AP U.S. Government & Politics — Summary Outline

 
  1. Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government
    1. Considerations that influenced the formulation and adoption of the Constitution
    2. Separation of powers
    3. Federalism
    4. Theories of democratic government

  2. Political beliefs and behaviors of individuals
    1. Beliefs that citizens hold about their government and its leaders
    2. Processes by which citizens learn about politics
    3. The nature, sources, and consequences of public opinion
    4. The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political life
    5. Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in terms of political beliefs and behaviors

  3. Political parties, interest groups, and mass media: mechanisms that facilitate the communication of interests and preferences by like-minded citizens
    1. Political parties and elections (including their functions, organization, historical development, and effects on the political process)
    2. Interest groups (including pacs)
      1. The range of interests that are or are not represented
      2. The activities of interest groups
      3. The effects of interest groups on the political process
      4. The unique characteristics and roles of pacs in the political process
    3. The mass media
      1. The functions and structures of the media
      2. The impacts of media on politics

  4. Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the federal courts
    1. The major formal and informal institutional arrangements of powers
    2. Relationships among these four institutions
    3. Links between these institutions and political parties, interest groups, the media, subnational governments, and public opinion

  5. Public policy 
    1. Policy making in a federal system
    2. The formation of policy agenda
    3. The role of institutions in the enactment of policy
    4. The role of the bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation and interpretation
    5. Linkages between policy processes and the following:
      1. Political institutions and federalism
      2. Political parties
      3. Interest groups
      4. Public opinion
      5. Elections
      6. Policy networks

  6. Civil liberties and civil rights 
    1. The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial interpretation
    2. Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
    3. The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development of rights and liberties