AP UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS COURSE SYLLABUS TEXTBOOKS Wilson, James Q. and John J. DiIulio. American Government: 12 th Edition; Boston; Houghton Mifflin, 2011 ISBN-10: 0495802832. ISBN: 9780495802839 American Government: Readings & Cases (17th Edition) (Paperback) by Peter Woll (Author). Longman; 17 edition (February 18, 2007). ISBN-10: 0321473140. ISBN-13:978-0321473141. OTHER MATERIALS Articles from the Tri-City Herald; tables and figures from Peter Pew s AP Workshop; excerpts from other national newspapers and magazines; news footage, documentaries, and video clips; numerous web sites; Copies of following texts will also be available to students and the instructor: Wood, Ethel and Sansome, Stephen C. American Government, A Complete Coursebook, 2000; Janda, Kenneth et al. The Challenge of Democracy, 2008; and Edwards, George C. et al. Government in America, 2008. TOPICS UNIT I: Constitutional Underpinning of United States Government Required Reading: Wilson Chapters 1-3 (Pages 1-75) Declaration of Independence (Wilson pages A-1 A-3) United States Constitution (Wilson pages A-4 A-20) Federalist Paper #10 (Wilson pages A-21 A-25) Federalist Paper #51 (Wilson pages A-26 A-29) Federalist Paper #76 (Class hand out) Readings from Woll Chapters 1 & 2. Political Power and Authority, Democracy, Distribution of Power in American Government, Political Change, Issue of Liberty, Constitutional Convention, Plans for a New Government, Constitution and Democracy, Constitution and Liberty, Motives of the Framers, Constitutional Reform, Government Structure, Founding, Debate on the Meaning of Federalism, Federal/State Relations, Federal Aid and Federal Control, Federalism, checks and balances, and Public Policy. Current Events Journal on Constitutional Underpinning of U.S. Government Reading Guides for Chapters 1, 2 and 3 Unit I Exam information found in the text. See the appendix #1 for the list of tables and figures. The Unit
UNIT II: Political Beliefs and Political Behaviors Required Reading: Wilson Chapters 4, 7, and 8 (Pages 76-95, 153-191) Woll, Chapters 4 & 5 Meaning and Unique Qualities, Comparing the United States with Other Countries, Sources of Political Culture, Citizen Attitudes Toward Government, Nature of Public Opinion, Origins of Public Opinion, Cleavages in Public Opinion, Political Ideology, Political Elites, Public Opinion and Public Policy, Nonvoting, Participation in Elections, Participants. Current Events Journal on Political Beliefs and Political Behaviors Reading Guides for Chapters 4, 7 and 8 Unit II Exam information found in the text. See Appendix#1 for the list of tables and figures. The Unit UNIT III: Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media Required Reading: Wilson Chapters 9-12 (Pages 192-310) D. Mayhew, Divided We Govern (Woll pages 192 199) V. O. Key, Jr., A Theory of Critical Elections (Woll pages 200 206) B. R. Berelson, et al, Democratic Practice and Democratic Theory (Woll pages 206 213) V. O. Key, Jr, The Responsible Electorate (Woll pages 213 217) Nature of Parties, Rise and Decline of U.S. Parties, National Party Structure, Structure of State and Local Parties, Two-Party System, Minor parties in U.S. Politics, Presidential Nomination Process, Difference in Political Parties, Presidential and Congressional Campaigns, Primary and General Campaigns, Factors Affecting Elections, Election Outcomes, Effect of Elections on Public Policy, Elections and Money, Nature of Interest Groups, Kinds of Organization, Interest Groups and Social Movements, Interest Group Bias, Interest Group Activities, Regulation of Interest Groups, Journalism in American Political History, Structure of the Media, Rules Governing the Media, Effects of the Media on Politics, Government and the News. Current Events Journal on Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media Reading Guides for Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12 Unit III Exam information found in the text. See Appendix #1 for the list of tables and figures. The Unit
UNIT IV: Institutions of National Government Required Reading: Wilson Chapters 13-16 (Pages 311-458) M. P. Fiorina, The Rise of the Washington Establishment (Woll pages 335 343) R. F. Fenno, Jr., If, as Ralph Nader Says, Congress Is The Broken Branch, How Come We Love Our Congressmen So Much? (Woll pages 358 365) R. E. Neustadt, Presidential Power (Woll pages 264 268) J.W. Dean, Presidential Powers in Times of Emergency (Woll pages 303 306) P. Woll, Constitutional Democracy and Bureaucratic Power (Woll pages 308 313) J. P. Roche, Judicial Self-Restraint (Woll pages 395 402) W. J. Brennan, Jr., How the Supreme Court Arrives at Decisions (Woll pages 402 411) Evolution of Congress, Profile of Members of Congress, Elections of Congress, Organization of Parties and Interest Groups, Organization of Committees, Organization of Staff and Specialized Offices, How a Bill Becomes Law, Congressional Voting Procedures, Ethics and Congress, Powers of Congress, Presidents and Other Chief Executives, Institutionalization of the Presidency, Presidential Character and the Power to Persuade, Power of the Present: An Assessment, Size and Power of Bureaucracy, Growth of the Bureaucracy, Bureaucracy Today, Congressional Oversight, Development of the Federal Courts, Structure of the Federal Courts, Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts, Access to the Supreme Court, Operation of the Supreme Court, Policy-Making of the Supreme Court, Checks on the Judicial Power. Current Events Journal on Institutions of National Government Reading Guides for Chapters 13, 14, 15, and 16 Unit IV Exam information found in the text. See Appendix#1 for the list of tables and figures. The Unit UNIT V: Public Policy Required Reading: Wilson Chapter 17-22 (Pages 459-584) Woll, Chapter 7 Nonpartisan Reviews: www.policy.com or www.publicagenda.org Tax Foundation: www.taxfoundation.org Social Welfare Programs: www.medicare.gov, www.ssa.gov, or www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/ofa/ Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov Setting the Political Agenda, Makin a Decision, Majoritarian Politics, Interest Group Politics, Client Politics, Entrepreneurial Politics, Business Regulation, Perceptions, Beliefs, Interests, and Values, Economic Policy, Social Welfare Policy, Environmental Policy, Foreign Policy. Current Events Journal on Public Policy Reading Guides for Chapters 17-21, and 22 Unit V Exam
information found in the text. See Appendix #1 for the list of tables and figures. The Unit response questions as per Advanced Placement test format. UNIT VI: Civil Rights / Civil Liberties Required Reading: Wilson Chapters 5-6 (96-152) Bill of Rights & Amendments (Wilson pages A 13 A 20) Gideon vs. Wainwright (Woll pages 116 122) Engle vs. Vitale (Woll pages 145 152) Roe vs. Wade (Woll pages 158 168) Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke (Woll pages 168 170) Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice: www.usdoj.gov Court Cases: www.law.cornell.edu Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, The Rights of the Accused, Minority Groups and Women s Rights, Fundamentals of American Criminal Justice, Right to Privacy, Equal Justice Under the Law, Legislative Apportionment. Current Events Journal on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Reading Guides for Chapters 5 and 6 Unit VI Exam APPENDIX #1: Tables and Figures Unit I information found in the text. See Appendix#1 for the list of tables and figures. The Unit 1. Table 3.1: Federal Grants to State and Local Governments, 2008. (Wilson p. 64) 2. Figure 3.2: The Changing Purpose of Federal Grants to State and Local Governments, 1960-2006. (Wilson p. 65) Unit II 1. Table 4.2: Attitudes in the USA and Other Democracies. (Wilson p. 84) 2. Figure 4.1: Political Culture in America and Other Democracies. (Wilson p. 85) 3. Figure 4.2: Trust in the Federal Government. (Wilson p. 90) 4. Table 4.2: Confidence in American Institutions. (Wilson p. 91) 5. Table 7.1: Young Adults on Politics and Politicians, 2008. (Wilson p. 160) 6. Table 7.2: Opinions by Four Christian Groups on Three Issues, 2008. (Wilson p. 161) 7. Table 7.3: Gender Gaps in Partisan Identification, 1992-2008. (Wilson p. 161) 8. Figure 7.1: Gender Gaps on Issue Importance, 2006. (Wilson p. 162) 9. Table 7.4: Ideology Typology: Nine Groups and their Key Values. (Wilson p. 167) 10. Figure 8.1: Methods of Registration to Vote,2006. (Wilson p. 177) 11. Table 8.1: Voter Registration and Turnout by Age, 1994-2006. (Wilson p. 180) 12. Figure 8.2: Voter Participation in Presidential Elections, 1860-2008. (Wilson p. 181) 13 Table 8.2: Two Methods of Calculating Turnout in Presidential Election, 1948-2008. (Wilson p. 183) 14. Figure 8.3: Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections, by Schooling, Employment, and Race, 1996-2004. (Wilson p. 185) 15. Table 8.3: Political Participation Here and Abroad. (Wilson p. 186)
Unit III 1. Figure 9.1: Decline in Party Identification, 1952-2004. (Wilson p. 195) 2. Figure 9.2: Split-Ticket Voting for President/House, 1952-2004 (Wilson p. 202) 3. Figure 9.3: Cleavages and Continuity in the Two-Party System, 1787-2004. (Wilson p. 203) 4. Figure 9.4: House Challengers Who Raised $1 Million or More, 2000-2006. (Wilson p. 204) 5. Table 9.1: Who Are the Party Delegates? (Wilson p. 206) 6. Table 9.2: Party Voting in Presidential Election. (Wilson p. 211) 7. Table 10.1: The 2008 National Elections: Money Raised and Spent. (Wilson p. 225) 8. Table 10.2: Presidential Fundraising and Expenditures, 1976-2008. (Wilson p. 225) 9. Figure 10.1: Presidential Campaigns Spending on Media, 2009. (Wilson p. 225) 10. Table 10.3: Changes in State Representation in the House of Representatives. (Wilson p. 232) 11. Figure 10.2: Growth of PACs, 1979-2009. (Wilson p. 242) 12. Figure 10.3: Presidential Exit Poll Results, 2008. (Wilson p. 244) 13. Map 10.1: Election by County, 2008. (Wilson p. 245) 14. Table 10.4: Top 20 PAC Contributors to Federal Candidates, Democratic and Republican, 2007-2008. (Wilson p. 247) 15. Table 10.5: Percentage of Popular Vote by Groups in Presidential Elections, 1960-2008. (Wilson p. 249) 16. Figure 10.4 The Economy and Vote for President, 1948-2004. (Wilson p. 251) 17. Table 10.6: Who Like the Democrats? (Wilson p. 253) 18. Figure 10.5: Partisan Division of the Presidential Vote in the Nation, 1856-2008. (Wilson p. 255) 19. Figure 11.1: What the Top Lobby Spent, 1998-2004. (Wilson p. 265) 20. Figure 11.2: Political Action Committees (PACs). (Wilson p. 278) 21. Table 12.1: Decline in Viewership of the Television Networks. (Wilson p. 292) 22. Figure 12.1: Percentage of Newspaper Readers Ages 18-34. (Wilson p.294) 23. Figure 12.2: Public Perception of Accuracy in the Media. (Wilson p. 302) Unit IV 1. Table 13.1: Blacks, Hispanics, and Women in Congress, 1971-2010. (Wilson p. 321) 2. Figure 13.1: Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress. (Wilson p. 323) 3. Figure 13.2: Distribution of House Members in Terms of Their Liberal or Conservative Characteristics, by Party. (Wilson p. 13.2) 4. Map 13.1: State Delegations in the House. (Wilson p. 329) 5. Figure 13.3: The U.S. Congress. (Wilson p. 330) 6. Table 13.2: Congressional Caucuses: A Sample, 2009. (Wilson p. 335) 7. Table 14.1: The Cabinet Departments. (Wilson p. 375) 8. Table 14.2: Partisan Gains or Losses in Congress in Presidential Election Years. (Wilson p. 381) 9. Figure 14.1 Presidential Popularity. (Wilson p. 382-383) 10. Figure 14.2: Presidential Victories on Votes in Congress, 1953-2006. (Wilson p. 383) 11. Table 14.3: Partisan Gains or Losses in Congress in Off-Year Elections. (Wilson p. 385) 12. Table 14.4: Presidential Vetoes, 1789-2009. (Wilson p. 386) 13. Table 15.1: Federal Civilian Employment, 1990-2007. (Wilson p. 407) 14. Figure 15.1: Characteristics of Federal Civilian Employees, 1960-2005. (Wilson p. 413) 15. Table 15.2: How the Public Views Particular Federal Agencies. (Wilson p. 422) 16. Table 16.1: Chief Justices of the United States. (Wilson p. 430) 17. Map 16.1: U.S. District and Appellate Courts. (Wilson p. 436) 18. Figure 16.1: Female and Minority Judicial Appointments, 1963-2004. (Wilson p. 439) 19. Figure 16.2: Confirmation Rates for Nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals, 1947-2005. (Wilson p. 440) 20. Figure 16.3: The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts. (Wilson p. 441) 21. Table 16.2: Supreme Court Justices in Order of Seniority, 2009. (Wilson p. 445) 22. Figure 16.4: Patterns of Public Confidence in the Court, 1974-2006. (Wilson p. 453)
Unit V 1. Figure 17.1: A Way of Classifying and Explaining the Politics of Different Policy Issues. (Wilson p. 467) 2. Figure 18.1: Federal Budget Deficit. (Wilson p. 487) 3. Figure 18.2: Federal Outlays and Revenues, 2008. (Wilson p. 498) 4. Figure 18.3: Social Security and Medicare Cost as a Percentage of GDP. (Wilson p. 498) 5. Figure 18.4: Tax Burdens in Democratic Nations. (Wilson p. 499) 6. Figure 18.5: Federal Taxes on Income, Top Percentage Rates, 1913-2002. (Wilson p. 500) 7. Figure 19.1: AFCD/TANF, Food Stamps, and SSI Recipients, 1975-2006. (Wilson p. 512) 8. Table 19.1: Public Opinion on Social Security Reform Options. (Wilson p. 516) 9. Table 19.2: Post 1970 Government Health Care Spending in Ten Countries. (Wilson p. 517) 10. Table 20.1: Popular Reactions to Foreign Policy Crises. (Wilson p. 535) 11. Table 20.2: How the Public and the Elite See Foreign Policy, 2004. (Wilson p. 537) 12. Figure 20.1: Trends in Military Spending. (Wilson p. 544) 13. Figure 20.2: Most Americans Think National Defense Is Either About Right or Not Strong Enough. (Wilson p. 544) 14. Table 20.3: U.S. Military Forces Before and After the Breakup of the Soviet Union. (Wilson p. 545) 15. Figure 21.1: Which Should Take Precedence: Environmental Protection or Economic Growth?, 1984-2007. (Wilson p. 563) Unit VI 1. Figure 5.1: Annual Legal Immigration, 1850-2008. (Wilson p. 100) 2. Figure 6.1: Changing White Attitudes Toward Differing Levels of School Integration. (Wilson p. 136) 3. Figure 6.2: Growing Support Among Southern Democrats in Congress for Civil Rights Bills. (Wilson p. 137) 4. Table 6.1: Increase in Number of Black Elected Officials. (Wilson p. 138) APPENDIX #2: Free Response Questions (subject to change) Unit I Unit II 1. Federalism is the constitutional division of power between the national government and state governments. Identify each of the following and explain how each has affected American federalism. A. The elastic clause B. The commerce clause C. The 10 th Amendment 1. Explain how each of the following affects the likelihood that citizens will vote. A. Race / ethnic background B. Political efficacy C. Age D. Socioeconomic status E. Education level
Unit III 1. Political Action Committees attempt to influence public policy in the United States. Unit IV Unit V A. Identify a part of the U.S. Constitution that justifies Political Action Committees and explain that justification. B. Describe two methods by which Political action Committees attempt to influence public policy. C. Describe one limit that the federal government has placed on Political Action Committees. 1. Identify each of the following and explain how each affects the power of the United States Supreme Court. Unit VI A. Stare decisis B. Tenure of office for Supreme Court Justices C. Judicial review 1. For each of the following economic theories identify the cause of inflation and explain how each would solve the problem of inflation. A. Monetarism B. Keynesianism C. Economic planning D. Supply side 1. Select three of the following cases. For each selected case identify the fundamental liberty involved and explain the limit placed by the Supreme Court on the liberty identified. A. Grayned v. City of Rockford (1972) B. Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte (1987) C. Bunn v. North Carolina (1949) D. Miller v. California (1973) E. Hazelwwod v. Kuhlmeier (1998)