<p>All of the AP US Government and Politics review books claim to provide "the best and most complete coverage" a student needs to ace the AP US Government and Politics exam. But are these claims really true? Which review book really does provide the best preparation for the AP US Government and Politics exam?</p>
<p>The College Board just released the 2009 AP US Government and Politics exam. None of the review books had access to the exam. As a result, it provides a rigorous and up-to-date way to evaluate the review books. I began by evaluating the new AP US Government and Politics Crash Course book. I was shocked by the findings I am presenting below. I promise to also review other review books. Please be patient. This takes longer to do than I thought.</p>
<p>The test included 60 multiple-choice questions worth 1 point each. Twenty-five (25) of these questions involved key terms. The test also included 4 essay questions worth 15 points each.</p>
<p>AP US Government and Politics Crash Course - 179 pages/$9.56 on Amazon</p>
<p>The Crash Course book is direct, well-organized and solely focused on key information that will translate into points.</p>
<p>As noted above, 25 of the 60 multiple-choice questions on the 2009 exam tested key concepts. Chapter 2 in Crash Course contains a glossary of 88 key terms organized by topic. Anyone who has studied AP US Government knows that 88 terms is actually a relatively small number of those in a typical AP Government text. The Crash Course glossary produced 21 hits out of 25 questions. (The other 4 terms were defined elsewhere in the book). That is both amazing and efficient. So if you reviewed the 88 terms in the Crash Course Key Terms chapter you could earn 21 of the 91 points you need for a 5.</p>
<p>The Crash Course success was not limited to the Key Terms chapter. The book includes a thematic chapter that reviews 30 key Supreme Court cases. Keep in mind that many teachers give their students lists with well over 50 Supreme Court cases. Even so, Crash Course insisted that all students had to do was study these 30 cases. Were they right? Yes, the 2009 exam included 4 multiple-choice questions on SC cases and all 4 were in the Crash Course top 30 chapter.</p>
<p>Teachers and texts also provide their students with long lists of Congressional acts. The Crash Course Key Acts of Congress chapter discusses just 10 acts. However, once again, Crash Course scored hits. The 2009 exam had two questions about key acts and both were in this chapter.</p>
<p>So if you just ready the Key Terms, Key Supreme Court Cases, and Key Acts of Congress chapters you would score 27 points.</p>
<p>All in all, Crash Course scored hits on 56 of the 60 multiple-choice questions. I have carefully examined the Crash Course book to see how it performed on each of the four free-response questions. Crash Course provided clear and complete answers for 24 of the 25 points. This would earn a student 58 points.</p>
<p>It is of course true that you could study any of the textbooks and if you remembered all the facts you would score a 150 out of 150. What makes Crash Course so unique is that it is relatively brief and therefore extremely efficient. If you are using a copy please share your thoughts.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I will review some of the other leading review book and see how they performed.</p>
<p>Great; thanks for sharing. The AP teacher at my school recommends, PR. Wondered when you had a chance, which of the 2 are better. Typically I use the crash course when I know the topic pretty well.</p>
<p>Just started working on PR. As noted above, terms are very important. The Princeton Review book has a glossary with 171 terms. This glossary scored hits on 17 of the 25 terms that generated multiple-choice questions on the 2009 AP US Government exam. I’ll have a full report tomorrow.</p>
<p>Princeton Review: Cracking the AP US Government and Politics Exam
$12.91 on Amazon/308 pages</p>
<p>A careful analysis of the Princeton Review reveals that it would only generate 39 hits on the 60 multiple-choice questions on the 2009 AP US Government and Politics. Although PR provides a 171 word glossary as well as a number of pages with lists of terms it would only score hits on 17 of the 25 terms that generated multiple-choice questions.</p>
<p>PR’s performance on the 2009 free-response questions was even worse. PR would at best generate 33 - 34 points our of the 60 possible points. Skeptics who have a copy of PR should go to AP Central and take a look at the 4 questions. You will see that Question 2 contains questions on voting behavior that are entirely omitted in the PR.</p>
<p>The PR AP US Government and Politics book is badly flawed. Although it is 308 pages long, most of the space is consumed by two practice tests, lists of terms, sample questions, and even blank pages. Key topics such as voting are not discussed. Key terms such as devolution, political efficacy, inherent powers (this was the most missed question on the 09 exam), and even stare decisis were omitted.</p>
<p>I realize the PR’s legion of devout fans will be surprised. But guys, facts are facts. Look for yourself. </p>
<p>So to conclude, a student who only used PR and could recall every detail in the book would at best score a 73 or 3 on the 2009 AP test.</p>
<p>I’m working out of Princeton Review right now for my US gov review, but I will promptly be switching over to Crash Course as my main source while using PR as a supplement. Thank you!</p>
<p>wow dark night thanx for that shocking info on pr all of the uppercalssmen in my school used pr and got 4s or 5s but i guess that includes all we learnt in class wow I have pr crash course and cliffnotes for government and I now know not to trust pr!
I wonder about cliffnotes?
Crash course is amazing!</p>
<p>You are no doubt right. Your class masked the weaknesses in PR. Here are two questions from the 2009 AP US Government and Politics exam. As an experiment use PR and Crash Course to answer them:</p>
<p>Which of the following best describes the concept of political efficacy?</p>
<p>A. It is the belief that the average citizen can make little or no difference in an election.
B. It is the belief that an intelligent voting decision cannot be made without information.
C. It is the belief that the media must provide unbiased information for citizens to be able to make well-informed choices.
D. It is the belief that one can make a difference in politics by expressing an opinion and acting politically.
E. It is the belief that politicians must keep the electorate well-informed if they are to govern efficiently. </p>
<p>Giving state governments greater discretion in deciding how to achieve the specific goals of welfare reform is an example of </p>
<p>A. an unfunded mandate
B. implied powers
C. dual federalism
D. devolution
E. affirmative action</p>
<p>Here is free-response Question 2. Once again compare PR and Crash Course.</p>
<p>a. Describe how each of the following is related to the likelihood of voting
. Age
. Education
b. Identify one current government electoral requirement that decreases voter turnout. Explain how it decreases voter turnout.
c. Identify one linkage institution other than elections and explain two ways it connects citizens to government.</p>
<p>Political efficacy is D. State government powers is D, although C is a nice distractor.</p>
<p>For the FRQ, I’m going to take a quick stab at it based on prior knoweldge.</p>
<p>a. Voters tend to vote more with age (although obviously at a certain point, generally around retirement, voting might go down simply because of physical constraints). Voters tend to vote more with education, as they understand the issues more and the need to make a difference.</p>
<p>b. The voting age of 18 decreases voter turnout. Although trends show that there is a greater voter turnout with increased age, there are still people under the age of 18 - myself included - who want to vote. Their voices are not being counted.</p>
<p>c. Another linkage institution is the media. The media connects citizens to the government by broadcasting the candidate’s platforms (informs them of who they are voting for) and by broadcasting current events (informs them of what is going on in the government). Citizens can also contribute back to the government through the media through interviews with the common man.</p>
<p>^ Good work! D is the answer to both MCs. For the free-response question For parts (a) and (b) in the essay see Crash Course pages 53 - 56. You will see why I am so enthusiastic about this book. For (c) see Crash Course pages 58 (for political parties) 65 (for interest groups) and 76 for Mass Media.</p>