Professors often make their Political Science classes easy. As long as the student participates and demonstrates critical thinking in papers, it’s an easy A. Ironically, American Government is one of the harder CLEPs.
American Government is not American politics. It’s about the structure of the government rather than the political issues. As a result, you should focus your studying on the following 4 aspects:
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Have a general understanding of American history, particularly the formative years (i.e. the Continental Congress)
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Read the U.S. Constitution. Be cognizant of all its stipulations. Also, memorize the order of the Amendments (and the year that they were passed).
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Understand all of the executive departments (Defense, Interior, etc.) and their respective roles.
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Understand all the many rules of Congress. (i.e. filibustering, majority/minority leader, committees). Especially understand how members of Congress are appointed to these positions.
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Memorize the name of the most important Supreme Court cases, and why they’re important. Any book that covers the top 20 or 30 important cases may be use to you.
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Know the names important pieces of legislation each president passed into law (i.e. Homestead Act), the year and the effects they’ve had.
You don’t need to get an A on the exam or memorize every single thing, but with enough studying, process of elimination in a multiple choice test can go very far