High AP United States Government and Politics

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: Interaction Among Branches 

-Congress 

-congressional behavior 

-the presidency 

-executive power 

-the Supreme Court 

-the bureaucracy 

-checks and balances 

-accountability 

 

Module Three: 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 Four: American Political Ideologies 

-political socialization 

-ideology 

-public opinion 

-political parties 

 

Module Five: Political Participation 

-voters 

-interest groups 

-elections 

-campaigns 

-the media 

 

 

No student provided materials required.  

Besides engaging students in challenging curriculum, the course guides students to reflect on their learning and evaluate their progress through a variety of assessments. Assessments can be in the form of practice lessons, multiple choice questions, writing assignments, projects, research papers, oral assessments, and discussions. This course will use the state-approved grading scale. Each course contains a mandatory final exam or culminating project that will be weighted at 20% of the student’s overall grade.***

***Proctored exams can be requested by FLVS at any time and for any reason in an effort to ensure academic integrity. When taking the exam to assess a student’s integrity, the exam must be passed with at least a 59.5% in order to earn credit for the course.  

Advanced Placement Policy

Students entering high school grades 9-12 have access to Advanced Placement courses that may result in earning college credit for high school coursework. These courses are used to calculate overall Grade Point Average (GPA) and typically count extra in the calculation. These courses are also available at no charge to Florida public school students, whereas they may have a tuition cost if taken in college. (S. 1003.02, F.S.)

A passing grade in the course will be accepted for high school credit.  Postsecondary institutions determine college credit awarded, based on the AP Exam score earned.  FLVS strongly encourages students who take AP courses to sit for the course AP Exam in May. Florida students shall be exempt from payment of any fees associated with AP Exam participation, with the exception of late test registration fees incurred by the student. 

To achieve success, students are expected to submit work in each course weekly. Students can learn at their own pace; however, “any pace” still means that students must make progress in the course every week. To measure learning, students complete self-checks, practice lessons, multiple choice questions, projects, discussion-based assessments, and discussions. Students are expected to maintain regular contact with teachers; the minimum requirement is monthly. When teachers, students, and parents work together, students are successful.