AP United States Government and Politics Summer Assignment

Transcription

1

2 AP United States Government and Politics Summer Assignment Dear Students, Welcome to AP U.S. Government and Politics! You will have the opportunity to earn college credit for this course through the College Board at the end of the year by taking the AP Exam in May of This is a very rigorous and fast-paced course. It is important that you are aware of the year-long commitment you are about to undertake as a student of this course. Please make sure to read the summer assignment completely and carefully so that you will be ready to fully and successfully participate when class begins for the upcoming school year. AP Government requires different thinking and writing skills than you used in U.S. History. Writing for government requires the understanding and analysis of abstract concepts and principles. You will depend less on the study of chronology of facts and events than on your interpretation of facts and events. Throughout the year you will become aware of politics in general and, specifically, have an opportunity to explore your political self, and where you fit into our political world. This summer assignment is designed to help you to transition from thinking historically to thinking and writing from a political perspective. There are two required parts and one optional part to this summer assignment and each one is described on the subsequent pages. The due date for assignments is 9/8 and the deadline is 9/11. If you have any questions about the summer assignment you can reach us at the addresses below. I hope that you have an enjoyable, relaxing, and productive summer. Sincerely, Ms. Hecox and Mr. Nappo APPsychHecox@gmail.com Anthony.J.Nappo@mcpsmd.net

3 Assignment 1: Current Events Journal (Required, must be typed and printed for credit) AP Government is more directly related to current events than any course you will take in high school. Everything that we will study relates to how politics and government works in modern America. Accordingly, knowledge of current political and governmental affairs will significantly help you to understand the things we study, and will, in fact, be necessary to succeed in the course. If you know what is going on in the country with respect to politics and government, you will do better in the course. You should follow major current events by doing one or more of the following on as close to a daily basis as possible: Read either the print or online version of a major newspaper. Watch a national/international news broadcast (CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC). Local news outlets can be acceptable too, if they are covering national news stories. Read major newsmagazines or political journals (Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, The Economist, The Atlantic, The New Yorker) Read articles from an online political journalism website such as Politico (politico.com), Five-Thirty- Eight (fivethirtyeight.com), or Vox (vox.com) Watch daily or weekly news/current affairs programming (Hardball, Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, etc.) During the course of the summer (beginning the week of June and ending the week of August 20-27), study current events. Choose 5 weeks over the summer to write a current events journal consisting of a minimum of two paragraphs (complete sentences; ~500 words) about a major event or events in American government and/or politics from the past week. In the first paragraph, you should describe the event or events in as much detail as possible. In the second paragraph you should explain what you learned from these events about the workings of our government and political system, and state any opinions, thoughts, or analysis that you might have. Your journal should address topics that are of significant importance to American politics and government. Acceptable events include those related to the Constitution, political parties, campaigns and elections, interest groups, the news media, political issues, the president, Congress, legislation, federal court cases/decisions, government agencies, civil liberties/rights, or U.S. foreign policy. Please either of us if you are questioning whether a topic is acceptable and would like verification. With each week s entry, you must cite in MLA format 1-3 news media sources you used during that week. You may use the following website to help with citations, but MUST enter the information yourself (do not use autofill) citationmachine.net ***If you would like feedback on your first current event journal, either of us by June 25 so that we can give you feedback. *** CURRENT EVENT TIPS AND TRICKS: 1) Use multiple news sources to see which ones you like the most. 2) Download news apps on your phone and turn on push notifications; this allows the news to come to you! 3) Listen to podcasts during road trips specifically, I recommend NPR Hourly News Summary, NPR Politics, Your Weekly Constitutional, Face the Nation, Meet the Press, 60 Minutes, and FiveThirtyEight 4) Make following current events a habit! The news will make much more sense to you if you follow it each day, as opposed to cramming your news at the end of each week.

4 Assignment 2: The U.S. Constitution Study Guide (Required, complete directly on this handout) Available at: Directions: Use the U.S. Constitution to complete the following questions directly on this handout. PART I: THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE CONSTITUTION Read each article of the Constitution. Summarize the general purpose or subject of each article in one sentence in the chart below.

5 Outline the general purpose of all 27 Amendments: Amendment 1 Amendment 2 Amendment 3 Amendment 4 Amendment 5 Amendment 6 Amendment 7 Amendment 8 Amendment 9 Amendment 10 Amendment 11 Amendment 12 Amendment 13 Amendment 14 Amendment 15

6 Amendment 16 Amendment 17 Amendment 18 Amendment 19 Amendment 20 Amendment 21 Amendment 22 Amendment 23 Amendment 24 Amendment 25 Amendment 26 Amendment 27

7 PART II: SEPARATION OF POWERS/ CHECKS AND BALANCES The framers of the Constitution separated powers into three different branches to make sure that no one person or group had too much power. The powers that the Constitution specifically grants to branches of government or officeholders are called expressed powers. Use Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution to answer the following questions. 1) Identify TWO expressed powers of Congress. 2) Identify ONE unique power of the House of Representatives 3) Identify ONE unique power of the Senate 4) Identify TWO expressed powers of the President. 5) Who possesses the judicial power of the United States? According to the principle of checks and balances, each branch of government has some control over the other branches. Use the first three articles of the Constitution to answer the following questions: 1) Identify one power that the executive branch has over the legislative branch. 2) Identify one power that the executive branch has over the judicial branch. 3) Identify one power that the legislative branch has over the executive branch. 4) Identify one power that the legislative branch has over the judicial branch.

8 Assignment 3: Summer Binge-Watching Recommendations (Optional) TV/Netflix: The West Wing Madam Secretary VEEP The Newsroom Parks and Recreation Movies: 12 Angry Men 13 Days All the King s Men (2006; 1949) All the President s Men (1976) The American President (1995) Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? Caucus Charlie Wilson s War (2007) Dave (1993) The Distinguished Gentleman Fed Up Food Inc. Frost/Nixon (2008) Game Change Gideon s Trumpet (1980) Good Night and Good Luck (2005) Head of State (2003) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Primary Colors (1998) Sicko (2007) Unprecedented (2002) W. (2008) Wag the Dog (1997) Soundtracks/Podcasts (great for car trips!): Hamilton (an American Musical) Your Weekly Constitutional (podcast) 60 Minutes Podcast Frontline Podcast Face the Nation Podcast FiveThirtyEight Elections