June 4, 2018 Dear Students, Welcome to AP U.S. Government and Politics! In addition to gaining an in-depth view of the American government system, you will have the opportunity to earn college credit for this course through the College Board at the end of the year by taking the AP Exam in May 2019. This is a very rigorous and fast-paced course. It is important that you are aware of the year-long commitment you are about to undertake as a student of this course. AP Government requires different thinking and writing skills than you may have used in U.S. History. Writing for government requires the understanding and analysis of abstract concepts and principles. You will depend less on the study of chronological facts and events, and more so on your interpretation of these facts and events. Throughout the year, you will become aware of politics in general and will have an opportunity to explore your political self and where you fit into our political world. This summer assignment is designed to help you transition from thinking historically to thinking and writing from a political perspective. There are two required parts to this assignment, and each one is described on the subsequent pages. Assignments should be prepared and completed for the first day of class. They will count as separate grades for the first quarter. Please make sure to read the summer assignment completely and carefully so that you will be ready to fully and successfully participate when class begins in the upcoming 2018-2019 school year. If you have any questions about the summer assignment or the course in general, you can reach me via email at [email protected] . I hope that you have an enjoyable, relaxing, and productive summer! Sincerely, Ms. Tessa Guarracino AP United States Government & Politics Teacher Assignment #1: Current Events Journal AP Government is more directly related to current events than arguably any course you will take in high school. Everything that we will study relates to how politics and government work in modern America. Accordingly, knowledge of current political and governmental affairs will significantly help you understand the things we study, and will, in fact, be necessary to succeed in the course. If you know what is going on in the country with respect to politics and government, you will do better in the class. You should follow major current events by doing one or more of the following on as close to a daily basis as possible: • Read either the print or online version of a major newspaper • Watch a national/international news broadcast (CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC)—not a local news broadcast (although they are also informative) • Read major newsmagazines or political journals (Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, The Economist, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, etc.) • Watch daily or weekly news/current affairs programming (Hardball, Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, Anderson Cooper 360, etc.—even comedy-based current events shows can be informative) • Read articles from an online political journalism website such as Politico (politico.com) or Five-Thirty-Eight (fivethirtyeight.com) During the course of the summer (beginning the week of July 2 - July 6, and ending the week of August 20 – 24), you will need to keep a current events journal. You are allowed to skip two weeks of your choice (leaving you with a total of 6 journal entries). At the end of each week, type a minimum of two large paragraphs (complete, grammatical sentences; ~500 words total) about the major event or events in American government and/or politics from the past week. In the first paragraph, you should describe the event/events. In the second paragraph, you should analyze the significance of it/them, and state any opinions, thoughts, or analysis you might have about it/them. Some analytical things to consider might be: what is the impact of this event/decision on the US government? Or what might the consequences of this event/decision be (good/bad)? You must intelligently discuss one important issue each week. Please note that your journal entries are designed to help you understand more about how and why the government operates as it does. Therefore, your journal should address a variety of types issues that are of significant importance to American politics and government. Such things include (but are not limited to): what the president is up to, what Congress is debating, legislation that is being passed, constitutional issues or major federal court decisions concerning them, debates over political issues in America, international crises or foreign policy issues that somehow effect the US or that our government must deal with, etc. In each week’s entry, you must cite in MLA format any news media sources (or other sources) that you used during that week. Use www.easybib.com to help you. Sample Current Events Journal Sally Student AP Government and Politics Sample Current Events Journal for May 18-12, 2015 Political news this week was dominated by the impending 2016 presidential election. As of now, the focus is on the already large and growing field of Republican primary candidates (the Democratic Party is expected to nominate Hilary Clinton without significant opposition). While several politicians have already declared their candidacy, former Florida Republican governor Jeb Bush and current Wisconsin Republican governor Scott Walker have not, although they are expected to soon. Analysts believe that they are waiting to make an official announcement so that they can continue to raise money for their super PACs (political action committees). The Supreme Court decided in Citizens United v. FEC that corporations are protected by the First Amendment and may spend an unlimited amount of money to support or attack a candidate, as long as they are not affiliated with the candidate. This decision gave rise to super PACS, organizations that are allowed to accept unlimited financial contributions from donors that will later be used to support a particular candidate. Until they announce their candidacy, politicians such as Jeb Bush can continue to raise millions of dollars for super PACs that will later support them in the primary elections. Jeb Bush has currently raised the most money of the declared and prospective Republican candidates; he is expected to declare that he has raised “in the high tens of millions.” This war chest could prove valuable to him in a crowded Republican primary contest. The Republican field of candidates is already quite large and the Republican National Committee (RNC) anticipates that as many as twelve candidates may take part in the first primary debate. This week’s stories show the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and the growing influence of money in presidential elections. The amount of money that candidates need to run (and win) a presidential election is absolutely staggering, and serves to increase the influence of corporations and the most affluent Americans who are able to make large campaign contributions. The actions of Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, as well as the other declared candidates who are traversing the country fundraising, show that wooing donors and raising cash has become more important than addressing the concerns of everyday Americans. More money means more access to politicians and candidates for the nation’s highest offices. In turn, wealthy donors could pressure politicians to support policies that will result in making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Meanwhile, working class Americans who cannot afford to make large campaign contributions are left without a voice in the political process. The high price tag of becoming president may also exclude qualified candidates who are unable raise such large amounts of money. It is unclear whether the Supreme Court foresaw these negative outcomes when they made their Citizens United decision. The Federal Elections Commission and the U.S. government should seriously consider passing regulations and legislation to limit the amount of money that can be spent in a presidential campaign to even the playing field and allow the candidates to focus on the issues that affect the American people. Bash, Dana. "Election 2016: The Dirty Little Secret of Presidential Announcements - CNNPolitics.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 May 2015. Web. 19 May 2015. Silver, Nate, and Harry Enten. "Jeb Bush Has The Cash, But Not The GOP Support." FiveThirtyEight. 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 May 2015. Stokols, Eli. "Florida Quietly Sets up an Epic 2016 Primary Clash." POLITICO. Web. 19 May 2015. Assignment #2: Political Participation Service Learning Experience Throughout the AP Government course, you will hopefully learn why citizen involvement in government is necessary to a successful democracy. You will start that exploration this summer with a service-learning adventure! You must participate in some kind of political participation experience. Examples accessible to you include (but are not limited to): • Writing your Congressperson • Volunteering with a political campaign (it is an election year!) • Going to a peaceful protest • Attending a political seminar or speaking event (there are lots of free ones in downtown D.C. or Annapolis!) • Getting involved with a government nonprofit or interest group You will need to retain some type of artifact from your experience (a letter, fliers, pictures, poster, etc.). You will also need to write a 2 page minimum reflection explaining: a) What you did b) What you learned c) A brief discussion on political participation in government and why you feel it is (or is not) important. Your paper will be due the first day of school, but please be prepared to give a brief presentation in front of the class about your learning experience on the second day of school.