To: &= nbsp; All AP US Government Students

From: Mr. Balazs

Re: &= nbsp; Pre-Course requirements

In light of the short time frame between the beginning= of the Spring Semester and the AP exam period, and, consistent with other AP courses at DHS, prior to the first day of class you are expected to complet= e a number assignments.

Pick up a TEXTBOOK!!!.=
Read Hardball by Chris Matthews (updated version) available in paperback from most bookstores. You will be responsible to wr= ite a paper writing about a current event topic and relating it to the book = Hardball. THE SPECIFIC CURRENT EVENT AND MORE DETAILS ON THE ASSIGNMENT WILL BE POSTED ON MY WEBSITE AFTER THE DECEMBER HOLIDAY BREAK. The assignment = will be due on the first Monday after classes for the second semester begin= .
On a weekly basis, read the Sunday Week in Review section of the NY Times (this is available for free online). You are responsible for articles dealing with politics and government from Sun= day November 7, 2010 through the rest of the fall semester. The current event test (1<= sup>st day) will be drawn from the Week in Review Section, exclusively. You are expected to read arti= cles that not only deal with politics in the nation but American culture amongst other things. Yo= u will not be tested on events happening overseas, unless they have a signifi= cant impact on the US.
Be able to identify the individuals representing = the following positions listed below on the accompanying page, as well as their political party If you regularly read = the paper as required, you will have little to no trouble identifying most= of the people and organizations listed.

On the first day of class we will h= ave a current events and identification test.

Read Chapters 1 and 2 of the text and Federalist Paper No. 10 and No. 51.
Purchase the Barron’s AP US Government. Beginning in April, I will provide regular review sessions. The sessio= ns will be on Saturdays.
If you would like to get ahead in the course, the= re are numerous articles that you will be responsible for over the semest= er that I will make available on my webpage. In addition, you can also read ahead in the textbook. I= f you wish to purchase a textbook for your own home use, which you will be a= ble to mark-up, they are available from Houghton-Mifflin

First day of Course- Responsible for the persons in th= ese positions as of January 15, 2010

President (Whitehouse.gov)

V-P

The following Cabinet Secretaries (current)

Defense

State

Treasury

Health and Human Services

Education

Attorney General

Transportation

Other Executive Department= s

Chief of Staff

Senior Advisor to the President

National Security Adviser

CIA

Chair of Council of Economic Advisors

US Ambassador to the UN

Congress/House (house.gov)

Identify the # of Republicans/Democrats/Other in House= and Senate respectively

Speaker

Majority Leader

Minority Leader

Majority Whip

Chairman of Ways and Means Committee

Chairman of House Energy and Commerce Committee

Representative for Fairfield County area

Senate (Senat= e.gov)

Majority Leader

Minority Leader

Majority Whip

Chairman of Finance Committee

Ranking leader of the Finance Committee

Chairman of the subcommittee on Health Care (see Finan= ce Committee)

Ct. Senators &= nbsp; &nbs= p;

Think Tanks <= /b>(identify political orientation of each organization- don't rely on their website, since all of them will say non-partisan)

Heritage Foundation        &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;            &= nbsp;           &nbs= p;

Brookings Institute

American Enterprise Institute

Cato Foundation

Center for American Progress

Supreme Court=

Chief Justice

Name at least 2 Republican Appointees in addition to t= he Chief Justice

Name at least 2 Democratic Appointees

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