This Advanced Placement AP United States Government is equivalent to a first semester college-level American Government course. The rigor of this course is consistent with colleges and universities and will prepare students for the Advanced Placement exam in May. Upon successful completion of the exam, students may receive college credit and will be well-prepared for the advanced coursework. Additional details about this course from College Board can be found here: AP United States Government and Politics.
This course is centered around five big ideas: Constitutionalism, Liberty and Order, Civic Participation in a Representative Democracy, Competing Policy-Making Interests and Methods of Political Analysis. Students will examine these ideas in different contexts throughout history to gain a better understanding of American government, through the five units below:
Unit 1: Foundations of Democracy: This first unit sets the foundation for the course by examining how the framers of the Constitution set up a structure of government intended to stand the test of time. Compromises were made during the Constitutional Convention and ratification debates, and these compromises focused on the proper balance between individual freedom, social order, and equality of opportunity.
Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government: In this unit, students continue to explore policymaking, focusing on its complexity and the idea that it is a process involving multiple governmental institutions and actors. Students will look at issues or policies from several different perspectives and then apply their knowledge to better understand the complexity of the policymaking process.
Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: Students will connect the founding principles of our government to the debates over the appropriate balance of liberty and order, noting how citizens and other groups have pursued policy solutions to protect the civil liberties and civil rights of all Americans, laying the foundation for later discussions about other ways citizens can participate in the government.
Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs: In this unit, students will be connecting the application of political science methods to the development of social and economic policies that Americans support, advocate for, and adopt. This is foundational to understanding the ideologies of political parties and patterns of political participation.
Unit 5: Political Participation: In this unit, students should understand the many ways that they can influence policymakers and impact the decisions that will affect their daily lives. The principle of rule by the people is the bedrock of the American political system and requires that citizens engage and participate in the development of policy.
Students will begin by studying the ideas and ideals that shaped the American government. They will read and analyze founding documents such as the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Students will then move on to studying the structure and functions of American government before trying to understand American attitudes and ideology and how American elections are conducted.
Students will participate in lessons that will encourage and develop their ability to analyze a variety of sources, including required Supreme Court Cases. Students will develop argumentation skills through structured discussions and projects, effectively articulating and defending viewpoints with evidence-based reasoning. They will also participate in a year-long Civic Engagement project that will require them to apply their political knowledge to issues that interest them.
Students will be expected to enroll in AP Classroom through their VHS Learning AP course and will be guided to complete review work in AP Classroom throughout the year. AP Classroom resources include AP Daily Videos and unit-based Personal Progress Checks, which include AP-style multiple choice and free response questions.
Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement courses with a passing grade are expected to take the AP Exam. Students register for AP exams through their local school or testing site as “Exam Only” students. AP exam scores will be reported to VHS Learning through AP Classroom; exam results will not affect the student’s VHS Learning grade or future enrollment in VHS Learning courses.
This AP course has a required summer assignment. The summer assignment is a review of prerequisite content and critical concepts students must be comfortable with before beginning the course. Students are expected to complete their summer assignment before the course begins and submit their work by the end of Week 1. Students who register on or after September 1 will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3.
In this AP-level course, students are expected to invest approximately 10 hours per week on their coursework.
Course Essential Questions:
- What makes a constitutional democracy?
- How has the government balanced the need for liberty and order over time?
- Why do citizens participate in politics and how is that participation essential in a representative democracy?
- How do citizens, politicians, and institutions interact to create and implement policies?
- How do political scientists measure how U.S. political behavior, attitudes, ideologies, and institutions evolve over time?
Course Learning Objectives:
- Explain how political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors apply to different scenarios in context.
- Explain how a required Supreme Court case relates to a relevant political principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior and apply Supreme Court cases to scenarios or other primary and secondary sources.
- Analyze and interpret quantitative data represented in tables, charts, graphs, maps, and infographics to explain what the data implies or illustrates for American politics.
- Read, analyze, and interpret foundational documents and other text-based and visual sources to explain how they affect political principles and institutions.
- Develop a defensible argument and support it with specific examples of relevant evidence.