AP US Government Free Response: Concept Application Example

Free AP US Government Tests

AP US Government Free Response: Concept Application Example 1

After answering the AP Government Concept Application FRQ, you can evaluate this sample response, which would receive a perfect score:

Sample Student Response

(A) Congress has the power of the purse, which means that it funds the government, including the United States military.

(B) The President could assert his power as Commander-in-Chief as laid out in Article II of the Constitution and ignore the War Powers Act on constitutional grounds.

(C) The conflict between Congress and the President reflects separation of powers doctrine since each branch of government can use a constitutional power that is given in the Constitution (raise and support an army v. commander-in-chief) to assert its authority in war making policy.

You can use the detailed scoring guidelines below to review your answer to this free response question:

Scoring Guideline for Question 1: Concept Application: 3 points

(A) Describe the power that Congress used in the scenario to pass the War Powers Act requiring the President to consult with Congress during foreign conflict.

Acceptable descriptions include:

  • Congress has the power to raise and support an army, which gives it authority to require the President to consult with it during times of conflict.
  • Congress has the power of oversight and provides funding for the military, which gives it authority to require the President to consult with it during times of conflict. 
 1 point

(B) In the context of the scenario, describe an action that the President can take to counteract the Congressional power referenced in A.

Acceptable explanations include:

  • The president could ignore the War Powers Act due to a claim that he is the Commander-in-Chief and has sole authority to wage war.
  • The President could challenge the War Powers Act in federal courts.
 1 point

(C) Explain how the conflict between Congress and the President referenced in the scenario reflects a principle in the Constitution.

Acceptable explanations include:

  • This conflict between the two branches of government reflects the principle of separation of powers since each branch uses powers given to it (Article1-raise and support army and Article 2-Commader-in-Chief) to get the upper hand in war making policy.
  • This conflict between the two branches of government reflects the principle of checks and balances since Congress attempted to use its power of raise and support an army to check the President’s Commander-in-Chief power.
 1 point

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Next: FRQ Example 2

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