High AP United States Government and Politics

Module 1: Constitutional Democracy

• Types of government
• Principles of U.S. government
• The Declaration of Independence
• The Articles of Confederation
• The U.S. Constitution
• The Federalist and Anti-Federalist debates
• Federalist No. 10 and Brutus No. 1
• Separation of powers and Federalist No. 51
• Checks and balances
• Federalism in the United States over time
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
• United States v. Lopez (1995)

Module 2: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights

• The Bill of Rights and subsequent Amendments
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
• Engel v. Vitale (1962)
• Balancing liberty with security and safety
• Schenck v. United States (1919)
• New York Times v. United States (1971)
• McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
• The rights of those accused of crimes
• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
• The Fourteenth Amendment and selective incorporation
• The Civil Rights Movement
• "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Other social movements in civil rights
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
• Roe v. Wade (1973)

Module 3: Interaction Among Branches

• Structure and powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches
• Federalist No. 70
• Comparison of the House of Representatives and the Senate
• The lawmaking process
• Factors influencing congressional behavior
• Baker v. Carr (1961)
• Shaw v. Reno (1993)
• The impact of the president's agenda
• The impact of changes in communications technology
• Life tenure and the Supreme Court
• Federalist No. 78
• Marbury v. Madison (1803)
• The bureaucracy
• Accountability between the branches of government and to citizens

Module 4: Political Culture and Participation

• Political socialization and ideology
• Public opinion and polling
• The media
• Political parties
• Interest groups
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)
• Voting rights
• Models of voting behavior
• Voter turnout
• Elections
• Campaigns

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.