Teaching Government/Political

Science

Teach different forms of government Pro’s and con’s of each Where do we find them?

We’re not the only game in town

Presidential vs. Parliamentary Democracy Monarchy Theocracy Dictatorship Anarchy

So many choices…

What is Democracy? What is Socialism? What is Communism? What are the differences? Are there similarities? Mixed forms of each Advantages and disadvantages?

Define, describe, compare, contrast…

Representational vs. Direct Democracy Which is better? How citizens participate in a democracy

◦ Voting, learning about candidates, running for office, campaigning for others, protests, mass movements, etc.

◦ Loewen: teach change from the bottom up, not top down, if you want to teach citizenship

Democracy: what does it mean?

No one The role of the Electoral College Why it was created How it works Positive and negative arguments What do you (your students) think? Why?

Who did you vote for in the Presidential Election?

A Federal System Balances states’ rights, peoples’ rights, and

federal power 10th Amendment and the 14th Amendment:

how the balance has changed over time Different state laws Which power has jurisdiction? Constant tension/evolution of this balance

How the U.S. Government is set up

Separation of Powers/Balance of Powers: more like shared powers

Concept: Power is divided Checks and balances How does it work? Does it always work? Depends on the will of the people to make it

work: the system doesn’t work on its own

The 3 Branches of Government

Legislative Branch (aka Congress, aka House of Representatives and Senate) makes the law◦ How a bill becomes a law, or doesn’t

Executive Branch (aka the President) executes the law

Judicial Branch interprets the law: is it Constitutional?

Roles of the 3 Branches

Judicial Branch originally small and weak until Marbury vs. Madison and “judicial review”

Judicial Branch is not supposed to create policy or law with its rulings

Teach various court levels and systems Cases work their way up to the Supreme

Court

Branches have changed over time

Originally much smaller and less powerful Fear of imperial power War and crisis increased size of executive

branch Compare to today: Cabinets, budget, staff,

amount of influence over our daily lives http:www/whitehouse.gov

Executive Branch has really grown

It’s really small! Teach the contents: Preamble, Articles,

Amendments Focus on Bill of Rights, but don’t forget the

others Was the Constitution radical or

conservative: or, does power change people once they get it?

Rights have expanded. Who is still left out? What do you (students) think of that?

The Constitution

Definition/difference between Liberal and Conservative

Democrats, Republicans, Socialist Party (gasp!), Green Party, other parties

The process of getting people elected: caucuses, primaries, elections, etc.

The Political Process

Image making and advertising techniques Name calling, transfer, bandwagon, plain

folks, testimonial, card stacking, glittering generalities

The roll of the polls How technology allows politicians to change

their message Media bias

The Role of the Media

The role of U.S. foreign policy The concept of “realpolitik” The role of multinational corporations

The U.S. and the World

Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago http://www.whitehouse.gov We the People Foundation

http:/www.wethepeople.gov Flocabulary.com

A short list of resources