AP United States Government and Politics

This college-level course prepares students to take the AP United States Government and Politics examination. It further prepares students for roles as community leaders and responsible, active citizens using the competitive “We the People…” program, in order to strengthen their critical thinking and extemporaneous speaking skills. The “We the People…” program culminates in a State congressional hearing competition in January. Additionally, students investigate core concepts of political science: consuming and producing polls, analyzing charts and graphs, predicting voting behavior, analyzing demographic data, and understanding
the essential ideas about political parties, campaigns, and elections.

Furthermore, by the end of the course, students will understand influences on the policy agenda and the process of policy making and enactment. The course will close with a study of economic naturalism. The class will meet every-other day in the first semester, and every day in the second semester.

Prerequisites: Freshman Humanities and United States History

Open to Seniors or with departmental approval.