Understanding AP U.S. Government & Politics Unit 4

Things You Should Know There are 5 units of study defined by the College Board. Your course modules will fall into one of these five units. This fourth unit is titled American Political Ideologies and Beliefs and 10-15% of the AP Exam questions will come from it. Here's what you should know:

Developing Understanding

Connecting the application of political science methods to the development of social and economic policies that Americans support, advocate for, and adopt is foundational to understanding the ideologies of political parties and patterns of political participation. American political beliefs are shaped by founding ideals, core values, linkage institutions (i.e., elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media in all its forms), and the changing demographics of citizens. These beliefs about government, politics, and the individual’s role in the political system influence the creation of public policies.

Big Idea 4	Big Idea 5
*Competing Policymaking Interests*	*Methods of Political Analysis*
How do our core beliefs about the role of government affect our behavior? How does our view of what freedom is shape our opinions?	Why are some opinion polls better than others? How can policymakers use information from political science to make decisions?

Building the Course Skills

This unit provides a great opportunity to integrate data analysis with an investigation of American attitudes about government and politics, how those attitudes develop and change over time, and how political scientists measure and evaluate political attitudes and behaviors. Students should be able to correctly interpret and connect what they see in the data to course concepts in order to draw conclusions. Drawing conclusions requires students to make inferences based on the patterns and trends in the data and their knowledge of political concepts.

This is also a good time to have students analyze political concepts from secondary sources and explain how they relate to a political concept. Books by political scientists, opinion pieces in major publications, and scholarly online articles will often connect to current events and be a great resource. Students should analyze the argument, considering how the author responds to opposing or differing perspectives.

Preparing for the AP Exam

The AP Exam requires students to analyze quantitative data presented visually and apply that analysis to their understanding of political concepts in both the multiple-choice and free-response sections.

In both types of questions, students will need to be able to: (1) identify and describe the data, (2) describe patterns or trends in data, (3) draw conclusions about patterns or trends in data, and (4) explain how the data relates or demonstrates a political concept, principle, or behavior.

Students often struggle to connect conclusions drawn from data to political concepts, such as behavior. Encourage them to take their conclusions further and explain the relationship. Political scientists use data and their knowledge of political institutions and processes to explain how, for example, members of a political party, voters, or interest groups may react to certain public opinion data.

Key Vocab icon

Download a copy of the Unit 4: American Political Ideologies and Beliefs Vocabulary / Specific Factual Information from CED here.

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