A.P. U.S. Government

Summer Assignment                                              Mr. Hansbury

              2009

            Welcome to AP Gov. This summer I would like you to complete a series of exercises revolving around government and current events. This is done with the hope that you will enter the AP program at the end of the summer with a good command of many of the issues that will be discussed by our representatives this fall. Please follow the directions below and if you have any questions please contact me in Room 308.

            Each student must keep a loose-leaf notebook in addition to their regular notebook in which they will collect a file of press clippings from news articles they have read. Students must have articles from each of the following topics listed below and write a brief explanation of the article.

• Taxes
• Health Care
• Economy
• Gun Control
• Campaign Finance
• Federal Budget
• Social Security
• Military Spending
• Interest Groups and PACs
• Foreign Policy
• Environment
• Elections and Ballot Questions
• Political Party Support and Actions

Collect one (1) article each week or critique a segment from one of the Sunday morning political discussion shows. No more than two (2) articles for each of the above categories.

Neatly paste, tape, or insert into clear plastic each article. On the back, include a summary sheet with the following information:

            Publication

            Date

            Author

            Topic

            Brief Summary

Articles should be chronologically arranged and are due the first day of class in the fall.

Sources – preferably you should use “national newspapers  e.g. Boston Globe, NY Times,. Washington Post, Wall Street Journal or newsmagazines.