APU.S.GOVERNMENTANDPOLITICS
2016SUMMERREADING
Hello,ladies!Inpreparationfornextyear’sclass,Iwouldlikeyoutobeginreadingourtext,
AmericanGovernment,byJamesQ.WilsonandJohnJ.DiLulio,Jr.(14thedition).All
studentsshouldtrytopurchaseacopyofthebookbeforeleavingschoolforthesummer.
PleaseletmeknowASAPifyouhavenotpurchasedacopyfromacurrentAPstudentand
arelookingtobuyanewone.Therearecurrently27studentsinAPGov,butnextyearthere
willbe37.IwouldsuggestpurchasingthebookonAmazonifyoudonotbuyonefroma
currentstudent.ItismuchcheaperonAmazon.Iwouldalsosuggestpurchasingtheedition
thathasFastTracktoa5forAPU.S.GovernmentandPoliticsembeddedinit.
Yourassignmentsaredetailedbelow.Besuretotakenoteswhilereadingandprepare
yourselvesforin-depthdiscussionandaquizortestwhenyougetbacktoschoolin
September.Pleasedonotpanic!Iknowthatitlookslikealotofwork(anditis!),butI
guaranteeyouthatbynextMayyouwillbethankfulthatyougotsomeoftheworkoutof
thewayoverthesummer.Wehavealottocovernextyear.Meanwhile,haveasafeand
relaxingsummerandenjoyreadingyourbooks!
*AmericanGovernmenttextassignment:
1.ReadChapters1,2,and3andprepareanswerstothechapterdiscussionquestions.We
willdiscussyouranswersinthefirstweekofclass.
2.Bepreparedforatest/quizanddiscussionwhenyougetbacktoschool.
*Bookassignment:
ReadONEofthefollowingbooksandwritea1-2pagesummaryandreactiontoit:
Hardball,byChrisMatthews
Bias,byBernardGoldberg
MiracleatPhiladelphia,byCatherineDrinkerBowen
*Newscoverage--Pleasefollowbreakingpoliticalnewsoverthesummer.Forexample,the
SupremeCourtisexpectedtoannounceitsdecisionsinsomesignificantcasesinJune.Also,
the2016electionsareunderway.TheRepublicanandDemocraticConventionswilltake
placeinmid-July.
*JudicialAssignment:
Whenschoolstarts,youwillbecalledupontoreportthedetailsofyourassignedcase
(below).Youshouldbepreparedforquestionsfrommeandfromyourfellowstudents.In
ordertopre-pareforyourreport,youshouldwrite“briefs”includingthefollowing:
1.ParagraphOne
a.Beginbystatingthenameofthecaseandtheyearinwhichitwasdecided
b.Summarizethebackgroundinformationinthecase
c.Decidewhatthekeyconstitutionalquestionisinthecase(discusswhicharticleor
amendmentoftheConstitutionisinquestion)
2.ParagraphTwo
a.Summarizetheopinionofthecourt(mentionwhowrotetheopinionandwhatthevote
breakdownwas—wasitaclosedecision,unanimous,etc.?)
b.Discussthedissentingopinioniftherewasone(mentionwhowroteit)
3.ParagraphThree
Discusstheimpactofthedecision
Example:
ThecaseofMarburyv.Madison(1803)involvedthe“midnightappointments”madeby
PresidentJohnAdamsinhisfinalhoursinoffice,includingthatofWilliamMarburyasa
federaljusticeofthepeace.WhenThomasJeffersonbecamepresidentbeforetheappointment
wasdeclaredofficial,heorderedhisSecretaryofState,JamesMadison,nottofollowthrough
withtheappointment.MarburythenbroughtasuitagainstMadisontohavehisappointment
fulfilled.HeaskedtheCourttoissueawritofmandamus,whichwaspermissibleunderthe
JudiciaryActof1789.ThekeyconstitutionalquestioninthiscaseiswhethertheSupreme
Courthasthepower,underArticleIII,Section2oftheConstitution,tointerpretthe
constitutionalityofalaworstatutepassedbytheCongress.Inotherwords,doestheSupreme
Courthavetherighttoexercisejudicialreview?
TheCourtdecidedunanimouslythatMarbury’srequestforawritofmandamuswasbasedon
alawpassedbyCongressthattheCourtheldtobeunconstitutional.Thejusticesdecidedthat
theJudiciaryActof1789violatedtheConstitutionandthereforewasinvalidsincethe
ConstitutionholdshigherlegalweightthanalawpassedbyCongress.ChiefJusticeJohn
MarshallwrotetheopinionoftheCourt.
Thiscaseissignificantinthatitestablishedthepowerofjudicialreview.Thispowerallowsa
judicial“check”onthelegislativebranchofthegovernment.WhentheCourtexercisesjudicial
review,Congressmusteitherremovethelawfromthebooksor2/3ofitsrepresentativesmust
agreethatthelawisimportantenoughtoamendtheConstitutioninordertohaveit
recognizedbytheCourt.Thisisextremelydifficulttodo,whichiswhywehavesofew
Constitutionalamendmentstothisday.
Youshoulduseatleasttwosourcesforthisassignment.Yourtextcanbeonesource.These
summariesneednotbelong.Thisassignmentshouldbetypedandhandedinonthefirst
dayofclasses.Oneexcellentsourceiswww.oyez.org.
Yourassignedcase:____________________________________________________________
Pleaseemailmeoverthesummeratebattisto@gmahs.orgifyouhaveanyquestions!
Enjoyyoursummer!Iamlookingforwardtonextyear!
Continue to next page for Chapter Discussion questions
AP U.S. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Chapter One—The Study of American Government
Discussion Questions
1. Why study American government and politics?
2. What should every citizen know? Should we be satisfied with what citizens
DO know?
3. What ideals should guide a political campaign?
4. What are the two great questions about government, according to the text?
5. What is power? Authority? Legitimacy? Compare the institutions in your life
that have power over you versus authority over you. What are the
characteristics that distinguish one set from the other?
6. What makes authority legitimate in the U.S.? Are there political institutions
that you trust more than others? Are there some that raise your suspicions?
Why?
7. What is democracy? Are there different versions of democracy?
8. What is a republic?
9. What type of government did the Framers support? What type of government
does the U.S. have?
10. How is power distributed in a democracy? How should it be distributed?
Chapter Two—The Constitution
Discussion Questions
1. What were the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation? How did Shay’s
Rebellion change people’s opinions about the confederation?
2. Why was the Convention held? What was the delegates’ purpose? Why was
their process actually an “illegal” one?
3. Why does Catherine Drinker Bowen call the ratification of the Constitution a
“miracle”? Was it a “miracle”? Explain.
4. Why did RI refuse to send delegates to the Convention?
5. In what ways were the VA and NJ plans similar? How were they different?
6. What compromises were most crucial to the success of the Constitution?
Would the Constitution have been ratified without these compromises?
7. What was the difference between the Federalists’ and Antifederalists’
positions on the new Constitution?
8. Why was the Bill of Rights rejected?
9. In what ways does the Constitution reflect the influence of the Declaration of
Independence? In which ways does it contradict the Declaration?
10. What features of the Constitution make it difficult for government to do or
achieve anything? Why were they included?
11. How did the concept of the Electoral College reflect the Framers’ distrust of
democracy?
12. Should the Constitution be considered an evolving or a fixed document?
Explain.
Chapter Three—Federalism
Discussion Questions
1. How are federal, unitary, and confederal forms of government different??
2. Are “federal” and “national” the same thing? Explain your answer.
3. Why was a federal system established? Why did the Framers believe that this
form of government would best serve the United States? Do you believe the
federal system has lived up to the expectations of the framers?
4. Layer cake versus marble cake federalism—which do we have and which
should we have? All students with last names from _______ should be ready to
tell us what “layer cake” federalism is and whether it is/was an accurate
metaphor for our government. All students with last names from _______
should be ready to tell us what “marble cake” federalism is and whether it
is/was an accurate metaphor. If you can find examples of each that would be
wonderful. These terms are not in your book, so look them up online and let me
know if you have any questions.
5. What role do the courts play in the implementation of federalism?
6. Given the Supreme Court’s decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, what
prevents the national government from assuming legal authority over any area
of public policy?
7. Describe the different types of grants that the national government gives to
states. Why do states prefer block grants over categorical grants?
8. Does the system of grants-in-aid upset the balance of federalism? Do grant
programs enable Congress to do what it pleases by bribing states into
compliance?
9. How and why do conservatives and liberals differ over giving aid to the
states without conditions?
10. What does the 10th amendment say? Why was it included in the Bill of
Rights and should it have been included?
11. List examples of powers that states possess in our union.
12. Does the recent push toward devolution give the states too much power?