AP GOVERNMENT SUMMER ASSIGNMENT

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1 AP GOVERNMENT SUMMER ASSIGNMENT The following assignment is required for completion before the first day of school, Monday, August 20 th. You will turn in the written/typed portions of the assignment on the first day of school. These assignments will provide good background knowledge and also provide a strong grade upon which to build. (All parts required) If you have any questions before May 31 st, you may me at: zachary.basso@orendaeducation.org Part I: Current Events Journal (Required 100 formative points total) 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) not a local news broadcast. 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) or Five-Thirty-Eight (fivethirtyeight.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 6-10), keep a current events journal (It can be an actual notebook journal or typed). At the end of each week, type minimum two paragraphs (complete sentences; ~500 words) about the 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, and, in the second paragraph, you should analyze the significance of it/them and state any opinions, thoughts, or analysis that you might have about it/them. You must intelligently discuss one particularly important issue each week. Your journal should deal with issues that are of significant importance to American politics and government. Such things include what the president is up to, what Congress is debating or legislation that they are passing, constitutional issues or major federal court decisions concerning them, debates over political issues in America, international crises or foreign policy issues that somehow affect the US or that our government must deal with, etc. With each week s entry, you must cite in MLA format any news media sources you used during that week at the bottom of your journal entry. Make sure you date each entry at the top right-hand corner in your journal. (I.e. Journal entry Week of July 23-27) me your first current event journal (zachary.basso@orendaeducation.org) by June 23 rd so that I can give you feedback. The rest of your journals will be due on the first day of school.

2 Sample Current Events Journal Sally Student AP Government and Politics Sample Current Events Journal for May 18-22, 2015 Political news this week was dominated by the impending 2016 presidential election. As of now, the focus is on the already large and growing field of Republican primary candidates (the Democratic Party is expected to nominate Hilary Clinton without significant opposition). While several politicians have already declared their candidacy, former Florida Republican governor Jeb Bush and current Wisconsin Republican governor Scott Walker have not, although they are expected to soon. Analysts believe that they are waiting to make an official announcement so that they can continue to raise money for their super PACs (political action committees). The Supreme Court decided in Citizens United v. FEC that corporations are protected by the First Amendment and may spend an unlimited amount of money to support or attack a candidate, as long as they are not affiliated with the candidate. This decision gave rise to super PACS, organizations that are allowed to accept unlimited financial contributions from donors that will later be used to support a particular candidate. Until they announce their candidacy, politicians such as Jeb Bush can continue to raise millions of dollars for super PACs that will later support them in the primary elections. Jeb Bush has currently raised the most money of the declared and prospective Republican candidates; he is expected to declare that he has raised in the high tens of millions. This war chest could prove valuable to him in a crowded Republican primary contest. The Republican field of candidates is already quite large and the Republican National Committee (RNC) anticipates that as many as twelve candidates may take part in the first primary debate. This week s stories show the impact of the Supreme Court s Citizens United decision and the growing influence of money in presidential elections. The amount of money that candidates need to run (and win) a presidential election is absolutely staggering, and serves to increase the influence of corporations and the most affluent Americans who are able to make large campaign contributions. The actions of Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, as well as the other declared candidates who are traversing the country fundraising, show that wooing donors and raising cash has become more important than addressing the concerns of everyday Americans. More money means more access to politicians and candidates for the nation s highest offices. In turn, wealthy donors could pressure politicians to support policies that will result in making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Meanwhile, working class Americans who cannot afford to make large campaign contributions are left without a voice in the political process. The high price tag of becoming president may also exclude qualified candidates who are unable raise such large amounts of money. It is unclear whether the Supreme Court foresaw these negative outcomes when they made their Citizens United decision. The Federal Elections Commission and the U.S. government should seriously consider passing regulations and legislation to limit the amount of money that can be spent in a presidential campaign to even the playing field and allow the candidates to focus on the issues that affect the American people. Bash, Dana. "Election 2016: The Dirty Little Secret of Presidential Announcements - CNNPolitics.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 May Web. 19 May 2015.

3 Silver, Nate, and Harry Enten. "Jeb Bush Has The Cash, But Not The GOP Support." FiveThirtyEight. 28 Apr Web. 19 May Stokols, Eli. "Florida Quietly Sets up an Epic 2016 Primary Clash." POLITICO. Web. 19 May 2015.

4 Part II: Landmark Supreme Court Cases (Required 100 formative points total) You need to research 20 Supreme Court cases listed below (10 from each side). Each case summary should be typed on its own page. The Constitutional question, background information, and summary should be written in complete sentences. See example on next page. For each case, you will need to provide the following. For more details, see first page of packet. - Constitutional Question(s) - Facts of the case - Issues of the case - Summary of the Court s Majority Opinion - Summary of any Dissenting or consenting opinion (if applicable) WHERE DO I FIND THIS INFORMATION? Remember you can read over Wikipedia but your answer should not be from Wikipedia. Wikipedia should not be your only source for information on a court case. Be sure that your background of the case and the opinion of the Court are in your own words. *If any part of your Supreme Court case journal is not in your own words, it will not be graded and you will not receive credit! Take the material and re-write it so it makes sense to you! I don t want to see you trying to pass off the Wikipedia entry as your own. Make sure to cite your work on a separate citation page in MLA format. 40 COURT CASES (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER) Marbury v. Madison (1803) 21. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) 2. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) 22. Furman v. Georgia (1972) 3. Barron v. Baltimore (1833) 23. Roe v. Wade (1973) 4. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) 24. U.S. v. Nixon (1974) 5. Scott v Sanford (1857) 25. Buckley v. Valeo (1976) 6. Reynolds v. US (1878) 26. Gregg v. Georgia (1976) 7. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 27. California Board of Regents v. Bakke (1978) 8. Schenck v. US (1919) 28. New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) 9. Gitlow v. New York (1925) 29. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1987) 10. Near v. Minnesota (1931) 30. Texas v. Johnson (1989) 11. Korematsu v. US (1944) 31. Oregon Employment Division v. Smith (1990) 12. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 32. Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) 13. Mapp v. Ohio (1961) 33. U.S. vs Lopez (1995) 14. Engel v. Vitale (1962) 34. Bush v. Gore (2000) 15. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) 35. Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) 16. Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States 36. Kelo v. City of New London (2005) (1964)

5 17. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) 37. Citizens United v. FEC (2010) 18. Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 38. McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) 19. Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) 39. Affordable Care Act Ruling (2012) 20. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) 40. Obergefell vs. Hodges (2015) A SAMPLE CASE SUMMARY IS ON THE NEXT PAGE *Yes, you may use the information from this case summary to help you write your own, it should not be verbatim though.

6 a. Constitutional Question(s): Marbury v. Madison (1803) Does the Supreme Court of the United States have the power, under Article III, Section 2, of the Constitution, to interpret the constitutionality of a law or statute passed by Congress? b. Facts of the Case: In the last few hours of office, President John Adams made a series of midnight appointments to fill as many government posts as possible with Federalists. One of these appointments was William Marbury as a federal justice of the peace. When Jefferson he took office as President, he instructed his Secretary of State James Madison to not deliver the appointment. Marbury sued Madison to get the appointment he felt he deserved. He asked the court to issue a writ of mandamus requiring him to deliver the appointment. The Judiciary Act, passed by Congress in 1789, permitted the Supreme Court of the U.S. to issue such a writ. c. Issues of the Case: Does Article III of the Constitution create a floor for original jurisdiction, which Congress can add to, or does it create an exhaustive list that Congress can t modify at all? If Article III s original jurisdiction is an exhaustive list, but Congress tries to modify it anyway, who wins that conflict, Congress or the Constitution? And, more importantly, who is supposed to decide who wins? d. Opinion Court said yes to judicial review- voted 4-0. The Court decided that Marbury s request for a writ of mandamus was based on a law passed by Congress that the Court held to be unconstitutional. The court said that the federal law contradicted the Constitution, and since the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, it must reign supreme. Through this case, Chief Justice John Marshall established the power of judicial review: the power of the court not only to interpret the constitutionality of a law or statute, but also to carry out the process and enforce its decision. e. Dissenting/Consenting Opinion None, decision was unanimous.