AP United States Government & Politics: Curricular Requirements

• The teacher has read the most recent AP Government and Politics Course Description.
• The course provides instruction in each of the following six topics outlined in the Course Description:
  • Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government
  • Political Beliefs and Political Behaviors
  • Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media
  • Institutions of National Government
  • Public Policy
  • Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
• The course provides students with practice in analyzing and interpreting data and other information relevant to U.S. government and politics.
• The course includes supplemental readings, including primary source materials (such as The Federalist Papers) and contemporary news analyses that strengthen student understanding of the curriculum.
• The course requires students to answer analytical and interpretive free-response questions on a frequent basis.

Resource Requirements

• The school ensures that each student has a college-level U.S. government and politics textbook (supplemented when necessary to meet the curricular requirements) as well as copies of primary sources for individual use inside and outside of the classroom.
• The school ensures that each student has access to news sources in order to learn current examples and applications that may not be in the textbook.
• The school ensures that the teacher has copies of additional college-level U.S. government and politics textbooks or other appropriate college-level books for his or her own consultation, including the most recent edition of one of these.