AP United States Government and Politics


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Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics, also known as AP US Gov & Pol, 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%)

Institutions of National Government (35–45%)

Public policy (5–15%)

Civil rights and civil liberties (5–15%)

Exam

The exam consists of two sections:

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)[10]
5 6.0% 12.2% 13.1% 12.5% 12.6% 12.5% 11.3% 11.9% 9.8% 12.4% 11.2%
4 18.9% 13.1% 17.0% 13.3% 13.9% 14.9% 14.3% 12.5% 13.6% 13.5% 12.5%
3 26.9% 25.2% 25.4% 25.4% 25.1% 24.8% 26.1% 26.4% 24.7% 25% 25.8%
2 32.1% 25.8% 24.2% 24.0% 24.3% 24.6% 24.8% 24.7% 25% 24% 24.7%
1 16.1% 23.7% 20.2% 24.7% 24.1% 23.2% 23.5% 24.6% 26.9% 25.1% 25.8%
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. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  7. http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/2010_US_GOPO_Score_Dist.pdf
  8. http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/2011_US_GoPo_Score_Dist.pdf
  9. Packer, Trevor. "2012 AP Exam Score Distributions". Total Registration. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  10. Total Registration. "2017 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
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