Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics

Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics, also known as AP US Gov & Pol, AP US Gov, AP NSL, AP Go Po or AP Gov, is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students through the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course surveys the structure and function of American government and politics that begins with an analysis of the United States Constitution, the foundation of the American political system. Students study the three branches of government, administrative agencies that support each branch, the role of political behavior in the democratic process, rules governing elections, political culture, and the workings of political parties and interest groups.

Topic Outline
The material in the course is composed of multiple subjects from the Constitutional roots of the United States to recent developments in civil rights and liberties. The AP United States Government examination covers roughly six subjects listed below in approximate percentage composition of the examination.

Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government (5-15%)
Considerations that influenced the formulation and adoption of the Constitution
Separation of powers
Federalism
Theories of democratic government

Political beliefs and behaviors (10-20%)
Beliefs that citizens hold about their government and its leaders
Processes by which citizens learn about politics
The nature, sources, and consequences of public opinion
The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political life
Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in terms of political beliefs and behaviors

Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media (10-20%)
Political parties and elections
Functions
Organization
Development
Effects on the political process
Electoral laws and systems
Interest groups, including political action committees (PACs)
The range of interests represented
The activities of interest groups
The effects of interest groups on the political process
The unique characteristics and roles of PACs in the political process
The mass media
The functions and structures of the media
The impact of media on politics

Institutions of National Government: the Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts(35-45%)
The major formal and informal institutional arrangements o p

Public policy (5-15%)
Policy making in a federal system
The formation of policy agendas
The role of institutions in the enactment of policy
The role of the bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation and interpretation
Linkages between policy processes and the following:
Political institutions and federalism
Political parties
Interest groups
Public opinion
Elections
Policy networks

Civil rights and civil liberties (5-15%)
The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial interpretation
Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development of rights and liberties

The exam
The exam consists of two sections:

Section I: Multiple-Choice (45 minutes, 60 questions)
Section II: Free-response (100 minutes, 4 questions)

In all a total of 120 points are attainable, with each section being worth 60 points.

Grade distribution
In the 2007 administration, 160,978 students took the exam from 6,306 schools. In the 2008 administration, 177,522 students took the exam. In the 2009 administration, 189,998 students took the exam. In the 2010 administration, 211,681 students took the exam. The grade distributions for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 were: