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AP US Gov

AP United States Government and Politics

How the Constitution actually works: the branches, your rights, public opinion, and elections, built on the 14 required cases and 13 required documents.

Category
History and social sciences
Units
5 units
Exam
Exam May 4, 2027 (in 219 days)
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Unit 1 is free with an account. No card, no trial clock.

What the course covers

A complete AP U.S. Government and Politics course for the framework in effect for 2026-27. Five units follow the College Board sequence: the founding and federalism, the three branches and the bureaucracy, civil liberties and civil rights, political beliefs and public opinion, and participation through voting, parties, interest groups, campaigns, and media.

Every unit trains the four exam tasks directly: applying a concept to a fresh political scenario, reading a chart and connecting it to a principle, comparing a required Supreme Court case to one you have never seen, and writing an argument essay anchored in a foundational document. The 14 required Supreme Court cases and 13 required foundational documents, including the four added for Fall 2026, are taught at the depth the exam asks for: facts, issue, holding, reasoning, and why each one matters.

5 units, with exam weights

  1. Unit 1

    Foundations of American Democracy

    15-22% of examFree
    Why the framers built the government they did: the ideals of the Declaration, the failures of the Articles of Confederation, the compromises of the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist debate, separation of powers and checks and balances, and the shifting balance of federalism as the Supreme Court has read the Commerce, Necessary and Proper, and Supremacy Clauses.
    9 topics
    1. 1.1Ideals of Democracy
    2. 1.2Types of Democracy
    3. 1.3Government Power and Individual Rights
    4. 1.4Challenges of the Articles of Confederation
    5. 1.5Ratification of the U.S. Constitution
    6. 1.6Principles of American Government
    7. 1.7Relationship Between the States and National Government
    8. 1.8Constitutional Interpretations of Federalism
    9. 1.9Federalism in Action

  2. Unit 2

    Interactions Among Branches of Government

    25-36% of exam
    The heaviest unit on the exam. How Congress is built and how a bill really moves, how members behave under partisanship and divided government, the formal and informal powers of the president and the checks on them, judicial review and the limits on the courts, and how the federal bureaucracy turns laws into rules while Congress, the president, and the courts try to hold it accountable.
    15 topics
    1. 2.1Congress: The Senate and the House of Representatives
    2. 2.2Structures, Powers, and Functions of Congress
    3. 2.3Congressional Behavior
    4. 2.4Roles and Powers of the President
    5. 2.5Checks on the Presidency
    6. 2.6Expansion of Presidential Power
    7. 2.7Presidential Communication
    8. 2.8The Judicial Branch
    9. 2.9The Role of the Judicial Branch
    10. 2.10The Court in Action
    11. 2.11Checks on the Judicial Branch
    12. 2.12The Bureaucracy
    13. 2.13Discretionary and Rulemaking Authority
    14. 2.14Holding the Bureaucracy Accountable
    15. 2.15Policy and the Branches of Government

  3. Unit 3

    Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

    13-18% of exam
    How the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment limit government, and how the Supreme Court has balanced liberty against order: religion, speech, press, guns, criminal procedure, and privacy. Then civil rights: how social movements used the Equal Protection Clause, how Congress and the Court responded, and the ongoing tension between majority rule and minority rights. This is the unit where most required cases live.
    13 topics
    1. 3.1The Bill of Rights
    2. 3.2First Amendment: Freedom of Religion
    3. 3.3First Amendment: Freedom of Speech
    4. 3.4First Amendment: Freedom of the Press
    5. 3.5Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
    6. 3.6Amendments: Balancing Individual Freedom with Public Order and Safety
    7. 3.7Selective Incorporation
    8. 3.8Amendments: Due Process and the Rights of the Accused
    9. 3.9Amendments: Due Process and the Right to Privacy
    10. 3.10Social Movements and Equal Protection
    11. 3.11Government Responses to Social Movements
    12. 3.12Balancing Minority and Majority Rights
    13. 3.13Affirmative Action

  4. Unit 4

    American Political Ideologies and Beliefs

    10-15% of exam
    Where political beliefs come from and how they turn into policy. Core American values and their competing interpretations, political socialization, generational and life-cycle effects, how scientific polls work and when to trust them, the ideologies of the two major parties, and how liberal, conservative, and libertarian views shape economic and social policy, including fiscal and monetary policy. The most data-heavy unit.
    10 topics
    1. 4.1American Attitudes About Government and Politics
    2. 4.2Political Socialization
    3. 4.3Changes in Ideology
    4. 4.4Influence of Political Events on Ideology
    5. 4.5Measuring Public Opinion
    6. 4.6Evaluating Public Opinion Data
    7. 4.7Ideologies of Political Parties
    8. 4.8Ideology and Policymaking
    9. 4.9Ideology and Economic Policy
    10. 4.10Ideology and Social Policy

  5. Unit 5

    Political Participation

    20-27% of exam
    How citizens influence government. The amendments that expanded voting rights, models of voting behavior, what drives turnout, linkage institutions, how parties function and realign, why third parties struggle, how interest groups gain influence, how presidential and congressional elections work, campaign finance after Citizens United, and how a fragmented media environment shapes political knowledge and behavior.
    13 topics
    1. 5.1Voting Rights and Models of Voting Behavior
    2. 5.2Voter Turnout
    3. 5.3Political Parties
    4. 5.4How and Why Political Parties Change and Adapt
    5. 5.5Third-Party Politics
    6. 5.6Interest Groups Influencing Policymaking
    7. 5.7Groups Influencing Policy Outcomes
    8. 5.8Electing a President
    9. 5.9Congressional Elections
    10. 5.10Modern Campaigns
    11. 5.11Campaign Finance
    12. 5.12The Media
    13. 5.13Changing Media

The exam, part by part

5 parts, 3 h in all.

  • Section I: Multiple Choice

    Questions
    55
    Time
    1 h 20 min
    Weight
    50%

    No calculator

    Format details

    Four choices (A-D). About 30 standalone questions with no stimulus, plus stimulus sets: five quantitative sets (2-3 questions each, on a table, chart, graph, map, or infographic), two text-based sets (3-4 questions each; one uses a required foundational document, the other a primary or secondary source), and three visual sets (2 questions each, on a political cartoon, map, or infographic). Unit weighting on this section: Unit 1 15-22%, Unit 2 25-36%, Unit 3 13-18%, Unit 4 10-15%, Unit 5 20-27%.

  • Section II, Question 1: Concept Application

    Questions
    1
    Time
    20 min
    Weight
    12.5%

    No calculator

    Format details

    Task types: Concept Application

    Section II lasts 100 minutes for all four questions; 20 minutes here is the recommended pacing. Each free-response question is worth 12.5% of the score regardless of its raw points.

  • Section II, Question 2: Quantitative Analysis

    Questions
    1
    Time
    20 min
    Weight
    12.5%

    No calculator

    Format details

    Task types: Quantitative Analysis

    Recommended pacing: 20 minutes. The stimulus is a table, line or bar graph, map, or infographic.

  • Section II, Question 3: SCOTUS Comparison

    Questions
    1
    Time
    20 min
    Weight
    12.5%

    No calculator

    Format details

    Task types: SCOTUS Comparison

    Recommended pacing: 20 minutes. A summary of the non-required case is given; the required case must come from memory.

  • Section II, Question 4: Argument Essay

    Questions
    1
    Time
    40 min
    Weight
    12.5%

    No calculator

    Format details

    Task types: Argument Essay

    Recommended pacing: 40 minutes. The prompt lists three foundational documents; at least one piece of evidence must come from one of them. Document texts are not provided.

How the 1 to 5 score is set

Section I (55 multiple-choice questions) and Section II (4 free-response questions) are each worth 50% of the composite. Within Section II, each question is weighted equally at 12.5% even though the raw points differ (3, 4, 4, and 6), so one point on the Concept Application question is worth twice as much of the final score as one point on the Argument Essay. There is no penalty for wrong multiple-choice answers. The weighted composite is converted to the 1-5 AP scale using cut scores set after each administration; the cut scores are not published in advance.

What you bring and get

Fully digital exam in the Bluebook app. No calculator and no reference or formula sheet: there is nothing to look up. Every stimulus (charts, maps, cartoons, text excerpts) is printed with its question, and the SCOTUS Comparison question supplies a summary of the non-required case. The required Supreme Court cases and the foundational documents themselves are NOT provided; the argument essay only names three documents to choose from. Scratch paper is allowed for planning.

Skills the exam scores

  • 1.AConcept Application: describe

    Describe political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 1.BConcept Application: explain

    Explain how and why political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors work as they do.

  • 1.CConcept Application: compare

    Compare two political principles, institutions, processes, policies, or behaviors, naming a relevant basis for the comparison.

  • 1.DConcept Application: describe in a scenario

    Describe the principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior that a given scenario illustrates.

  • 1.EConcept Application: apply to a scenario

    Explain how a principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior plays out in, or would affect, a specific scenario.

  • 2.ASCOTUS Application: describe a required case

    Describe the facts, constitutional issue, holding, reasoning, decision, and majority opinion of a required Supreme Court case.

  • 2.BSCOTUS Application: connect a case to a source

    Explain how a required case relates to a foundational document or another primary or secondary source.

  • 2.CSCOTUS Application: compare cases

    Explain how the facts, issue, holding, reasoning, or decision of a required case compare with those of a non-required case.

  • 2.DSCOTUS Application: connect a case to a concept

    Explain how a required case relates to a political principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior.

  • 3.AData Analysis: describe the data

    Identify or describe specific data shown in a table, chart, graph, map, or infographic.

  • 3.BData Analysis: describe a pattern

    Describe a pattern, trend, similarity, or difference in the data.

  • 3.CData Analysis: draw a conclusion

    Explain a pattern or trend in order to draw a supported conclusion.

  • 3.DData Analysis: connect data to a concept

    Explain what the data implies or illustrates about a political principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior.

  • 3.EData Analysis: limits of the data

    Explain possible limitations of the data provided, such as sample, timeframe, or what was measured.

  • 3.FData Analysis: limits of the visual

    Explain possible limitations of how the data is visually represented.

  • 4.ASource Analysis: describe the source

    Describe the argument, perspective, evidence, and reasoning in a text or visual source.

  • 4.BSource Analysis: connect the source

    Explain how the argument or perspective in a source relates to political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 4.CSource Analysis: implications

    Explain how the implications of a source's argument could affect political principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 4.DSource Analysis: visual elements

    Explain how the visual elements of a cartoon, map, or infographic illustrate or relate to political concepts.

  • 5.AArgumentation: claim

    Articulate a defensible claim or thesis that establishes a line of reasoning.

  • 5.BArgumentation: evidence

    Support a claim with specific and relevant evidence.

  • 5.CArgumentation: reasoning

    Use reasoning to organize and analyze evidence, explaining why it supports the claim.

  • 5.DArgumentation: rebuttal

    Respond to an opposing or alternate perspective with rebuttal or refutation.