United States Government

United States Government

Examine the basic concepts of democracy.

Examine the fundamental principles and philosophies that shaped the government of the United States.

Evaluate the basic organization and function of the United States government.

Analyze the creation and implementation of public policy in the United States.

Analyze of the role of federalism in addressing the distribution of power between the national, state, and local governments.

Differentiate civil rights from civil liberties and describe how each have been interpreted and amended throughout United States' history.

Describe the role and function of linkage institutions such as the media, interest groups, political parties, and political action committees, on the citizens and federal government.

Describe and evaluate the role, rights, and responsibility of a citizen in the American democracy.

Evaluate the fundamental worth and dignity of the individual that all persons are entitled to life, liberty, and due process of law.

Examine the equality of all citizens under the law.

Compare and contrast majority rule and minority rights.

Evaluate the necessity of compromise.

Define freedom of the individual.

Compare and contrast private and civic life.

Analyze the relationship between politics and government.

Trace the development of Athenian democracy and the Roman republic.

Explain how the Magna Carta, English Petition of Right, and English Bill of Rights and their significance on the foundational documents of the United States.

Examine the writings of Hobbes, Locke, and Montesquieu.

Describe guarantee of the "rights of Englishmen" that had been violated by the British government through statutory regulation in Colonial America.

Evaluate the Articles of Confederation as a ruling document.

Analyze the natural rights philosophy expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Examine the importance of Shay's Rebellion in the formation of the Constitution.

Analyze the different beliefs of the Founding Fathers at the Constitutional Convention.

Analyze how the United States Constitution balances classical republican concern of promotion of the public good and the classical liberal concern of protecting individual rights.

Discuss how liberal constitutionalism and democracy are joined in the Declaration of Independence as "self-evident truths."

Describe how the Founding Fathers' realistic view of human nature led directly to the establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the governors and the governed as articulated in the Federalist Papers (e.g., checks and balances, the importance of an independent judiciary, enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, etc.).

Analyze the creation of the Bill of Rights that guarantees rights and protections of citizens by limiting the government's power.

Assess how different philosophies and power structures determine economic policies, social welfare policies, and human rights practices.

Examine how power is divided between the federal and state governments.

Compare federal, confederal, and unitary systems of government to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Examine the functions and relationships among the three branches of government including the system of checks-and-balances.

Identify the organization and jurisdiction of federal, state, and local courts and their interrelationships.

Assess the scope of the Executive Branch (e.g., the powers, roles, responsibilities of the President, etc.).

Describe the organization, jurisdiction, and proceedings of federal courts.

Evaluate how John Marshall established the Supreme Court as an independent, co-equal branch of government through his opinion in Marbury vs Madison (1803).

Compare the philosophies of judicial activism and judicial restraint and explain their role in Supreme Court decision making.

Describe the organization, election, and function of the legislative branch.

Examine how the national government influences the public agenda and shapes public policy.

Describe the process by which public policy is formed and implemented by the national, state, and local government.

Compare the processes of lawmaking by national, state, and local governments.

Analyze how individuals, interest groups, lobbyists, and the media influence public policy.

Evaluate how the judiciary influences public policy by delineating the power of government and safeguarding the rights of the individual.

Explain the relationship and powers shared between state governments and the national government.

Trace the extent to which power is shared by all levels of government.

Examine the powers denied to state governments and national government.

Evaluate the balance of power between state governments and national government related to funding.

Investigate how the amendment process protects both the national government and state governments.

Identify the major responsibilities and sources of revenue for state and local governments.

Analyze the various interpretations and extent of the federal government's power provided by the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

Examine the civil liberties and rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Explain due process of law as expressed in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Evaluate the balance between individual liberties and the public order.

Analyze changing interpretations of the Bill of Rights over time, particularly the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Analyze judicial activism and restraint as well as the effects of each policy over the decades.

Evaluate the effects of the Court's interpretations of the Constitution in Marbury vs Madison (1803), McCulloch vs Maryland (1819), and United States vs Nixon (1974).

Investigate the controversies that have resulted over changing interpretations of civil rights (e.g., Plessy vs Ferguson (1896), Brown vs Board Education (1954), Miranda vs Arizona (1966), Regents of the University of California vs Bakke (1978), Adrand Constructors Inc. vs Pena (1995), United States vs Virginia (VMI) (1996), etc.).

Describe the controversies over campaign funding.

Evaluate the decision Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission (2010) on campaign financing.

Examine how political parties impact primary and general elections as well as citizen involvement in campaigns.

Identify major interest groups and their major agenda messages (e.g., AARP, NRA, ACLU, American Bar Association, American Medical Association, National Chamber of Commerce, Sierra Club, etc.).

Evaluate the responsibility of citizens to thoughtfully examine information presented by media and interest groups in forming individual political opinions.

Identify the role of journalism in the political process and trace its development over time.

Examine the role and history of Political Action Committees and interest groups on the electoral process.

Evaluate the effectiveness of citizen efforts to influence decisions of state and local governments by examining events.

Compare the ways that citizens participate in the political process (e.g., voting, campaigning, lobbying, filing a legal challenge, demonstrating, petitioning, picketing, running for political office, etc.).

Analyze trends in voter turnout.

Investigate the causes and effects of reapportionment and redistricting, including spatial districting and the rights of minorities.

Examine the function of the Electoral College.

Identify the importance of each of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedoms of: religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, and privacy).

Identify the importance of economic rights and explain how they are secured.

Discuss the legal obligations to obey the law, serve as a juror, and pay taxes.

Justify the obligations of civic mindedness (e.g., voting, being informed on civic issues, volunteering, performing public service, serving in the military or alternative service, etc.).

Explain reciprocity between rights and obligations.

Describe how one becomes a citizen of the United States (e.g., the process of naturalization: literacy, language, and other requirements, etc.).