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Suggestions from the Teachers' Guide
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Peter Pew's Tips
Suggestions from the Teachers' Guide
These suggestions are taken from the Teachers' Guide -- AP United States Government and Politics.
A professor from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas contributed these ideas for writing assignments:
The American Constitution. As students of the American Constitution, each of you is invited to participate in a panel discussion of the Constitution and American Democracy. The keynote speaker, Professor I. M. Skeptic, offers the following argument:
The fundamental characteristic of the Constitution is distrust. The Constitution was, in fact, borne of distrust -- distrust of democracy, distrust of popularly elected legislatures, and distrust of the public. This distrust is best seen in the electoral system, which keeps the public at arm's length, and in the system of checks in which the popularly elected House of Representatives is severely constrained by the Senate as well as the other branches of government.
In sum, the Constitution does not create "real" democracy but simply presents a veneer of democracy. It is a political illusion that has allowed elites of various kinds to dominate the politics and policymaking of this country.
The students are asked to write a well-organized response (four to five pages) to the argument put forth by the speaker. Do they agree or disagree with this argument? They should be able to explain and justify their position.
Representative Democracy. Students are to assume that they have been invited to participate in a panel discussion designed to evaluate the character of representative democracy in the United States. The organizer of this panel discussion contacts them and asks them to prepare a four- to five-page paper that focuses on the operation of interest groups, political parties, and election campaigns as parts of the U.S. system of representative democracy. Their paper will be read at the outset of the discussion and will serve to frame the debate. Specifically, they are asked to address the following concerns in their essay:
- The character of representative democracy. They are, first of all, asked to develop a description of representative democracy and establish a set of standards that can be used to evaluate the quality of representative democracy. In other words, what standards would they use to determine whether a system that claims to be a representative democracy is operating in a "good" or "bad" manner?
- Evaluation. Having established standards, they now are asked to apply their standards and to evaluate the organizations (interest groups, political parties) and processes (presidential and congressional elections) which connect the public to government. In other words, they are to apply their standards to the topics that have been considered in the course.
These activities come from a professor at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque:
Court Watching. Many social scientists that study the courts advocate what often is called the "law in action" perspective as the best way of understanding the courts. Perhaps the key feature of this perspective is the idea that one good way to learn what courts do is to observe judges and other members of courtroom work groups at work.
Students are required to observe at least two different kinds of courts in action, write a narrative summary of their observations in each courtroom, and submit a short essay relating those observations to assigned readings and/or class discussions of civil and criminal courts.
The basic types of courts that students are able to observe in the Albuquerque area include: probate court, municipal court (outside of Bernalillo County), magistrate court (outside of Bernalillo County), metro court (only in Bernalillo County), tribal court, state district court, state court of appeals, state supreme court (in Santa Fe), and federal district court. If they have the opportunity to observe other courts on trips outside the Albuquerque area, they are encouraged to do so.
Guidelines for the project:
- Students select the courts they want to visit and find out where they are located and when they are in session.
- For each different type of court included in their report, students must observe an actual public session of the court. These sessions may involve a trial, oral argument, or any sort of hearing open to the public. Students should observe long enough to get an idea of what is happening (usually a minimum of 45 minutes). If both a criminal proceeding and a civil case in the same court are observed, this can count as observations of two different types of courts.
- For each of the two types of courts visited, students must prepare a brief narrative report (observation summary) on the proceedings observed. The name of the court and the time and place of the observation must be included. If possible, the name(s) of the judge(s) present should be listed. Students must summarize what the judge(s), lawyers, witnesses, and others said and did. What was the subject in dispute? Was a jury present? Why or why not? Were the parties to the dispute present, so far as students could tell?
- Students then write a short essay (no more than four double-spaced pages) relating their observations to issues discussed in the relevant chapters of the texts. They should discuss their reactions to what was observed in the courts. Among the specific questions that might be discussed are: To what extent are the proceedings observed "typical" of cases resolved in America's civil or criminal courts? Who seemed to be in control of the courtroom-the judge, the lawyers, or someone else? Is it true that the language and procedures used in the courts prevent ordinary persons from understanding how the judicial process affects them? Did students observe evidence of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, or social class? Did they think the judicial process produces "justice"?
A teacher at Del Rio High School in Del Rio, Texas contributed these ideas:
Nations Card Game. Given name cards of 24 nations of the world, students determine whether those nations are strongly democratic, somewhat democratic, or not democratic, and sort them into appropriate stacks. This activity may be used with individual students or in small groups, having the students place each card in the correct stack. Discussion should focus on why students placed the nations in the stacks they chose. (Choose eight nations to fit each description.)
Your Own Declaration of Independence. Examine the Declaration of Independence, and its purpose and structure. Then, students (in small groups or individually) write their own Declarations including the following information: preamble, theory of government, reasons for separation, and formal declaration. Students print their Declarations on butcher paper, display each on the classroom wall, and read them to the entire class.
First Amendment Dash. Provide students with various materials (newspapers, construction paper, pipe cleaners, glue sticks, markers, etc.) and divide them into "teams" of five students each. Each team will choose three doers, a dasher, and a describer. Separate the doers, dasher, and describer from each other. The describer looks at a poster (where the rest of the team cannot see it) that illustrates the five First Amendment freedoms. They may see the poster only three different times. After viewing the poster, the describer describes the poster to the dasher (outside the earshot of the doers). The dasher describes the poster to the doers. Doers try to construct the same poster from the information they are given. When time is up (about 45 minutes), each team "shares its poster." The team whose poster most closely matches the original is the winner. Then have students guess what the poster illustrates.
Political Parties.
Day 1: Given a series of election issues, have the students divide into Democrats and Republicans (at least two groups of each per class). Each group writes a party platform using the issues provided, and adds its own issues.
Day 2: Each group meets with its respective party, discusses the platforms and candidates, and votes for one candidate to represent that party. Group members may vote for any candidate within the party, regardless of which group they belong to.
Day 3: All groups meet together, and each candidate (one Republican and one Democrat) will speak for her party and her party platform. All class members will then vote by secret ballot. Some voters may choose to support an independent candidate, which is also allowed.
A teacher at El Dorado High School in Placerville, California contributed these debate topics and a cartoon assignment:
Debate Topics.
- Resolved that the U.S. President and all members of Congress should be elected at the same time.
- Resolved that members of the Supreme Court should hold office for one 12-year term.
- Resolved that occasionally national issues should be placed to the American voters for a referendum vote, or a national town hall meeting should be called.
- Resolved that the proposed constitutional amendment protecting the American flag be approved and added to the Constitution.
- Resolved that Congress, by a two-thirds vote, be empowered to vote "no confidence" in a U.S. President and force a new presidential election, as well as a congressional election 100 days later.
- Resolved that the Electoral College should be abolished.
Cartoon Assignments. Select a political cartoon from any newspaper or news magazine. Answer the following questions as you analyze what the cartoonist is trying to say and how you feel about the message.
- What do you see? Describe the elements that are present in your cartoon: symbols, historical images, stereotypes, captions, humor, caricature. If caricature, is the cartoonist using extreme features and distorted images? Describe them.
- What is happening in the cartoon? Are the components of the cartoon related to each other? If so, how?
- Explain what you think the cartoonist is trying to say. What does the cartoon mean?
- Can you think of another setting, period, or person in time to which this cartoon could apply? Explain.
More Tips
In order for students to acquire a thorough and systematic comprehension of U.S. and comparative government and politics, they need to learn facts and concepts and to understand typical political processes. Students also should learn to use specific information critically to evaluate general propositions about government and politics, and in sustained written arguments to present basic data relevant to government and politics.
AP classes require extra time for preparation, personal consultation with students, and the reading of many more written assignments than are given to students in regular classes. The AP Development Committee in Government and Politics strongly urges that any teacher offering such a class or classes have some reduction in assigned teaching hours.
The committee also suggests that schools augment the resource materials available to teachers and students in classrooms and libraries.
The committee recognizes that many states require the teaching of state and local government within, or in addition to, U.S. government and politics. Material about a specific state or locality will not be covered on the examination, but general patterns of intergovernmental relations will be.
Although many schools are able to set up special college-level courses, AP study in some schools may consist of tutorial work associated with a regular course or a program of independent study. Examples of the organization and content of AP United States and Comparative Government and Politics courses or equivalent college courses, as well as extensive suggestions for appropriate resource materials, can be found in the Teacher's Guide AP United States Government and Politics and the Teacher's Guide AP Comparative Government and Politics available in the College Board Online store, in the AP Aisle under Government and Politics.
Peter Pew's Tips
- If you are just starting out, you might want to attend a College Board workshop and/or a week-long summer institute. You will find these to be rich in ideas and materials, and you will find the presenters and participants to be of great help. For a list of workshops, go to the summer workshop section of this site.
- On your unit tests, try to replicate the format and weighting of the AP Exam as much as possible. Be sure to include both a multiple-choice section and a free-response section, and give them equal weighting.
- The "politics" part of the course is often a weak link for students who have paid little attention to political events. To deal with this, I give my students a summer assignment to follow the news. On the first day of class, I then give a quiz on the summer's main stories. This does get their attention about the importance of following politics!
Exam Tips:
- Here is the format of the AP Exam:
| Section |
Questions |
Time |
| Multiple-Choice |
60 |
45 min. |
| Free-Response |
4 |
100 min. |
- On the Free-Response section, students first should answer the easiest of the four questions. The questions can be answered in any order, so students do not necessarily have to begin with Question One.
- Free-Response answers on this exam need not be as formally structured as on other AP Exams due to the 100 minute/four mandatory question format.
- The Free-Response section generally includes one stimulus-based question. Such a question might include a map, graph, table, or chart for students to analyze. Students should have ample practice with this type of question.
- If a Multiple-Choice item is left blank, no points are deducted. Since one-fourth of a point is deducted for incorrect answers, students should avoid random or haphazard guessing. However, students may benefit if they can make educated guesses by eliminating some of the choices.
- Students can (and should) mark on the Multiple-Choice test itself in order to keep track of the choices that they have eliminated.
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