AP Government 2015

Name:
Unit 3: Political Parties, Interest Groups & Mass Media
Calendar & Learning Objectives (Chapters 8, 11, 7)
Day #

Date

Friday
2/6

Monday
2/9

Tasks

Quiz Chapter 8
PPt Political Parties (wyhtk)
Introduce EngagED AP Gov Project

Reading/Assignments
HW: GR Ch 11 and
Vocabulary
Research 3 Public
Meetings

Quiz Chapter 11
Return & Review FRQ for Unit 2 Exam
We Need a Second Party (Thomas Friedman)

HW: We Need a
Second Party

Wednesday
2/11

PPt Interest Groups (wyhtk)

Political Party PPt Project Intro

HW: GR Ch 7 and
Vocabulary

Wednesday
2/18

Political Party PPt Project Work In Class

HW: Finish PPts

Friday
2/20

Political Party Presentations in Class

HW: FRQ Prax

Monday
2/23

PPt Mass Media (wyhtk)

Unit Review
FRQ Practice Review

HW: Unit 3 Review

Study for Test

Unit 3 Test

HW Unit 4
Worksheets

Wednesday
2/25

Note: Your instructor reserves the right to amend, add to, subtract from this
calendar as necessary. Please make changes accordingly on this calendar if
necessary.

Learning Objectives for Unit 3: Political Parties, Interest Groups &

Mass Media

(Chapters 8, 11, 7)

Characteristics, organization, and

Interest groups and political action
history of political parties
committees
Impact of key elections
Legislation affecting the political
Voting patterns and the effect on the
process
The mass media and its effect on
political process
politics
Laws that affect elections

Learning Objectives Chapter 8: Political Parties (page 225)

8.1
Identify the functions that political parties perform in American democracy.

8.2
Determine the significance of party identification in America today.

8.3
Describe how political parties are organized in the United States.

8.4
Evaluate how well political parties generally do in carrying out their promises.

8.5
Differentiate the various party eras in American history.

8.6
Assess both the impact of third parties on American politics and their limitations.

8.7
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of responsible party government.

Learning Objectives Chapter 11: Interest Groups (page 304)

11.1
Describe the role of interest groups in American politics.

11.2
Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, and hyperpluralism.

11.3
Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in
the political arena.

11.4
Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy.

11.5
Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns.

11.6
Evaluate how well Madisons ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups
have worked in practice.

Learning Objectives Chapter 7: Mass Media & the Political Agenda (page 196)

7.1
Describe how American politicians choreograph their messages through the mass
media

7.2
Outline the key developments in the history of mass media and American politics.

7.3
List major criteria that determine which news stories receive the most media
attention.

7.4
Analyze the impact the media has on what policy issues Americans think about.

7.5
Explain how policy entrepreneurs employ media strategies to influence the public
agenda.
7.6
Assess the impact of the mass media on the scope of government and democracy
in America.