APGOVERNMENTANDPOLITICSSUMMERASSIGNMENT2016
Welcome to AP Government and Politics! This course is an introductory political science course which includes both the study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. government and politics and a focus on examining specific case studies/examples. You will gain a working familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs and ideas that constitute U.S. government and politics and become acquainted with the variety of theoretical perspectives and explanations for various behaviors and outcomes in the governmental and political spheres. To prepare for the AP U.S. Government and Politics course of study, you will be required to read two seminal documents which address concepts that we will examine to gain an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. The summer reading assignments will help you to understand the doctrines and historical background of the Constitution; key principles, such as federalism and separation of powers; the ideological and philosophical underpinnings of American government and theories informing interpretations of the Constitution including democratic theory, republicanism, pluralism, and elitism. I know this doesn’t sound like a heck of a lot of fun, but trust me you will enjoy the course and emerge from it a brilliant, well‐informed citizen! And, in order to make this assignment a bit more engaging, I employed students from my class to help write this assignment! Yes, that’s right, students just like you helped to write this assignment. I asked the students to look over our readings and pick out the important documents that informed a lot of what we did in class. So here it is! The introductions, questions and helpful websites were crafted by these students – students that were in your shoes! Enjoy the assignment. I look forward to having you all in my class in September. Please note that you will be asked to submit your responses to turnitin.com in September, so make sure that you answer all questions entirely in your own words. If you have any questions, my email is [email protected]. Have a great summer! Ms.Diaz
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Instructions for Summer Assignment Readings: You must complete all of the following questions for both of the chosen readings: First Reading: Federalist #10 by James Madison Second Reading: Federalist #51 by James Madison (Hard copies of the Federalist #10 and Federalist #51 are attached at the end of this document. The summaries written by the students are just introductions; you must read the Federalist 10 and 51 in their entirety and your responses to the questions should be based on your understanding of the readings.) Questions for Federalist #10 Reading: 1. What does a republican form of government protect us from? 2. What are two ways that factions can be cured? 3. What is the most common cause for the development of factions? 4. Does the republican form of government still work today? Questions for Federalist #51 Reading: 1. How much power should the federal government have? 2. Do you think that checks and balances are the reason why bills take so long to be passed in congress? (for this question, you should define checks and balances and then provide an explanation, based on what you think, about the relationship between checks and balances and how a bill becomes a law) 3. What’s the purpose of the Bill of Rights? 4. Why didn’t the Articles of Confederations work? 5. What was the purpose of the Federalist Papers? Ms.Diaz
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Due Date: Assignments are due on the first day of class. You should have a hard copy of the assignment ready to hand in to me on the first day we meet. You will also have to submit a copy to the anti‐plagiarism website, turnitin.com; you will be instructed on how to submit the assignment to turnitin.com on the first day of class. Format: All questions must be answered in full sentences with specific details from the reading, including actual quotations from the readings and other scholarly sources, as you see fit, to support your points. Remember that you will have to submit your work to turnitin.com so be sure to appropriately quote and cite all sources using proper MLA format. Copies of Federalist 10 and Federalist 51 can be accessed on‐line on the following websites: http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm Ms.Diaz
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Introduction to Reading #1, Federalist Paper #10 By Brandon Howell, APGOPO Student 2013‐2014 AP Government and Politics In James Madison’s Federalist Paper #10, he states his support and belief in the ideas of a republic (representative democracy) and liberty. He believes that instead of trying to dismantle our democratic system which is full of different factions, the government should instead just control the effects that come from the factions. Madison says that if you remove the factions, you would basically be taking away everyone’s liberty which in connection with the government is necessary for political life, because the absence of factions would cause everyone to have the same ideas and opinions which would led to the absence of debate and discourse. He then goes on to describe how all people are different in their ideas and opinions and should be able to group in certain societies where they agree with others and serve under a leader (representative) that also believes in what they believe in. Madison is in complete opposition of a direct democracy because it allows factions to develop ‐‐ people to get too caught up in their own selfish goals and do not care about the good of others; in The Federalist 10, Madison explains that a republican (representative) system prevents factions from dominating our democracy. In this A.P. Government and politics class one of the first things you will study is political parties and rights of the people in terms of liberties and you will then be able to see why we couldn’t have a direct democracy in today’s society. Websites that may be helpful: http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/federalist/section3.rhtml http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm http://www.gradesaver.com/the‐federalist‐papers/study‐guide/section10/ Ms.Diaz
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Introduction to Reading #2, Federalist Paper #51 By Erik Cruz, APGOPO Student 2013‐2014 James Madison’s famous essay, Federalist 51, begins by explaining to the reader about the purpose of his essay, trying to get the reader to understand the structure and fundamentals of the proposed federal government. He talks about the branches and how they must be independent of each other, for this to be followed, the other branches shouldn’t have too much power on selecting the other branches, that means that they should be independent and have their own identity. He believes that by dividing the government it helps to check its growth in any direction even though its power cannot be divided absolutely equally. This causes the legislative branch to be the stronger; even so it is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. This was set up to prevent any legislative tyranny. James Madison also talks about the human function and the nature of individuals and how different interests can offset the balance, having factions or groups that will challenge the governmental system. This is crucial to the building of the American government because it’s the way it’s actually set up; the essay touches every point of what can hurt the federal government and what can be its weak points. This is extremely important because to understand American politics one should understand its fundamentals and the reasons why the government is set up the way it is. The reason why the Federalist Papers are important is because it tells the story of America before there was a government. This will be very important to know for this class because it can relate to anything in the government, it can relate to factions, interest groups, checks and balances, Bill of Rights, Amendments, because they’re all part of this big idea the Federal Government that gives people rights. Ms.Diaz
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Helpful Websites: http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa51.htm http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=10&page=transcript https://docs.google.com/document/d/13wL3GjIpa3ZPSU8QxmL_MdNxDwigGEuN3Ofnq gi9PLA/preview?pli=1 http://www.gradesaver.com/the‐federalist‐papers/study‐guide/section51/ Ms.Diaz
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