AP U.S. Government and Politics - Course and Exam Description Notes

AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description

Endorsement by the National Constitution Center

  • The course framework is a model of political and ideological balance.
  • Helps students understand the U.S. Constitution and political system.
  • Aims to help students become informed citizens who preserve, protect, and defend rights and liberties.
  • The National Constitution Center partners with College Board for classroom lessons and materials.

AP Course and Exam Descriptions Updates

  • AP Course and Exam Descriptions are updated periodically.
  • Visit AP Central (apcentral.collegeboard.org) for the most recent version.

What AP Stands For

  • Thousands of Advanced Placement teachers contributed to the principles.
  • Principles ensure teachers' expertise is respected, course content is understood, and students are academically challenged and free to form their own opinions.
  • AP stands for:
    • Clarity and transparency: Clear expectations for teachers and students with public course frameworks and sample assessments.
    • Unflinching encounter with evidence: Develop independent thinkers drawing their own conclusions using evidence and the scientific method.
    • Opposition to censorship: Respect for intellectual freedom; AP designation removed if required topics are banned.
    • Opposition to indoctrination: Students analyze different perspectives; no points for agreeing with specific viewpoints; develop skills to assess sources and draw conclusions.
    • Fostering open-mindedness: Study of diverse nationalities, cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities using primary sources.
    • Respect for every student: All students are listened to and respected; diversity in backgrounds and viewpoints is valued.
    • Parental Choice: AP is a choice for parents and students; course descriptions are available; college-level topics are determined by experts.
  • AP Program encourages educators to review these principles with parents and students.
  • Advanced Placement is always a choice, and it should be an informed one.
  • AP teachers should be given the confidence and clarity that once parents have enrolled their child in an AP course, they have agreed to a classroom experience that embodies these principles.

Contents of the Document

  • Acknowledgments.
  • Information about AP.
  • AP Resources and Supports.
  • Instructional Model.
  • About the AP U.S. Government and Politics Course (College Course Equivalent, Prerequisites, Project Requirement).
  • Course Framework (Preface, Introduction, Course Framework Components, Course Skills, Course Content, Course at a Glance).
  • Unit Guides.
  • Project Guide (Making the Civic Connection, Project Guidelines, Project Suggestions).
  • Instructional Approaches (Selecting and Using Course Materials, Instructional Strategies, Developing the Course Skills).
  • Exam Information (Exam Overview, Sample Exam Questions).
  • Scoring Guidelines.

Acknowledgments

  • Lists committee members and College Board staff involved in the Curriculum Framework update for the AP U.S. Government and Politics course in 2023.
  • Special thanks to various individuals for their contributions.

About AP

  • The Advanced Placement® Program (AP®) enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school.

  • Offers opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both.

  • AP courses in 39 subjects involve students learning to think critically, construct solid arguments, and see many sides of an issue.

  • Research suggests AP students experience greater academic success in college.

  • AP teacher's syllabus is evaluated and approved by college faculty.

  • AP Exams are developed and scored by college faculty and AP teachers.

  • Most four-year colleges and universities grant credit/advanced placement based on successful AP Exam scores.

  • AP Course Development emphasizes challenging, research-based curricula.

  • Individual teachers design their own curriculum.

  • Course and exam description presents content and skills that are the focus of the college course.

  • AP Program organizes content and skills into units.

  • Progress Checks are formative assessments for measuring student progress.

  • AP Program encourages equitable access, giving all willing and academically prepared students the opportunity to participate in AP.

  • The AP Course Audit ensures schools implement their own curriculum enabling students to develop content understandings and skills described in the course framework.

  • AP Course Audit requires AP tests.

  • The AP Program unequivocally supports the principle that each school implements its own curriculum that will enable students to develop the content understandings and skills described in the course framework.

  • Schools wishing to offer AP courses must participate in the AP Course Audit, a process through which AP teachers’ course materials are reviewed by college faculty.

  • AP Test Development Committees are responsible for developing each AP Exam, ensuring the exam questions are aligned to the course framework.

  • AP Exams undergo extensive review, revision, piloting, and analysis to ensure accuracy, fairness, and validity.

  • College Board gathers feedback from stakeholders to ensure AP courses and exams provide a college-level learning experience.

  • The exam scoring process relies on AP teachers and college faculty expertise.

  • Free-response questions are scored by college faculty and expert AP teachers.

  • AP Readers are thoroughly trained, and their work is monitored for fairness and consistency.

  • A college faculty member serves as Chief Faculty Consultant maintaining scoring standards accuracy.

  • Scores on free-response questions and performance assessments are combined with multiple-choice results.

  • Raw scores are converted to a composite AP score on a 1–5 scale.

  • AP Exams are criterion-referenced rather than norm-referenced.

  • Criteria for AP scores of 3, 4, or 5 are based on:

    • Points earned by successful college students on AP Exam questions.
    • Predictive points indicating AP student success in subsequent college courses.
    • Achievement-level descriptions from college faculty.

  • Research studies validate AP scores; colleges set credit and placement policies.

    Credit RecommendationCollege Grade EquivalentAP Score
    Extremely well qualifiedA''5''
    Well qualifiedA-, B+, B''4''
    QualifiedB-, C+, C''3''
    Possibly qualifiedn/a''2''
    No recommendationn/a''1''

  • Search engine available at apstudent.collegeboard.org for college AP credit/placement policies.

  • AP Readers are compensated for their work, expenses, lodging, and meals.

  • AP reading from home: AP Readers have online distributed scoring opportunities for certain subjects; Check collegeboard.org/apreading for details.

  • AP Readers earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

  • How to Apply: Visit collegeboard.org/apreading for eligibility requirements and to start the application process.

AP Resources and Supports

  • Teachers and students receive access to classroom resources after completing a simple activation process.
  • AP Classroom: An online platform offering resources and tools for teachers and students.
    • Unit Guides: Outline required course content and skills, suggesting sequence and pacing.
    • Progress Checks: Formative AP questions provide feedback on student areas for focus. Results cannot be used to evaluate teacher effectiveness or assign letter grades.
    • My Reports: Provides teachers with student results, class trends, and areas where students struggle.
    • Question Bank: A searchable library of AP questions for custom practice.
  • Class Section Setup and Enrollment: Instructions for teachers and students to access AP resources.

Instructional Model

  • Integrating AP resources helps students develop course skills and conceptual understandings.
  • Plan: Review unit guides to identify essential questions, conceptual understandings, and skills.
  • Teach: Use topic pages and AP Daily to build conceptual understanding and skills.
  • Assess: Use AP Classroom for Topic Questions, Progress Checks, and the Question Bank to measure student understanding and provide feedback.

About the AP U.S. Government and Politics Course

  • Provides a nonpartisan introduction to key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors of the U.S. political system.
  • Students study foundational documents, Supreme Court decisions, and other texts and visuals.
  • Big ideas create meaningful connections among concepts.
  • Skill development includes interpreting data, making comparisons, and developing evidence-based arguments.
  • Political science research or applied civics project is required.
  • College Course Equivalent: Equivalent to an introductory college course in U.S. government.
  • Prerequisites: None, but students should be able to read a college-level textbook and write grammatically correct sentences.
  • Project Requirement: Adds a civic component, engaging students in how they affect and are affected by government and politics.

Preface

  • Course framework for AP U.S. Government and Politics is offered to the American public and education community.
  • Dedicated teams of college professors and AP high school teachers worked on this framework for years, gathering wide-ranging input and feedback from the public at large.
  • Framework is more than just one more class period in a crowded school day; it must be a space in which students immerse themselves in the ideas and knowledge essential to our democracy.
  • AP U.S. Government and Politics offers students the opportunity to see how individuals and their ideas can shape the world in which they live; it invites them to explore central questions of liberty and justice in practice.
  • Supreme Court opinions represent real choices and decisions with enormous consequences.
  • Aims are to read, discuss, and gain insight from constitutional expressions.

Course Framework Principles

  1. Command of the Constitution is central.
  2. Students are analysts of documents and debates.
  3. Knowledge matters with a focused body of shared material.
  4. Difficult topics are addressed with principled attention to arguments on both sides.
  5. Civic knowledge is a right and responsibility; learning resources are freely available.
  • Aims are timeless with roots in the American experiment and intellectual traditions.
  • Aristotle described humans as "political animals." Civic life is necessary to live fully.
  • President Eisenhower declared that “politics ought to be the part-time profession of every person who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.”
  • Grateful to the AP community of teachers and their colleagues in colleges across our country, whose shared devotion to students forged this course framework.
  • Framework is an outline of content and skills; the real craft is in the decisions that knowledgeable teachers make every day in the classroom as they develop their curriculum.

Introduction

  • The AP U.S. Government and Politics course reflects what political science teachers, professors, and researchers agree that a college-level government and politics course should teach students to do: analyze and interpret the Constitution, important political documents, and data to better understand the American national government and the political actors who interact with it.
  • The AP U.S. Government and Politics Course and Exam Description defines what representative colleges and universities typically expect students to know and be able to do in order to earn college credit or placement.
  • Students practice the skills used by political scientists by studying data, political writings from the founding era to the present, the structure of the government as established by the Constitution, and constitutional interpretations handed down by the Supreme Court.
  • Students will show mastery of these skills on the exam through a variety of means, including concept application, data analysis, Supreme Court case comparisons, and writing political science arguments.
  • Teachers create their own curricula to meet the needs of their students and any state or local requirements.

National Constitution Center and College Board Partnership

  • AP Program developed classroom lessons and materials related to the U.S. Constitution with the National Constitution Center.
  • Resources support instruction in various AP courses including U.S. Government and Politics, Comparative Government and Politics, U.S. History, and English Language and Composition.
  • Lessons and resources available to AP teachers via AP Central and to all teachers through the National Constitution Center’s website.

Maintaining Political Balance

  • AP U.S. Government and Politics is a nonpartisan course endorsed by the National Constitution Center and a range of scholars.
  • Required readings: Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Articles of Confederation, Federalist Papers, Brutus No. 1, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
  • It is expected and required that all AP-authorized courses maintain political balance through a nonpartisan curriculum.

Course Framework Components Overview

  • Course Skills: skills for this course are central to the study and practice of government and politics. Students should develop and apply the described skills on a regular basis over the span of the course.
  • Course Content: The course content is organized into commonly taught units of study that provide a suggested sequence for the course. These units comprise the content and conceptual understandings that colleges and universities typically expect students to master to qualify for college credit and/or placement. The content is framed by big ideas, which are cross-cutting concepts that build conceptual understanding and spiral throughout the course.

Course Skills

  • Skills describe what students should be able to do while exploring course concepts.
  • Unit guides embed and spiral skills throughout the course.
  • Teachers can integrate skills into course content with sufficient repetition to prepare students for the AP Exam.
  • Detailed information about teaching these skills can be found in the Instructional Approaches section.
    Concept Application. Each skill category has associated skills:
  • Concept Application
    • 1.A Describe political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
    • 1.B Explain political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
    • 1.C Compare political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
    • 1.D Describe political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors illustrated in different scenarios in context.
    • 1.E Explain how political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors apply to different scenarios in context.
  • SCOTUS Application
    • 2.A Describe the facts, issue, holding, reasoning, decision, and majority opinion of required Supreme Court cases.
    • 2.B Explain how a required Supreme Court case relates to a foundational document or to other primary or secondary sources.
    • 2.C Explain how the facts, issue, holding, reasoning, decision, and majority opinion of a required Supreme Court case compare to a non-required Supreme Court case.
    • 2.D Explain how a required Supreme Court case relates to a relevant political principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior.
  • Data Analysis
    • 3.A Describe the data presented.
    • 3.B Describe patterns and trends in data.
    • 3.C Explain patterns and trends in data to draw conclusions.
    • 3.D Explain what the data implies or illustrates about political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
    • 3.E Explain possible limitations of the data provided.
    • 3.F Explain possible limitations of the visual representation of the data provided.
  • Source Analysis
    • 4.A Describe the argument, perspective, evidence, and reasoning presented in the source.
    • 4.B Explain how the argument or perspective in the source relates to political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
    • 4.C Explain how the implications of the argument or perspective in the source may affect political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
    • 4.D Explain how the visual elements of the source (a cartoon, map, or infographic) illustrate or relate to political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.
  • Argumentation
    • 5.A Articulate a defensible claim/thesis.
    • 5.B Support an argument or claim/thesis using relevant evidence.
    • 5.C Use reasoning to organize and analyze evidence, explaining its significance to justify an argument or claim/ thesis.
    • 5.D Respond to opposing or alternate perspectives with rebuttal or refutation.

Course Content

  • Describes course requirements for student success.
  • Specifies what students should know and be able to do.
  • Encourages instruction that prepares students for advanced political science coursework and active, informed participation in U.S. democracy.
  • Units are arranged in a logical sequence found in college courses and textbooks.

Multiple-choice section of the AP Exam weighting:
* Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy: 15–22%
* Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government: 25–36%
* Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights: 13–18%
* Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs: 10–15%
* Unit 5: Political Participation: 20–27%

  • Each unit is broken down into teachable segments called topics.
  • Topics contain required content.
  • Teachers are encouraged to pace the course to suit needs of students and school.
Big Ideas:
  • The course focuses on five big ideas which allow students to create meaningful connections among concepts across the units. Connecting these big ideas across the different course units will help students develop a deeper conceptual understanding of the course content.
  • BIG IDEA 1: CONSTITUTIONALISM: The U.S. Constitution establishes a system of checks and balances among branches of government and allocates power between federal and state governments. This system is based on the rule of law and the balance between majority rule and minority rights.
  • BIG IDEA 2: LIBERTY AND ORDER: Governmental laws and policies balancing order and liberty are based on the U.S. Constitution and have been interpreted differently over time.
  • BIG IDEA 3: CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: Popular sovereignty, individualism, and republicanism are important considerations of U.S. laws and policymaking and assume citizens will engage and participate
  • BIG IDEA 4: COMPETING POLICYMAKING INTERESTS: Multiple actors and institutions interact to produce and implement possible policies.
  • BIG IDEA 5: METHODS OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS: Using various types of analyses, political scientists measure how U.S. political behavior, attitudes, ideologies, and institutions are shaped by a number of factors over time.

Following table shows big ideas that spiral across units:

| Big Ideas | Unit 1 | Unit 2 | Unit 3 | Unit 4 | Unit 5 |
| :------------------------------- | :--------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------ | :------------------------------------ | :---------------------------------------- | :-------------------------------- |\
| Constitutionalism | Foundations of American Democracy | Interactions Among Branches of Government | Civil Liberties and Civil Rights | American Political Ideologies and Beliefs | Political Participation |
| Liberty and Order | | | | |\ |\
| Civic Participation in a Representative Democracy| | | | |\ |\
| Competing Policymaking Interests | | | | | |
| Methods of Political Analysis | | | | | |

Course at a Glance

  • Provides a visual organization of AP U.S. Government and Politics.
  • Includes sequence of units, weighting, pacing, progression of topics, and spiraling of skills.
  • Plan: includes Sequence of units, along with approximate weighting and suggested pacing.
  • Teach: COURSE SKILLS Course skills spiral across units.
  • Assess: Assign the Progress Checks— either as homework or in class—for each unit.

AP U.S. Government and Politics Unit Guide Introduction

  • Designed with input from AP U.S. Government and Politics educators, offers guidance in building students’ skills and knowledge.

  • Suggested sequence was identified through syllabi analysis and college textbooks.

  • Structure respects new teachers' time by providing a sequence to adopt or modify.

  • Units: enable AP Program to provide formative assessments (Progress Checks).

  • Experienced AP teachers satisfied with course organization should feel no pressure to adopt the units.

  • Each unit opener includes:

    • Developing Understanding: provides an overview that contextualizes and situates the key content of the unit within the scope of the course.
    • Big ideas: are cross-cutting concepts that build conceptual understanding across units.
    • The essential questions are thought-provoking questions that motivate students and inspire inquiry.
    • Building the Course Skills describes specific aspects of the practices that are appropriate to focus on in that unit.
    • Preparing for the AP Exam provides helpful tips and common student misunderstandings identified from prior exam data.
    • The Unit at a Glance table shows the topics and suggested skills.

  • Sample Instructional Activities are optional activities that can help tie together the content and skills of a particular topic.

  • Topic Pages:

    • The suggested skill offers a possible skill to pair with the topic.
    • Optional readings and illustrative examples: Where relevant, a list of optional readings and illustrative examples are provided for additional resources, should teachers choose to use them. The list includes common historical documents and secondary sources from a variety of political perspectives.
    • Learning objectives define what a student should know and be able to do.
    • Essential knowledge statements describe the knowledge required to perform the learning objective.
    • Where possible, available resources are listed that might help teachers address a particular topic in their classroom.

Required Foundational Documents

  • Foundational documents help students understand the philosophical underpinnings and political values of the U.S. political system and may serve as the focus of AP Exam questions.
  • Source analysis helps students understand how philosophical discussions and debates shaped the architecture of the government.
  • Teachers are encouraged to also use both classic and contemporary scholarly writings in political science to promote the comparison of political ideas and their application to recent events.

**Required Foundational Documents: **

  • THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
  • BRUTUS NO.1 To the Citizens of the State of New-York
  • THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES (INCLUDING THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND SUBSEQUENT AMENDMENTS)
  • THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
  • FEDERALIST NO. 10 The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection
  • FEDERALIST NO. 51 The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments
  • FEDERALIST NO. 70 The Executive Department Further Considered
  • FEDERALIST NO. 78 The Judiciary Department
  • “LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL” (BY MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.)

Required Supreme Court Cases

  • Required cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) provide instructional opportunities to study each case in-depth and to make connections between course concepts.
  • AP Exam questions will ask students to describe important details from these cases, explain how those details relate to concepts in the course, and compare required cases with other Supreme Court cases.
  • Any non-required Supreme Court case that appears on AP Exams will be accompanied by a summary containing all information necessary to compare the non-required case to required SCOTUS cases.

**Required Supreme Court Cases: **

  • MARBURY V. MADISON (1803): judicial review
  • MCCULLOCH V. MARYLAND (1819): Supremacy of the U.S. Constitution and federal laws.
  • SCHENCK V. UNITED STATES (1919): Speech creating a “clear and present danger” wasn't protected by the First Amendment.
  • BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION (1954): Race-based school segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
  • BAKER V. CARR (1962): Federal courts can hear cases challenging redistricting plans.
  • ENGEL V. VITALE (1962): School sponsorship of religious activities violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
  • GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT (1963): The Sixth Amendment’s right to an attorney extends to felony defendants in state courts.
  • TINKER V. DES MOINES INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT (1969): Prohibition against schools wearing black armbands violated student's freedom of speech.
  • NEW YORK TIMES CO. V. UNITED STATES (1971): Bolstered the freedom of the press protections of the First Amendment.
  • WISCONSIN V. YODER (1972): Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the First Amendment.
  • SHAW V. RENO (1993): Majority-minority districts may be challenged if race is the only factor.
  • UNITED STATES V. LOPEZ (1995): Congress exceeded its power under the Commerce Clause.
  • MCDONALD V. CHICAGO (2010): The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is applicable to the states.
  • CITIZENS UNITED V. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION (2010): Political spending by corporations is protected speech under the First Amendment.

Unit Overviews

Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy
  • Big Ideas: Constitutionalism, Liberty and Order, Competing Policymaking Interests.
  • Focus: How compromises during the Constitutional Convention and ratification focused on balancing individual freedom, social order, and equality of opportunity.
Unit 2: Interactions Among Branches of Government
  • Big Ideas: Constitutionalism, Competing Policymaking Interests.
  • Focus: Policymaking complexities involving multiple governmental institutions and actors.
  • Constitutional framework grants specific powers to Congress, President, and Courts but also gives informal powers (tradition, legislation).
Unit 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
  • Big Ideas: Constitutionalism, Civic Participation in a Representative Democracy, Competing Policymaking Interests.
  • Focus: Appropriate balance of liberty and order.
Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs
  • Big Ideas: Competing Policymaking Interests, Methods of Political Analysis.
  • Focus: the ideologies of political parties and patterns of political participation.
  • American political beliefs are shaped by founding ideals, core values, linkage institutions, and the changing demographics of citizens.
Unit 5: Political Participation
  • Big Ideas: Civic Participation in a Representative Democracy, Competing Policymaking Interests, Methods of Political Analysis. Governing is achieved through citizen participation, although there are institutions (e.g., political parties, interest groups, and mass media) that inform, organize, and mobilize support to influence government and politics, resulting in many venues for citizen influence on policymaking.
  • Focus: The principle of rule by the people is the bedrock of the American political system and requires that citizens engage and participate in the development of policy.

Making the Civic Connection and Project Suggestions

  • Students are required to engage in a political science research or applied civics project tied to the AP Course and Exam Description that culminates in a presentation of findings to be authorized as an AP U.S. Government and Politics course
  • Project involves student participation in some type of opportunity, whether it be a service learning opportunity, government-based internship program, or research project choice with teacher-approved ideas
  • While project is not part of the AP Exam grade, it provides genuine engagement in course and aids in skill development
  • Project guidelines to incorporate:
  • Connection of course concepts to real-world issues
  • Demonstration of course skills and content knowledge, and authentic communication of findings (presentation, article, speech, brochure, etc.)

Selecting and Using Course Materials

  • Use a college textbook.
  • Use primary and secondary source material.
  • Use text-based qualitative sources.
  • Use quantitative sources presented via charts, graphs, or other infographics.

Exam Overview

  • Section I: Multiple-Choice (50% of grade, 80 minutes)
    • 55 questions: individual questions and sets.
  • Section II: Free-Response (50% of grade, 100 minutes).
    • Question 1: Concept Application. Presents Students with Authentic Scenario assessing their ability to describe and explain the effects of a political institution, behavior, or process.
    • Question 2: Quantitative Analysis: Presents students quantitative data assess the ability to perform the following:
      • § Describe the data presented + describe a pattern, trend, similarity or difference in the data and draw conclusions and the relationship between data and a political concept
  • Question 3: Supreme Court Comparison: Comparison of a required Supreme Court case studied in class with one student hasn't studied before.
    * Summary of unstudied case is presented and assess these to the non-required SCOTUS cases
  • Question 4: Argumentative Essay: Assess students using the ability to reason and defend a stance with evidence as well as refute another stance