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High School AP US Government and Politics

Suggested Prerequisites

United States History

Description

In this course, you will develop and use disciplinary practices and reasoning processes to explore political concepts, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. You will examine core principles, theories, and processes through direct study of U.S. foundational documents and Supreme Court opinions. You will also participate in a civic project in which you research, study, and compile data on a political science topic and create a presentation that exhibits your findings and experiences. The course is structured around five big ideas. Each is aligned to enduring understanding statements and learning objectives that focus on key concepts and essential knowledge about foundations of American democracy, civil liberties and civil rights, interactions among branches of government, American political participation, ideologies, and beliefs.

Module One: Constitutional Democracy

-Founding documents

-Purposes of government

-Founding principles

-The Constitution

-Federalists and Anti-Federalists

-Separation of powers

-Federalism

-Modern debates in federalism


Module Two: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights

-The Bill of Rights

-The First Amendment

-Security versus free expression

-Liberty versus safety

-Rights of those accused of crimes

-Due process

-Equal protection of the laws


Module Three: Interaction Among Branches

-Congress

-Congressional behavior

-The presidency

-Executive power

-The Supreme Court

-The bureaucracy

-Checks and balances

-Accountability


Module Four: Political Culture and Participation

-Political socialization

-Ideology

-Public opinion

-The media

-Political parties

-Interest groups

-Voters

-Elections

-Campaigns

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