH 2
• Charles A. Beard, Framing the Constitution.
• James Madison, Federalist 47, 48, 51.
• Laurence H. Tribe and Michael C. Dorf, How Not to Read the Constitution.
• Levine Chapter 1


Lineberry 3. Federalism.
Levine Ch 3
Woll – 2
• Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 16, 17.
• James Madison, Federalist 44.
• James Madison, Federalist 39.
• James Bryce, The Merits of the Federal System.
• McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheaton 316 (1819).
• United States v. Morrison (2000).
• Morton Grodzins, The Federal System.
• David Broder, A Republic Subverted.


II Political Beliefs/Political Behaviors (10-20%)
5 Weeks

Lineberry 6. Public Opinion and Political Action.


Lineberry 9. Nominations and Campaigns.

Lineberry 10. Elections and Voting Behavior.
Levine 10, 12
Woll – 4
• David R. Mayhew, Divided We Govern.
• V.O. Key, Jr., A Theory of Critical Elections.
• Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter, Politics by Other Means.
• Bernard R. Berelson, Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and William N. McPhee, Democratic Practice and Democratic Theory.
• V.O. Key, Jr., The Responsible Electorate.
• Buckley V. Vaelo 263 424 U.S. (1976).
• Federal Election Commission v. Colorado Republican Federal Campagin Committee (Colorado II).
• Senator Mitch McConnell, et al. v. Federal Election Commission.
• Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, Myths and Realities about the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

III Political Parties, Interest Groups, Media (10-20%)
5 Weeks

Lineberry 8. Political Parties.
Woll – 4
• James Madison, Federalist 10.
• E. E. Schattschneider, Party Government.
• California Democratic Party et al. V. Jones, Secretary of State of California, et al. Supreme Court of the United States (2000).
• Report of the Committee of Political Parties, American Political Science Association, Toward a More Responsible Two Party System.
• Martin P. Wattenberg, Perspectives on American Political Parties.



Lineberry 11. Interest Groups.

Woll – 5
• Jeffrey M. Berry, Madison's Dilemma.
• David B. Truman, The Governmental Process.
• Theodore J. Lowi, The End of Liberalism: The Indictment.
• Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox, Interest Groups and the American Political System.
• Larry J. Sabato, The Misplaced Obsession with PACs.

Lineberry 7. The Mass Media and the Political Agenda.

Levine 9 and 13


IV Institutions: Congress, the presidency, bureaucracy, federal Courts (35-45%)
12 Weeks

Lineberry 12. Congress.

Woll – 8
• James Madison, Federalist 53, 56, 57, 58, 62, 63.
• Morris P. Fiorina, The Rise of the Washington Establishment.
• Lawrence C. Dodd, Congress and the Quest for Power.
• Timothy E. Cook, Media Power and Congressional Power.
• Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol.
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr., If, As Ralph Nader Says, Congress Is “The Broken Branch,” How Come We Love Our Congressmen So Much?.
• Nelson W. Polsby, Congress-Bashing for Beginners.
• David R. Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection.
• Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Home Style and Washington Career.


Lineberry 13. The Presidency.
Levine - 15
Woll – 6
• Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 70.
• Clinton Rossiter, The Presidency-Focus of Leadership.
• Richard E. Neustadt, Presidential Power.
• Thomas E. Cronin and Michael A. Genovese, Presidential Paradoxes.
• James David Barber, The Presidential Character.
• Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer 343 U.S. 579 (1952).
• United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation 343 U.S. 304 (1936).
• Aaron Wildavsky, The Two Presidencies.
• Sidney M. Milkis, The Presidency and Political Parties.
• Nelson W. Polsby, American Presidential Elections: The Last One and the Next One.

Lineberry 14. The Congress, the President, and the Budget: Politics of Taxing and Spending.

Lineberry 15. The Federal Bureaucracy.
Levine 17
Woll - 7
• Peter Woll, Constitutional Democracy and Bureaucratic Power.
• James Q. Wilson, The Rise of the Bureaucratic State.
• 
Lineberry 16. The Federal Courts.
Woll – 9
• Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 78.
• Marbury v. Madison 1 Cranch 137 (1803).
• John P. Roche, Judicial Self-Restraint.
• Bush v. Gore United States Supreme Court (2000).
• William J. Brennan, Jr., How the Supreme Court Arrives at Decisions.
• Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Constitutional Liberty and the Right to Abortion.
• Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, Liberty, Privacy, and the Right to Abortion.
• Justice Antonin Scalia, Liberty and Abortion: A Strict Constructionist's View.


V Public Policy, 3 Weeks (5-15%)

Lineberry 17. Economic Policy Making.
Lineberry 18. Social Welfare Policymaking.
Lineberry 19. Policymaking for Healthcare and the Environment.
Lineberry 20. National Security Policy Making.

VI Civil Liberties/Civil Rights 3 Weeks (5-15%)

Lineberry 4. Civil Liberties and Public Policy.
Woll -3
• Antifederalist Paper No. 84 On the Lack of a Bill of Rights.
• James Madison, Before the House of Representatives in 1789 Proposing Amendments to Add a Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
• Gideon v. Wainwright 372 U.S. 335 (1963).
• Oliver Wendall Holmes, The Need to Maintain a Free Marketplace of Ideas.
• New York Times v. Sullivan 376 U.S 254 (1964).

Lineberry 5. Civil Rights and Public Policy.

Woll -3
• Plessy v. Ferguson 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 349 U.S. 294 (1955) .
• Engel v. Vitale 370 U.S. 421 (1962).
• Zelman v. Simmon-Harris Supreme Court of the United States (2002).
• Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena 515 U.S. 200 ( 1995).