Gov notes unit 4 test 2How to Use These AP Government Notes
These notes may be used throughout the year if you're looking for materials to help
you review for in-class tests. They can also be used cumulatively as study
resources for the AP US Gov exam.
It's a smart idea to supplement the notes in this article with more detailed notes
from your AP Gov class or a review book. You might find that your review book or
textbook outlines certain topics more clearly or contains a more consolidated list
of key concepts.
If you're using these notes to prepare directly for the final AP US Gov exam, I
recommend taking a full-length official practice test before reviewing them. You
can then decide which topics to target based on where you made the most mistakes on
the practice test.
It's more efficient to do things this way rather than reading through all the notes
indiscriminately. It's also nice to get used to the format of the AP Gov questions
and the timing of the exam before you get too far into your studying. You might
discover that you have more issues with timing or question wording than with
content knowledge, in which case you'll want to focus on doing additional practice
questions.
AP US Government Notes
The exam covers six main topics, each of which has several major subtopics. The AP
Gov notes below come from CourseNotes and APStudyNotes.
These notes have practice questions that go along with them at the end, which can
be used to help you retain the information you read. You can also look at these
detailed political timelines from CourseNotes to put all these concepts in context
and see how they've impacted American history.
Topic 1: Constitutional Underpinnings of the US Government
Vocabulary
Chapter 1: Constitutional Democracy
Chapter 2: The Living Constitution
Chapter 3: American Federalism
Notes
The Study of American Government
The Constitution
Federalism
Topic 2: Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Vocabulary
Chapter 4: Political Culture and Ideology
Chapter 5: The American Political Landscape
Notes
American Political Culture
Who Governs? To What Ends?
Topic 3: Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media
Vocabulary
Chapter 6: Interest Groups
Chapter 7: Political Parties
Chapter 8: Public Opinion, Participation, and Voting
Chapter 9: Campaigns and Elections
Chapter 10: The Media and American Politics
Notes
Public Opinion
Political Participation
Political Parties
American Independent Party
American Party
Anti-Masonic Party
Constitutional Union Party
Democratic Party
Democratic-Republican Party
Federalist Party
Free-Soil Party
Greenback-Labor Party
Libertarian Party
Liberty Party
National Republican Party
People's Party
Progressive Party
Reform Party
Republican Party
Socialist Party
Whig Party
Elections and Campaigns
Interest Groups
The Media
Topic 4: Institutions of National Government
Vocabulary
Chapter 11: Congress
Chapter 12: The Presidency
Chapter 13: The Federal Administrative System
Chapter 14: The Judiciary
Notes
Congress
The Presidency
The Bureaucracy
The Judiciary (with briefs on major Supreme Court cases)
Topic 5: Public Policy
Vocabulary
Chapter 18: Making Economic and Regulatory Policy
Chapter 19: Making Social Policy
Chapter 20: Making Foreign and Defense Policy
Notes
The Policy-Making Process
Economic Policy
Social Welfare
Foreign Policy and Military Policy
Environmental Policy
Topic 6: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Vocabulary
Chapter 15: First Amendment Freedoms
Chapter 16: Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property
Chapter 17: Equal Rights Under the Law
Notes
Civil Liberties
Civil Rights
Important Documents
Declaration of Independence
Constitution
Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10)
Constitutional Amendments 11-27
