Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics Susan R. Duncan Scott County High School Purpose: The purpose of this course is to prepare the student not only for the AP but also give the student necessary knowledge and experience for active participation in the political process. Method of Instruction: This is a college style course; you are expected to produce college level work. It will rely heavily upon assigned reading and lecture. As such, keeping up with the assigned reading is very important. Students are also invited to discuss current events as they relate to the course content at hand. Indeed, the better the discussion the better the course. While this is a course in US government, there is a comparative element to the course as well. Generally, students will have a deeper understanding of US government if they have the opportunity to compare US government to the governments of other nations. Political science uses a lot of statistical data. Students should pay particular attention to charts, graphs and data tables in the text. These will often be the basis of class discussion and will often appear on tests and other assessments. Assessments: *There will be six major exams. Each exam will consist of multiple choice and free response questions. *Approximately once every ten days there will be an in class free response question to assess student understanding of the material. These will often include data in the form of charts, graphs or tables for students to analyze and apply to prior knowledge to construct their response. *Reading quizzes will be given BEFORE the chapter is discussed in class. Students are encouraged to ask questions about material they do not understand prior to the day of the scheduled quiz. *A clicker system will be used to assess students retention of previously material through daily flashback questions. *One project will be assigned per grading period. These may include research/writing style activities; formal debate; technology based products; budget simulations; campaign organizations. Grading: Assignments(homework or in class) - 30% Reading Quizzes - 30% Tests - 30% Projects - 10% Texts: Wilson, James Q., and John J. Dilulio Jr. American Government. 9e 2004 Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618660372 Woll, Peter American Government: Reading and Cases 16e 2006 New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 0321329503 Kesselman, Mark, et al. Introduction to Comparative Politics 4e 2006 Boston: Houghton Mifflin ISBN 0618604472 Additional print materials may be used related to current events, etc.
Audio visual materials may also be incorporated to enhance student understanding. These may include taped and live broadcasts of C-Span, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, PBS and news and government related broadcasts from the major networks. No feature films will be shown. Course Outline: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4-5 Week 6 Week 7-8 Constitution Theories, Constitutional Precursors, Convention, Ratification, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances Readings: Wilson Chapter 2; Woll 1 Second Treatise of Civil Government Locke Federalism Confederations, Unitary, Fiscal Federalism, Grants, Mandates, Dual and Marble Cake, Reserved Powers and Growth of Federal Power Readings: Wilson Chapter 3; Woll 8 Federalist 39 Madison Political Culture-Origins, American Values, Mistrust of Government Dealing with Data Tips, Tricks, Implications and Limitations Data: Table 4.6 Religion in America Today; Figure 4.3 Public Tolerance for Advocates of Unpopular Ideas Readings: Wilson Chapter 4 Public Opinion and Ideologies-Formation, Political Socialization-Agents, Social Divisions- Race Class and other, Measuring Public Opinion, Liberal, Conservative, Populist, Libertarian, Socialist Data: Table 5.1 Religious Orientation of White Voters, 1996; Table 5.2 Differences in Political Views of Men and Women; Table 5.3 The Changing College Student; Figure 5.4 African American Self Identification, 1976-1999; Table 5.6 How Liberal and Conservatives Differ Readings: Wilson Chapter 5 Participation Voting, Voting statistics, Who Gets to Vote, Constitutional Amendments, Voting Rights Act, Registration-effects, Motor Voter, Forms of Participation other than Voting, Participation in the US vs other Liberal Democracies Data: Table 6.1 Two ways of Calculating Voter Turnout 1996-2001 Elections, Selected Countries; Table 6.2 Voter Registration in the South; Figure 6.2 Voter Participation in Presidential Elections, 1860-2000; Figure 6.4 Voter Turnout in Presidential election, by Age, Schooling, and Race, 1964-1996; Table 6.5 How Citizens Participate; Figure 6.5 Electoral and Nonelectoral Political Participation Among Anglo Whites, African Americans, and Latinos Readings: Wilson Chapter 6 Parties- Factions, Origins, Organization, Informal Groups(three headed beast), SMD vs PR, French Two Ballot System, Glory Days /Decline, Political Machines, Bossism (Patron vs Client), 3 rd Parties, Parties in other Liberal Democracies, Parties in Non Democratic Systems Data: Figure 7.1 Decline in Party Identification 1952-1996; Figure 7.2 Trends in Split- Ticket Voting for President and Congress, 1920-1996; Table 7.2 The Rise of Republican Politics in the South, 1956-2002
Readings: Wilson Chapter 7; Woll Federalist 10-Madison; Woll 29 Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System-Committee on Political Parties APSA Week 9-10 Week 11-12 Week 13 Week 14-15 Week 16-17 Week 18 Elections-Types, Strategies, Financing(McCain/Feingold), Soft Money, 527s, Elections and the Media, Incumbency Advantage, Nomination, Presidential Nomination Process, Electoral College, Districting, Gerrymandering, Effects on Policy Formulation Data: Table 8.2 Sources of Campaign Funds: All House and Senate candidates in 1997-1998, by Incumbents, Challengers, and Open; Figure 8.2 Growth of PACs; Figure 8.3 Economic Performance and Vote for the Incumbent President s Party Readings: Wilson Chapter 8; Woll 32-A Theory of Critical Elections-Key; Woll 33-Politics by Other Means-Ginsberg and Shefter Special Interest Groups-Types, Purposes, Involvement in Electoral Process (PACs), Lobbying-Legislative/Regulatory Process, Iron Triangles, Issue Network, Major Special Interest Groups in American Politics, Grassroots Activities, Judicial Lobbying -Litigation and Amicus Briefs Readings: Wilson Chapter 9; Woll 45-Misplaced Obsession with PACs-Sabato Media-Print Media; Electronic Media; First Amendment (Press), Media s Role in Democratic Societies; Political Impact of the Media, President and the Media Data: Figure 10.1 Young People Have Become Less Interested in Political News; Figure 10.3 Decline in Public Trust of the Media Readings: Wilson Chapter 10 Congress-Structure; Leadership; Key Committees; Roles/Powers; Power of the Purse ; How a Bill Becomes a Law; How a Bill Really Becomes a Law; House vs Senate- Similarities/Differences; Congress and the President; Iron Triangles Revisited; Ombudsman; Role of Political Parties Data: Table 11.1 Blacks, Hispanics and Women in Congress, 1971-2002; Figure 11.2 Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress Readings: Wilson Chapter 11; Woll 59-Congress and the Washington Political Establishment-Fiorina President-Roles and Powers(formal/informal) of the President; President and Congress Revisited; President and Bureaucracy; Bully Pulpit; US President vs other Chief Executives in Other Liberal Democracies; Presdential vs Parliamentary, Dual Executive in France and Russia Data: Table 12.3 Partisan Gains or Losses in Congress in Presidential Election Years; Figure 12.2 Presidential Popularity Readings: Wilson Chapter 12; Woll 54-Presidential Leadership and Political Parties- Milkis; Woll 50-Presidential Character and Style-Barber Bureaucracy-Organization; Department; Government Corporation; IRC; Executive Agency; Patronage; Spoils System; Pendleton Act; Civil Service; Bureaucratic Responsiveness; Administrative Regulations
Readings: Wilson Chapter 13; Woll 56-Constitutional Democracy and Bureaucratic Power-Woll Week 19 Week 20 Week 21 Week 22 Week 23 Week 24 Week 25 Week 26-27 Week 28-29 Week 30-31 Judiciary-Organization; Powers; Judicial Review; Special Courts; Constitutional Courts; Selection of Judges; Appeals Process; Judicial Decision Making; Checks on Judicial Decision Making; Public Opinion and the Judiciary; Judiciary vs the Other Institutions; Common Laws vs Civil Law Systems; Judiciary in the US Compared with UK and France Data: Figure 14.1 Female and Minority Judicial Appointments 1963-2000; Figure 14.3 Patterns of Public Confidence in the Court 1974-1998 Readings: Wilson Chapter 14; Woll 67-Federalist 67-Madison; Woll 69-Judicial Restraint- Roche Public Policy- Definition; Agenda Setting; Interaction of Policy Making Institutions; Impact of Public Opinion; Policy Implementation; Role of SIGs; Role of Public Opinion Readings: Wilson Chapter 15; Topical Selections from National News Magazines Public Policy-(Economic) Fiscal Policy; Monetary Policy; The Fed; Inflation; Deficit; National Debt; Discretionary Spending; Mandatory Spending Data: Figure 16.2 History of the National Debt; Figure 16.3 Projections of the Growth in Federal Spending Readings: Wilson Chapter 16; Topical Selections from National News Magazines Public Policy-(Social) Social Security; Medicare; Welfare State; Population Demographics Readings: Wilson Chapter 17; Topical Selections from National News Magazines Civil Liberties-Bill of Rights; 14 th Amendment; Due Process; Selective Incorporation; Major Cases; Warren Court Readings: Wilson Chapter 18; Woll Antifederalist Paper No 84 Civil Rights-Constitutional Amendments; 14 th Amendment; Equal Protection; Major Cases; Civil Rights Act of 1964; Suspect Class; Strict Scrutiny; Moderate Scrutiny; Reasonable Basis Test; Racism; Sexism Readings: Wilson Chapter 19; Woll 20-Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Foreign/Military Policy-Role/Powers of Congress; Role/Powers of President; NATO; UN; Defense Department; Joint Chiefs Readings: Wilson Chapter 20; Woll The Two Presidencies-Wildzvsky The Comparative Perspective-Comparative Method; United Kingdom; Mexico Readings: Kesselman Chapter 1,2,10 Review AP s-many students are taking four or more AP s in this time period. Any available class time will be spent reviewing.
Week 32-34 Week 35-36 Current Events/Special Topics In class debates Readings- Current issues from Nationals News Magazines Senior Class Activities/Final