Unit Overview - Sections of your AP Gov't book that will be helpful in preparing for this exam:

  • Sections of Chapter 8 on Political Parties (esp. 240-245 & 251-261)
  • Sections of Chapter 9 on Nominations and Campaigns (esp. 268-289)
  • Sections of Chapter 10 on Voting and Elections (esp. 311-320)
  • All of Chapter 13 on the Presidency
  • Most of  Chapter 15 on the Federal Bureaucracy (esp.468-490)

Some of the Key Concepts you'll want to review:

  • The specific duties of the President
  • The qualifications (official and otherwise) needed to become President
  • The process of electing the President, and the aspects of running a successful political campaign
  • The role of the Vice President
  • The key constitutional powers of the President
  • The informal sources of power that Presidents utilize to expand their role
  • The ways that the power of the President is limited by Congress and the Courts
  • Detail the major roles of the President: Head of State, Chief Executive, Chief Legislator, etc.
  • The responsibilities of the various Cabinet departments
  • The role that executive agencies play within the executive branch
  • The duties of regulatory commissions and their positive and negative effects on our nation (not  much regulation in 2012)
  • Key government corporations and their roles in providing services
  • The ways in which the bureaucracy carries out legislation, shapes policy, and deals with client groups
  • The role political parties play in running our government
  • Nominating candidates, party conventions, primaries & caucuses
  • The Electoral College, why it is structured the way it is, and reform proposals
  • The reasons why the U.S. Constitution favors a two-party system
  • The History of Political Parties in the United States
  • History of Suffrage in the U.S.
  • Voter motivations: why we vote the way we do...
  • PACs
  • Campaign Finance, and various attempts at Campaign Finance Reform

Possible FRQ Topics (be prepared for an FRQ on one of these topics)

  • President and Congress as foreign policy makers
  • Role of Third Parties
  • Presidential Approval Ratings
  • The Bureaucracy and the power of agencies to carry out policy
  • Electoral college
  • War powers resolution & role of President and Congress in carrying out military action
  • Presidential Powers in regards to domestic policy making
  • The Bureaucracy and its full time employees