AP® United States Government and Politics is a college level course designed for highly motivated students who have a strong interest in the area of American government. The course approaches government and politics in the United States from an analytical perspective, and involves both the study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. politics and the analysis of specific case studies. Students should expect assignments of significant required reading each week, as well as required participation in many group discussions and activities as we analyze the Constitution as a document and investigate its use as the foundation of our government. Students will interpret and evaluate documents related to American government and be expected to write well-structured essays.
Students enrolled in VHS Learning Advanced Placement® courses are expected to take the exam and to report their AP® exam scores to VHS Learning. By enrolling in an AP® VHS Learning class, the students authorize their school administration to report AP® exam scores to VHS Learning. 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. 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 1st will receive an extension to complete the summer assignment by the end of Week 3. The summer assignment is intended to review crucial content associated with pre-requisite knowledge for the course, where applicable, as well as to allow students to better understand the rigor associated with the content.
Technology Requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word or Windows Wordpad, Windows Media Player, High speed internet connection preferred (for viewing videos)
In addition to the enrollment fee, this course has an AP® fee of $75.
The required summer assignment for AP® United States Government and Politics can be found here: AP® United States Government and Politics Summer Assignment
Please Note: This course requires use of flash to access some course content, which will require regular access to a computer with a Windows/Mac operating system or Chromebook. This part of the course cannot be completed on a mobile device, and will require Flash to be
enabled.