AP U.S. Government and Politics Past Exam Questions

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Free-Response Questions

Download free-response questions from past exams along with scoring guidelines, sample responses from exam takers, and scoring distributions.

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2021: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions - Set 1

Free-Response Questions - Set 2

Scoring Guidelines - Set 1

Scoring Guidelines - Set 2

Chief Reader Report

Scoring Statistics - Set 1

Scoring Statistics - Set 2

Sample Responses Q1 - Set 1

Sample Responses Q1 - Set 2

Sample Responses Q2 - Set 1

Sample Responses Q2 - Set 2

Sample Responses Q3 - Set 1

Sample Responses Q3 - Set 2

Sample Responses Q4 - Set 1

Sample Responses Q4 - Set 2

Scoring Distributions

The 2020 free-response questions are available in the AP Classroom question bank.

2019: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Chief Reader Report

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Scoring Distributions
2018: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Chief Reader Report

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

 Scoring Distributions
2017: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Chief Reader Report

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Scoring Distributions
2016: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2015: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2014: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2013: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

Free-Response Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2012: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2011: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2010: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Score Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Score Distributions
2009: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Grade Distributions
2008: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Grade Distributions
2007: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Grade Distributions
2006: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples and Commentary Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses Q1

Sample Responses Q2

Sample Responses Q3

Sample Responses Q4

Grade Distributions
2005: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Responses

Grade Distributions
Questions Scoring Samples Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Student Performance Q&A

Scoring Statistics

Sample Response Q1

Sample Response Q2

Sample Response Q3

Sample Response Q4

Grade Distributions
2003: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Scoring Statistics

Sample Response Q1

Sample Response Q2

Sample Response Q3

Sample Response Q4

Grade Distributions
2002: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples Grade Distributions

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Student Performance Q&A

Sample Response Q1

Sample Response Q2

Sample Response Q3

Sample Response Q4

Grade Distributions
2001: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Student Performance Q&A

Sample Response Q1

Sample Response Q2

Sample Response Q3

Sample Response Q4
2000: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Sample Response Q1

Sample Response Q2

Sample Response Q3

Sample Response Q4
1999: Free-Response Questions
Questions Scoring Samples

All Questions

Scoring Guidelines

Scoring Commentary

Sample Response Q1

Sample Response Q2

Sample Response Q3

Sample Response Q4