Political Parties, Campaigns and Elections, Interest Groups

AP Government
Unit 3 Reading Guide – Chapters 8, 9, and 10

Use this to guide your reading through the unit. It is strongly recommended that you take notes, as they will
assist you for quizzes and tests.

Objectives:
Chapter 8
8.1 Identify the functions that political parties perform in the 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.

Chapter 9
9.1 Evaluate the fairness of our current system of presidential primaries and caucuses.
9.2 Explain the key objectives of any political campaign.
9.3 Outline how the financing of federal campaigns is regulated by campaign finance laws.
9.4 Determine why campaigns have an important yet limited impact on election outcomes.
9.5 Identify the factors that influence whether people vote.
9.6 Assess the impact of party identification, candidate evaluations, and policy opinions on voting behavior.
9.7 Evaluate the fairness of the Electoral College system for choosing the president.
9.8 Assess the advantages and disadvantages of the U.S. system of campaigns and elections.

Chapter 10
10.1 Describe the role of interest groups in America.
10.2 Compare and contrast the theories of pluralism, elitism, hyperpluralism.
10.3 Analyze the factors that make some interest groups more successful than others in the political arena.
10.4 Assess the four basic strategies that interest groups use to try to shape policy.
10.5 Identify the various types of interest groups and their policy concerns.
10.6 Evaluate how well Madison’s ideas for controlling the influence of interest groups have worked in practice.

Readings
Edwards textbook Chapters 8, 9 and 10

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1/7 1/8 1/9 1/10 1/11 1/12
8.1 8.1 + 8.3 8.5 8.5, 8.6 + 8.7
Unit 4 Vocab Ch 8 Quiz Opens
Opens
1/13 1/14 1/15 1/16 1/17 1/18 1/19
Ch 8 Quiz 9.1 9.7 9.7 9.7
Closes primaries, electoral college electoral college Ch 9 Quiz Opens
caucuses,
conventions
1/20 1/21 1/22 1/23 1/24 1/25 1/26
NO SCHOOL 9.2 9.3 9.4 + 9.5 Unit 4
Ch 9 Quiz Closes Written Exam

1/27 1/28 1/301/29 1/31 2/1

10.1 + 10.2 10.510.3 + 10.4 Unit 4 MC Exam
Unit 4 Vocab Due
*STUDENTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INFORMATION PRESENTED IN CLASS, READINGS, NOTES, AND HOMEWORK