AP United States Government and Politics

Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics, also known as AP US Gov & Pol, AP USGP, AP US Gov, AP NSL, AP GOPO or AP Gov, is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students through the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course surveys the structure and function of American government and politics that begins with an analysis of the United States Constitution, the foundation of the American political system. Students study the three branches of government, administrative agencies that support each branch, the role of political behavior in the democratic process, rules governing elections, political culture, and the workings of political parties and interest groups.[1]

Topic outline

The material in the course is composed of multiple subjects from the Constitutional roots of the United States to recent developments in civil rights and liberties. The AP United States Government examination covers roughly six subjects listed below in approximate percentage composition of the examination.[2]

Constitutional Underpinnings of United States Government (5–15%)

Political beliefs and behaviors (10–20%)

Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Mass Media (10–20%)

  • Political parties and elections
    • Functions
    • Organization
    • Development
    • Effects on the political process
    • Electoral laws and systems
  • Interest groups, including political action committees (PACs)
    • The range of interests represented
    • The activities of interest groups
    • The effects of interest groups on the political process
    • The unique characteristics and roles of PACs in the political process
  • The mass media
    • The functions and structures of the media
    • The impact of media on politics

Institutions of National Government (35–45%)

Public policy (5–15%)

Civil rights and civil liberties (5–15%)

Exam

The exam consists of two sections:

  • Section I: Multiple-Choice (45 minutes, 60 questions)
  • Section II: Free-response (100 minutes, 4 questions)

In all a total of 120 points are attainable, with each section being worth 60 points.[3]

Grade distribution

In the 2007 administration, 160,978 students took the exam from 6,306 schools.[4] In the 2008 administration, 177,522 students took the exam.[5] In the 2009 administration, 189,998 students took the exam.[6] In the 2010 administration, 211,681 students took the exam.[7] In the 2011 administration, 225,837 students took the exam.[8] [9] The grade distributions since 2007 were:

Final Score Percent (2007) Percent (2008) Percent (2009) Percent (2010) Percent (2011) Percent (2012) Percent (2013) Percent (2014) Percent (2015) Percent (2016) Percent (2017) Percent (2018)[10]
5 6.0% 12.2% 13.1% 12.5% 12.6% 12.5% 11.3% 11.9% 9.8% 12.4% 11.2% 13.4%
4 18.9% 13.1% 17.0% 13.3% 13.9% 14.9% 14.3% 12.5% 13.6% 13.5% 12.5% 13.3%
3 26.9% 25.2% 25.4% 25.4% 25.1% 24.8% 26.1% 26.4% 24.7% 25% 25.8% 26.5%
2 32.1% 25.8% 24.2% 24.0% 24.3% 24.6% 24.8% 24.7% 25% 24% 24.7% 24.5%
1 16.1% 23.7% 20.2% 24.7% 24.1% 23.2% 23.5% 24.6% 26.9% 25.1% 25.8% 22.3%
Mean Score 2.6 2.64 2.78 2.65 2.67 2.69 2.65 2.62 2.54 2.64 2.59

References

  1. ↑ "Government and Politics United States Comparative Course Description" (PDF). The College Board. pp. 9–13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  2. ↑ "Government and Politics United States Comparative Course Description" (PDF). The College Board. pp. 14–15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  3. ↑ "The Exam". collegeboard.com, Inc. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Government & Politics Grade Distribution". collegeboard.com, Inc. Archived from the original on 8 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  5. ↑ "2008 U.S. Government & Politics Grade Distribution" (PDF). collegeboard.com, Inc. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  6. ↑ "2009 U.S. Government & Politics Grade Distribution" (PDF). collegeboard.com, Inc. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2012-05-06.
  9. ↑ Packer, Trevor. "2012 AP Exam Score Distributions". Total Registration. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Total Registration (2018-06-20). "@AP_Trevor: "The 2018 AP US Government & Politics scores: 5: 13.4%; 4: 13.3%; 3: 26.5%; 2: 24.5%; 1: 22.3%. Kudos to these students and their teachers, as these are the highest scores in many years. (By way of comparison, just a few years ago, the percentage of 5s was 9.8%.)"". twitter.com.
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