Social Studies

AP United States Government and Politics banner with images of Capitol Building, US Seal, gavel, document, senate floor, and voting box

AP United States Government and Politics

Course Code: 4A067X0

Course Level: Advanced Placement

Course Offering: Year-long or Block for 1 credit

Prerequisites

A foundation of government met by taking Civics and Economics. American History I and II recommended.

Course Description

AP Government and Politics is a college level introduction to key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students will use multiple learning aspects to gain an understanding of the relationships and interactions between political institutions and behaviors. You will understand important content and analyze and interpret key documents that have impacted our political systems. Finally, students will read and interpret data, develop evidence based arguments, and engage in politically based research to better understand government and its role in our lives.

As a student and a citizen you have a unique opportunity to learn about our political system and the role you can play in it. No matter what your political views, it is important to understand concepts and facts that form the basis of government and politics in the United States.

Course Materials

Textbook

An AP U.S. Government and Politics textbook is required. Students must read the textbook to help them understand the content.

AP U.S. Government and Politics Textbook – any of the following textbooks will work:

Wilson, James Q., and John J. DiIulio Jr. American Government: Institutions and Policies. Cengage Learning.
Magleby, David B., Paul C. Light and Christine L. Nemacheck. Government by the People. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Janda, Kenneth, Jeffrey M. Berry, and Jerry Goldman. The Challenge of Democracy, 10 edition. Cengage Learning.

Course Work Grade Determination

Pre-Assessments: 0%

Check Your Knowledge: 0%

Activities: 10%

Assignments: 20%

Post-Assessments: 30%

Lesson FRQs: 20%

Take Twos: 0%

Final Exam: 10%

Final Course Project: 10%

Course Alignment

Course Alignment Chart

Course at A Glance

Course at a Glance

AP Exam

AP Exam registration is the responsibility of the student’s face-to-face school. Students enrolled in NCVPS AP courses must have a College Board account and join two AP Classroom sections on the College Board AP Central website: one section created by the NCVPS teacher (join code provided by the NCVPS teacher) and an “Exam Only” section created by the face-to-face school. Failure to join both sections will affect access to AP resources and the ability to order exams. Students whose schools do not offer AP exams (homeschool or private schools) will need to find a local school that administers exams using the AP Course Ledger on the College Board website.