AP US GOVERNMENT & POLITICS GUIDED READINGS UNIT 4: INSTITUTIONS OF GOVERNMENT As you read each chapter, answer the core questions within this packet. You should also define vocabulary words listed in the Key Terms packet. When finished with the chapter, go online to the companion website for the textbook American Government: Institutions and Policies. For each chapter of the book, students are expected to complete the ACE Practice Test, Chapter Focus Questions, and review the Study Guide. **NOTE For this unit, the chapters online are not in sync with the chapters in our book, as they are different editions. Please read the chapters indicated and answer the corresponding questions. Complete the ACE Practice Test for the chapter with the same title as that in your book. Chapter questions are due by class time on the dates indicated here: Chapter 13: Chapter 14: Chapter 15 Chapter 16 1
AP US Government & Politics Guided Reading: Chapter 13 Part I: Complete the ACE Practice Test for Chapter 11: Congress. For credit, email your results to 1. Describe the characteristics of members of Congress. 2. Discuss the relationship between ideology and civility in Congress in recent years. 3. Identify the factors that help to explain why a member of Congress votes as she or he does. 4. Outline the process for electing members of Congress. 2
5. Identify the functions of party affiliation in the organization of Congress. 6. Explain the effect of committee reform on the organization of Congress. 7. Describe the formal process by which a bill becomes a law. 3
AP US Government & Politics Guided Reading: Chapter 14 Part I: Complete the ACE Practice Test for Chapter 12: The Presidency. For credit, email your results to 1. Explain the differences between the positions of president and prime minister. 2. Discuss the approach of the Founders toward executive power. 3. Sketch the evolution of the presidency from 1789 to the present. 4. List and describe the various offices that make up the office of the president. 5. Review discussions of presidential character and how these relate to the achievements in office of various presidents. 6. Enumerate and discuss the various facets--formal and informal--of presidential power. 4
AP US Government & Politics Guided Reading: Chapter 15 Part I: Complete the ACE Practice Test for Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy. For credit, email your results to 1. Discuss the recruitment, retention, and personal characteristics of federal bureaucrats. 2. Show how the roles and missions of the agencies are affected by both internal and external factors. 3. Review congressional measures to control the bureaucracy, and evaluate their effectiveness. 4. List the "pathologies" that may affect bureaucracies, and discuss whether they are relevant to the federal government bureaucracy today. 5. Discuss why it is so difficult to reform the bureaucracy. 5
AP US Government & Politics Guided Reading: Chapter 16 Part I: Complete the ACE Practice Test for Chapter 14: The Judiciary.. For credit, email your results to 1. Explain what judicial review is, and trace its origin in this country to Marbury v. Madison. 2. List and comment on the three eras of varying Supreme Court influences on national policy from the days of slavery to the present. 3. Explain what is meant by a dual court system, and describe the effects it has on how cases are handled and appealed. 4. List the various steps that cases go through to be appealed to the Supreme Court, and explain the considerations involved at each level. 6
5. Discuss the dimensions of power exercised today by the Supreme Court and the opposing viewpoints on the desirability of activism by that court. 6. Develop arguments for and against an activist Supreme Court. 7