AP Government & Politics

Welcome to AP Government & Politics

Through this course it is my sincere hope that you will all become informed and, more importantly, active citizens in our ever-declining democracy. Don't remain idle!!

Syllabus

Reading Assignments (This will be updated often, so keep checking it)

Reading Note Guide

MKV (Must Know Vocab): these are items that have appeared on the multiple choice section of past AP exams, so you better know them.

MKC (Must Know Cases): these are Supreme Court cases which have appeared on previous tests, so know them!

You also need to keep up with politics and current events if you intend to do well in this class. So, here is a list of links to helpful political sites which you should visit often:

For general political news: CNN Inside Politics

For a quick summary of the leading stories in all the major newspapers: Slate's Today's Papers

For quality information on loads of political issues: Public Agenda

For great political cartoons, there is no better site than: Daryl Cagle

Below you will find study guides, quiz links, and websites for each unit of study. The study guides have questions and vocab that you need to know for the unit. The "Online Review Assistance" has summaries of the chapters as well as online quizzes.

Study Guide for Unit 1: Constitutional Underpinnings

Online review assistance for Ch. 1: An Introduction to Politics

Online review assistance for Ch. 2: The Constitution

Online review assistance for Ch. 3: Federalism

Study Guide for Unit 2: Political Beliefs & Behaviors

Online review assistance for Ch. 6: Public Opinion & Political Action

Online review assistance for Ch. 9: Nominations & Campaigns

Online review assistance for Ch. 10: Elections & Voting Behavior

Polling Report is a great independent site tracking trends in American public opinion.

Gallup is a well respected site for tracking public opinion, covers a wide variety of topics.

Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections is one of the greatest sources of presidential election data on the Web. It contains presidential election data from 1789 to the present.

Open Secrets is a good site for tracking money in politics.

Study Guide for Unit 3: Political Parties, Interest Groups & Media

Online review assistance for Chapter 8: Political Parties

Online review assistance for Chapter 11: Interest Groups

Online review assistance for Chapter 7: The Mass Media & Politics

Politics 1 has a tremendous directory to U.S. political parties, includes a brief intro to the party as well as links to the party and its leaders.

Click here for a list of and links to important interest groups.

Study Guide for Unit 4: Institutions (Congress, Presidency, Bureaucracy, Federal Courts)

Online review assistance for Chapter 12: Congress

Online review assistance for Chapter 13: The Presidency

Online review assistance for Chapter 15: The Federal Bureaucracy

Online review assistance for Chapter 16: The Federal Courts

Project Vote Smart is the best source on the Web for information on candidates. You can access background info, voting info, campaign finance info, etc.

Thomas is the official link to all the happenings in Congress.

Click here for links to all of the House committees.

Click here for links to all of the Senate committees.

The White House (suprisingly) is the official site of the President. The link "Your Government" has links to all parts of the federal government.

To see all of the executive orders given by Pres. Bush, click here.

If you want to get started on the 2008 Presidential election, click here.

For links to all of the Federal Agencies & Commissions, click here.

For getting information on Supreme Court cases, click here.

Study Guide for Unit 5: Public Policy

Online review assistance for Chapter 14: The Congress, the President, and the Budget

Online review assistance for Ch. 17: Economic Policymaking

Online review assistance for Ch. 18: Social Welfare Policymaking