Specification points

College Board AP United States Government and Politics united-states-government-and-politics

136 points in 5 topics, with College Board's codes and titles.

Codes and titles are read by a script from College Board's published specification and have not been checked by a person. What each point covers is in the specification itself: College Board’s specification.

1 Foundations of American Democracy

1.1 Ideals of Democracy
1.1.A Democratic ideals in founding documents
1.2 Types of Democracy
1.2.A Models of representative democracy
1.3 Government Power and Individual Rights
1.3.A Federalist and Anti-Federalist views
1.4 Challenges of the Articles of Confederation
1.4.A The Articles of Confederation and stronger federal power
1.5 Ratification of the U.S. Constitution
1.5.A Compromise at the Constitutional Convention
1.6 Principles of American Government
1.6.A Separation of powers and checks and balances
1.6.B Effects of separation of powers
1.7 Relationship Between the States and National Government
1.7.A Dividing power between national and state governments
1.8 Constitutional Interpretations of Federalism
1.8.A Changing national–state balance through Court rulings
1.9 Federalism in Action
1.9.A Federalism and policymaking

2 Interactions Among Branches of Government

2.1 Congress: The Senate and the House of Representatives
2.1.A Structures and powers of Congress
2.2 Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress
2.2.A Congress and the policymaking process
2.3 Congressional Behavior
2.3.A Influences on congressional behaviour
2.4 Roles and Powers of the President
2.4.A Implementing a presidential agenda
2.5 Checks on the Presidency
2.5.A Tension between the president and Congress
2.6 Expansion of Presidential Power
2.6.A Formal and informal presidential powers
2.7 Presidential Communication
2.7.A Communication technology and the presidency
2.8 The Judicial Branch
2.8.A Judicial review
2.9 The Role of the Judicial Branch
2.9.A Legal precedent
2.10 The Court in Action
2.10.A Life tenure and debate about the Court
2.11 Checks on the Judicial Branch
2.11.A Judicial review and debate about the Court
2.11.B Limits on the Supreme Court’s power
2.12 The Bureaucracy
2.12.A The federal bureaucracy
2.13 Discretionary and Rulemaking Authority
2.13.A Bureaucratic discretion and rulemaking
2.14 Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable
2.14.A Congressional oversight of the executive
2.14.B Presidential control of executive agencies
2.15 Policy and the Branches of Government
2.15.A Holding the bureaucracy accountable
2.15.B Separation of powers and policymaking

3 Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

3.1 The Bill of Rights
3.1.A Constitutional protection of liberties and rights
3.1.B The Bill of Rights
3.2 First Amendment: Freedom of Religion
3.2.A The First Amendment and religious liberty
3.3 First Amendment: Freedom of Speech
3.3.A The First Amendment and free speech
3.4 First Amendment: Freedom of the Press
3.4.A The First Amendment and individual liberty
3.5 Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
3.5.A The Second Amendment
3.6 Amendments: Balancing Individual Freedom with Public Order and Safety
3.6.A Balancing individual freedom and public safety
3.7 Selective Incorporation
3.7.A Selective incorporation
3.8 Amendments: Due Process and the Rights of the Accused
3.8.A Procedural due process
3.9 Amendments: Due Process and the Right to Privacy
3.9.A Substantive due process
3.10 Social Movements and Equal Protection
3.10.A The Constitution and social movements
3.11 Government Responses to Social Movements
3.11.A Government responses to social movements
3.12 Balancing Minority and Majority Rights
3.12.A Protecting and restricting minority civil rights
3.13 Affirmative Action
3.13.A Affirmative action before the Court

4 American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

5 Political Participation

5.1 Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior
5.1.A Voting rights protections
5.1.B Models of voting behaviour
5.2 Voter Turnout
5.2.A Voter turnout
5.3 Political Parties
5.3.A Linkage institutions
5.3.B Political parties’ roles and impact
5.4 How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt
5.4.A How political parties change
5.5 Third-Party Politics
5.5.A Barriers to third parties and independents
5.6 Interest Groups Influencing Policymaking
5.6.A Interest groups in elections and policymaking
5.6.B Interest group types and resources
5.7 Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes
5.7.A Political actors and policy outcomes
5.8 Electing a President
5.8.A Presidential election processes
5.8.B The Electoral College
5.9 Congressional Elections
5.9.A Congressional elections
5.10 Modern Campaigns
5.10.A Campaign organisation and strategy
5.11 Campaign Finance
5.11.A National campaigns: organisation and finance
5.12 The Media
5.12.A Media as a linkage institution
5.13 Changing Media
5.13.A Changing media and political behaviour