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xxiiDesigned for exam success The 2nd Edition covers everything you need to know to prep for the exam Read the stories. absorb the nuts-and-bolts facts and concepts that you are studying. Most importantly, connect the facts to concepts. Use the stories to more deeply understand the complexity of american government and politics. Use them to understand the many voices that are a part of the national conversation. Use the stories to make your own arguments stronger, better supported, and more effective. the stories told in this book illustrate how big questions are resolved and revisited through politics, the process of influencing the actions and policies of a government. Politics and government are closely connected, but they are not the same. Politics describes processes; government describes the institutions that make up the system of policymaking within a country. throughout the book, you will hear from people who have firsthand experience with government and politics, who have engaged with those institutions, and who have taken part in those processes. We will begin with the stories of two students who were suspended from school. in the first story, a boy in oregon was suspended for wearing a tee shirt supporting President trump%u2019s proposal to build a wall between the southern border of the United states and Mexico. the second case did not involve political speech. a%u00a0young woman in Pennsylvania was suspended for writing a profanity-laced tirade directed at her school and posting it on snapchat. Despite the different circumstances, both stories represent the tension between individual liberty and school administrators%u2019 efforts to maintain order. throughout this book, we will witness the efforts of many kinds of people who have wrestled with the meaning of fundamental rights in american democracy and see how they, as individuals and groups, have fought for their rights. politics the process of influencing the actions and policies of government. government the institutions that make uthe system of policymaking LEARNING TARGETS After reading this chapter, you will be able to do the following: 1.1 Describe how students have asserted their First amendment rights 1.2 Describe how the ideals of democracy are embodied in the Declaration of independence and the U.s. Constitution 1.3 explain and compare models of democracy 1.4 explain how the United states balances government power and individual rights 1.1 Student Free Speech Rights Addison Barnes walked into his politics class at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, Oregon, wearing a tee shirt with the words %u201cDonald J Trump Border Wall Construction Co.%u201d at the top, an image of a brick wall underneath them, and the words %u201cThe Wall Just Got 1.1 %u2022 student Free speech Rights CONCEPTS & SKILLS immigrants, including those shown here at ellis island in new York, celebrate their citizenship at a swearing-in ceremony, where they Unit 1 pledge their allegiance to the United states. Foundations of American Democracy 2 Our voices matter. The U.S. Constitution is based on the idea that sovereignty comes from the people and government is limited. The Constitution balances individual freedom, order, and equality of opportunity. Our first form of government, the Articles of Confederation, failed to create a stable nation, so the Founding Fathers devised a new system that gave more power to the national government. Under this new system, power is divided among the president, a two-house legislature, and the federal courts. Each branch of government checks the others to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful. Power is also divided between the national government and the states. This causes continuing controversy over how much power the states should have compared to the national government. Ratification of the Constitution did not end the controversy over how power is shared in America, and we continue to debate how best to balance liberty, order, and equality. Chapter 1american Government and Politics Chapter 2 the Constitution Chapter 3 Federalism 3 the american Revolution was based on the idea that sovereignty comes from the people and government is limited. Revolutionary War reenactors, like the ones shown here at Minute Man national Historical Park in lincoln, Massachusetts, pay tribute to america%u2019s victory over Great Britain. JeenaH Moon/the new York times/Redux (opposite); JosePH PReZioso/Getty images (right) Meticulously Aligned to the AP %u00ae U.S. Government and Politics Course This book has been painstakingly aligned to the course. Each book unit corresponds to a unit in the course framework. We%u2019ve kept the coverage brief and targeted to make the book and, thus, the course more manageable for you. Easy-to-Use Organization With so many concepts and skills to learn, the AP %u00ae course can be daunting. To help, each unit is broken into manageable chapters, and each chapter is broken into tightly focused sections guided by learning targets that reflect the exam%u2019s essential knowledge requirements, delivering the content, skills, and practice opportunities in easy-to-use chunks. %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.