Welcome to AP Gov! This year's AP exam will be Monday, May 6 (2024) Best is to keep up with the assignments, but you should always come to our meetings if you can, even if you haven't done the assignments. 2023 - 2024 Meeting Schedule & Topics Updated 10/19/23 Recommended Review Books: Princeton Review: A.P. US Government & Politics Prep 2023 (You can get by with 2019 edition or more recent.) This is best for throughout the year, and initial exposure to the topics. Please consider ordering from local bookstores. A.P. Government & Politics Crash Course by Nancy Fenton & Katherine Olson-Goldman (2022 edition or more recent) This is best for review. _________________________________ Agendas & Assignments 2023-2423) 1) Agenda 9/14 & HW due 9/21
2) Agenda 9/21 & HW due 9/28 3) Agenda 9/28 & HW due 10/5 Declaration of Independence assignment 4) Agenda 10/5 & HW due 10/12 5) Agenda 10/12 & HW due 10/19 6) Agenda 10/19 & HW due 10/26 7) Agenda 10/26 & HW 11/2 8) Agenda 11/2 & HW due 11/9 9) Agenda 11/9 & HW due 11/16 10) Agenda 11/16 & HW due 11/30 11) Agenda 11/30 & HW due 12/7 12) Agenda 12/7 & HW due 12/14 13) Agenda 12/14 & HW duw 1/11 14) Agenda 1/11 & HW due 1/18 15) Agenda 1/18 & HW due 1/25 16) Agenda 1/25 & HW due 2/1 17) Agenda 2/1 & HW due 2/8 18) Agenda 2/8 & HW due 2/15 19) Agenda 2/15 & HW due 2/22 20) Agenda 3/14 & HW due 3/21 21) Agenda 3/21 & HW due 3/28 22) Agenda 3/28 & HW due 4/10 23) Agenda 4/10 & HW due 4/17 • Separation of Powers:
The Three Branches United States Congress/
The Legislative Branch Legislative Branch Names Template House of Representatives Why 435? House Committees House Ways & Means Committee <–FLASHCARD! Government Accountability Office <–FLASHCARD! Congressional Budget Office <–FLASHCARD! __________________________________ United States Senate Filibusters History of the Filibuster (12-min. video) Articles: 1. Filibusters: The Senate's Self-Inflicted Wound 2. The Five Longest Filibusters 3. Famous Filibusters 4. Filibusters Historical Graph Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Regulating the Tech Industry (Nov 2020) _________________________________________________ General Legislative Branch (not specific to either chamber): Gang of Eight Chart Gang of Eight (Intelligence) - basic info The Gang of Eight: Background Gang of Eight Briefing on Bounties (2020) Poison Pills articles • An example of a poison pill bill 'The Revolving Door' (from Open Secrets) "Amazon Hires Ex-GOP Aide in Fight Against Antitrust Bill" (Aug 2022) Very Basic Leg Branch Review Sheet Legislative Branch Names Worksheet _________________________________________________ Presidency/Executive Branch The Current Cabinet Executive Office of the President National Security Council War Powers Act Executive Orders/Executive Agreements • Obama's executive orders on guns • Obama's Failed Attempt to Close Gitmo: why Executive Orders Can't Bring About Systemic Change • Obama Commits the U.S. to the Paris Agreement • Can he do that? Signing Statements The Inspectors General - main page • Very Basic Exec Branch Review Sheet _________________________________________________ U.S. Supreme Court/Judicial Branch The Supreme Court of the United States (official website) SCOTUS Blog (a great site for updates on what is going on at the Supreme Court) Oyez (the best site for looking up individual Supreme Court cases) The Supreme Court video series transcript links Everything you need to know about 'the incorporation doctrine,' explained by Cornell Law. U.S. Supreme Court Cases (not on required list) Minersville v. Gobitis Judicial Branch Review worksheet Required Court Cases worksheet |
Course Overview from the College Board (effective Fall 2023) Course at a Glance (detailed list of topics from the College Board; they fit into the course overview above) Exam Format Required Foundational Documents (new in 2019) • Declaration of Independence (Assignment instructions.) • Articles of Confederation (Here is a Civics worksheet, if you WANT to do it. Don't spend too much time reading this doc!) • United States Constitution (incl. amendments) Brief explanations of the amendments. • Brutus 1 • Federalist 10, 51, 70, & 78 (Here is a worksheet for the Federalist Papers and Brutus 1.) Federalist/Antifederalist docs writing scaffold • Bill of Rights (specifically, as a distinct document) * Note that 12 articles were proposed by the Congress; the first two were rejected by the states, and the remaining 10 were renumbered. (But the original #2 was actually finally added in 1992 and became the 27th Amendment!) * When you go to this site, please explore. But be sure to click on the link on the right, "Read a Transcript" for the actual text. • MLK, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963) Required Supreme Court Cases (new in 2019) You can use this worksheet to take notes on the cases. Judicial Review: 1. Marbury v. Madison (1803) Federalism: 2. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) 3. United States v. Lopez (1995) Balancing the power of govt. & civil liberties: 4. Schenck v. United States (1919) 5. Engel v. Vitale (1962) 6. Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) 7. New York Times v. United States (1971) 8. Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) 14th Amendment applied to state level (incorporation doctrine): 9. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 10. Baker v. Carr (1961) 11. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) worksheet for Gideon's Trumpet 12. Shaw v. Reno (1993) 13. McDonald v. Chicago (2010) Campaigning/Elections/Political Spectrum: 14. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) _______________________________________ General Resources American Government & Politics Review (ushistory.org)
It's pretty good! You should use it. American Politics Resources (from the University of Texas at Austin) Be sure to look at the glossary feature at the bottom of each page. • Constitution & Federalism • Presidency & the Executive (this link is straight to the glossary - click on topic title in left bar to see the main page) • x Crash Course Gov & Politics Videos HERE is a link to the full list of videos. #3: Separation of Powers & Checks and Balances #4: Federalism #5: Constitutional Compromises #7: Congressional Committees #8: Congressional Leadership #9: How a Bill Becomes a Law #11: Presidential Power #12: Presidential Powers 2 #13: Congressional Delegation #14: How Presidents Govern #15: Bureaucracy Basics #16: Types of Bureaucracies #17: Controlling Bureaucracies #35: Political Ideology #36: Election Basics #37: Gerrymandering #38: How Voters Decide #39: Political Campaigns (includes campaign finance) #45: Media Regulation #47: Government Regulation #48: Monetary & Fiscal Policy Additional Documents (outside those specifically required) Common Sense Northwest Ordinance __________________________________________________ Topic-Specific Resources
Cooperative Federalism v. Dual Federalism:
• explanation from Tulane University Law School * as applied to environmental protection, from ECOS.org President Trump's "Save America March" speech, in front of the White House, January 6, 2021 He begins at 2:37:00 Federal Budget & Taxes Where do our federal tax dollars go? Be sure to look at the topics linked in the left margin! Gramm-Rudman-Hollings The Influence of Wealth Wealth Inequality in America (website) Wealth Inequality Video The Influence of Billionaires Establishing a Democracy Participatory, Pluralist, and Elite Democracy Models Protections Against Tyranny in the Constitution (as originally drafted , before the Bill of Rights was added) About the Antifederalists Interest Groups Bill Moyers: ALEC (VIDEO) (Start at 4:20. Stop at 50:00.) ALEC at work in 2022. Open Secrets (watchdog group) "How Congress Works" (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine) Health Care • key vocab terms/explanations (read first) • "Obamacare" (official title: "Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act of 2009") First, download the Obamacare Scorecard. Then, as you read through the summary of the law, put a symbol in each box (+/-), to show whether you like that feature or not. To see the features of the law, click HERE and scroll down to where it says "Timeline: What's Changing and When" and click on that. You can also get more information about the law at this site. If you don't understand something, write it down! Voter Suppression/Voter Fraud 1. Congress & the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (National Archives) 2. The Voting Rights Act at 50 (TIME, 2015) 3. Voter Suppression Returns (Harvard, 2012) 4. 5-Hour Lines in Arizona (2016) 5. Shelby County v. Holder (2013) 6. Shelby County v. Holder 6 Years Later (Vox) 7. The Heritage Foundation's Voter Fraud Page 8. Texas Voter Fraud Claims (2019) 9. FactCheck.org on Voter Fraud (2019) 10. NPR Voter Fraud Page 11. Kentucky Just Made it Harder to Vote During Pandemic "Women's Suffrage in New Jersey 1776–1807: A Political Weapon" Role/Influence/Control of Media, and also Campaign Finance Issues "Democracy in Peril," Truthout (2016) "Telecommunications Act of 1996," NTIA Staff Comparing Media Sources Form * All Sides media bias ratings For each reading below: (a) Take a few bullet notes. (b) Write a short summary/reflection. 1. Communications Act of 1934 (aka Federal Communications Act) 2. The Federal Election Commission (F.E.C.) 3. How Just 6 Corporations Control 90% of Media 4. Koch Brothers' Budget for 2016 & Koch Companies & Products (two separate links) 5. Koch Brothers v. George Soros 6. False Ads 7. Citizens United article 8. What is a PAC? 9. Super PACs Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart illustrate Super PACs: Stephen files Super PAC request (5/16/11) 7:24 Coordination resolution (1/12/12) 7:36 Jon Stewart not coordinating (1/17/12) 8:39 Open Secrets (watchdog group) |