AP United States Government

Student of AP American Government & Politics:                                                          

Greetings and salutations!  Here it is!  The summer assignment!  Now, I realize that it’s the summer and you probably don’t want to read anything, but this assignment will be both enjoyable and enlightening.  This assignment will be due to me on the first day of class, September 4^th, 2008.  This is a fairly comprehensive assignment, so don’t wait to do it the last week of summer…pace yourself and work on it over the summer.  I look forward to meeting all of you and learning our governmental system in the fall.  Until then, have a great summer and be safe!

Assignment:

Some political pundits are stating that this presidential election is the most important one in over sixty years.  With an outgoing administration that has certainly alienated people, both inside and outside of our country, this statement certainly has some merit to it.  The question that needs to be answered will be, ‘Who will be the next president of the United States?’  Since you will be taking the AP American Government course, I am assuming that each of you has an interest in politics and the election outcome.  Many of you will be voting for the first time.  How do you make your decision?  Will you mirror your parents view points or rebel?  Will you vote strictly on partisan lines?  Will you vote based on the status of the economy or the war in Iraq?  These are just a couple of questions that pollsters and political wonks would like to know.  That being said, I am going to require you to research the candidates and the issues that will decide the fate of the American Republic.

I.                   The candidates:

  You are to focus on THREE candidates.  I realize that you will undoubtedly profile Senators John McCain and Barak Obama, but you will also have to find information on a third candidate.  This person will prove to be a bit more problematic, so start researching early.  I would like a ONE to TWO page biographical summary of each candidate.  Please do not simply copy and paste a bio straight from a website.  Try to become a little creative in presenting the candidates.

II.                The issues:

There are many issues that people focus on and ultimately vote for.  You are to pick FOUR issues and for each one, find THREE articles that pertain to the issue, copy it, and summarize the article in 3-4 paragraphs.  You must be able to have TWELVE (fours issues X three articles) for each candidate.  So you will be looking at THIRTY SIX articles total.  Some possible categories are:

A.     The Economy.  This is a very broad category.  You can focus on tax- code position, home mortgage/foreclosure crisis, farm and business subsidies, budget/spending position, foreign trade stance (NAFTA, etc.). 

B.      War on Terrorism, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.  This issue will prove to be the easiest in finding information from the two main candidates, and you will see the stark differences between them.  You are to search for articles that state the positions taken by the candidates, not opinion articles on their stances, although these op-ed pieces may help you to better understand the candidates’ positions.

C.     Foreign Policy.  Aside from trade and the war on terror, what is your candidate’s position on events that are occurring in other countries?  Some examples might be: The ruling Junta in Myanmar, The controversial elections in Zimbabwe, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear capabilities.  This category could be a little difficult to fill the quota, but I do believe that you can do it.

D.     Social Issues.  Where does the candidate stand on: Gay Marriage, Abortion, entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Gun control, etc.  You do not have to focus on just one category here, but rather, you can spread it around and choose three different issues.

E.      Education.  How does your candidate feel about charter schools?  School vouchers?  No Child Left Behind?  How will the United States address the severe gap that has emerged between us and other industrialized nations on our students’ poor performance in math and science?  These are all concerns of Americans as they cast their votes.

F.      Energy Policy.  What are some of the suggestions by the candidates to alleviate the dependency of the United States on Middle Eastern countries due to our oil and gas consumption?  This issue is a hot one right now, so I don’t imagine that you will have a difficult time finding articles on their stances.

G.     Immigration.  Again, this is a hot topic in our country right now.  Where does each candidate stand on the border, is it safe enough? What else can be done?  Is the fence the right idea?  Should we stop all immigration to our country?  These are questions that range throughout our society regarding this topic.

H.     Health Care.  Here is another issue that is not only divisive, but is at the center of the campaign this year.  Should the government be responsible to keep prescription drugs affordable to every American?  Should the government offer/subsidize universal health care?  Should the market be the driving force behind people’s choices and coverage?  What is each candidate’s position? 

 OVER

Again, these are but a handful of issues that the candidates are running on this year.  One student might feel that our energy policy is the most important issue whereas another student might feel that the war on terrorism is paramount.  If I have forgotten any issues, please feel free to research it and present it in your paper.  Please remember, you are covering FOUR issues for each of the THREE candidates that you are profiling.

III.               Your position paper.

After you have compiled all of this information and have become better acquainted with the candidates, I would like you to answer this simple question in a 3-5 page position essay: “Which of these candidates is the best choice for America in this election?” Basically you are making your statement for whom you will support and why you are supporting that candidate.  Please use the information that you have compiled to support your endorsement, and not negative attacks on any of the candidates.

IV.              Bibliography. 

I would like you to document the sources that you have used, whether they are newspapers, magazines, television, or the internet.  I have provided a small listing below of sources that will be helpful, but it is not complete in providing all the content that you will need.  Just about all of these sources are accessible on the internet, just use a search engine to access them.

            Newspapers:

                        New York Times

                        Wall Street Journal

                        Washington Post

                        Christian Science Monitor

                        USA Today

            Periodicals/magazines

                        Time

                        Newsweek

                        New Republic

                        Atlantic Monthly

                        Harpers

                        The Nation

                        The Daily Standard

            Television

                        News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS)à least slant

                        Face the Nation

                        Hard Ball

                        Meet the Press

                        Charlie Rose

            Internet

            Again, all of the sources from above do have web-sites, which will allow you to access the articles that they have covered.  There are also many more sites that I do encourage you to visit.  Please be careful, many of them do have some sort of bias, or preference of ideology and candidates.  It is your job to try to keep your summaries of the candidates as objective as you possibly can.  I am sure that you will visit some sights that I have never either visited or heard of.  Again, print any articles that you are going to use and then attach them to your summary. 

If you should experience any stumbling blocks or are just having a difficult time finding sources, I suggest visit your local library and ask for assistance from the librarian.  If you have some time, I also suggest that you visit Barnes and Nobles bookstore and check out the current events section of the magazine rack for some articles and information on the candidates.  If these ideas don’t pan out any information for you, then write me an e-mail at either of these two addresses: jfeicht@acsdny.org or feicht@earthlink.net  I will respond to you within a day or two.  If I haven’t, for some strange reason, returned your e-mail, then please give me a call at (845) 483-9298.

 This assignment is not meant to scare any of you from the class.  One purpose is to get acclimated to the level and amount of work that you will have to do in order to be successful in the AP American Government course.  Another reason is so that you become a more informed citizen and can make sound judgments.  I hope that you enjoy this assignment and learn a tremendous amount of information, not only about the candidates, but the issues that our country is facing.  Have a great, enjoyable, and restful summer!  I will see you in the fall.

                                                                                    J. Feicht

Printable Version