Source: https://www.mrjohnmiddleton.com/american-government-2017.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 12:10:32+00:00

Document:
American Government is an introductory course into the themes and concepts of American Government, Civics, and comparative governmental systems. Students enrolled in this course will be able to better understand how the American political and governmental system works. This course in American government allows students the opportunity to study the various branches of government including federal, state, county, and local government. The course introduces students to the fundamental concepts used by political scientists to study the processes and outcomes of politics in a variety of country settings. This course is designed to help students analyze the differences in both democratic and non-democratic societies. Lastly, students will be able to acquire the understandings needed to evaluate the American Experience and to relate how they are, or are not, active members of that experience.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the ability to identify and use terminology, critical thinking skills, writing standards, and concepts of American government and the social sciences. The purpose of this course is to allow the students the ability to learn and academically develop in each of the following areas: Students will be able to describe the origins and background of American government. Students will be able to analyze the structure and operation of American institutions (i.e. The Office of the President of the United States and the United States Congress). Students will be able to assess and evaluate the role of the individual in American government. Students will understand major political issues within American government (i.e. civil liberties and civil rights). Students will be able to identify and then analyze the differences and similarities in federal, state, and local government. Students will be able to identify current and past major U.S. foreign policy decisions and how they have affected national policy. Students will be able to evaluate and link the similarities and differences between democratic and non-democratic governmental systems, with a specific focus on the fundamental similarities and differences between direct and representative democracy, totalitarian states and popular sovereign states, and economic equality vs. economic freedom.
The purpose of this unit of study is to allow students to understand and analyze the foundational governmental theories behind the development of democracy in America. The desired results of this unit of study is for students to be able to explain the differences between divine right and natural right legal theory and how those two legal theories are cornerstones within the development of democracy in America. Students will conduct a historical document based analysis of the major political philosophers, and their works, that influenced the founders of our nation. Students will read excerpts of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835) and Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery (1900) to establish how individual interpretations of what is democracy is dependent upon context. Students will use our supplemental textbook material to understand and practice with the specific governmental concepts of popular sovereignty, separation of powers, law, the rule of law, liberty, natural rights, divine rights, the great chain of being, and equality. Students will then read excerpts from Plato’s Republic (380 BC) and Aristotle’s Politics (unknown) to establish various legal arguments supporting the concept of law and of government. Lastly, students will analyze the differences between divine rights and natural rights through readings of Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651) and Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1689). Students will conduct a document based analysis of how Hobbes’ and Locke’s theories, along with the arguments of Baron de Montesquieu in his The Spirit of the Laws (1748) and the English Magna Carta (1215) influenced the thinking of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, as well as the writing of the US Declaration of Independence (1776).
A) It is always a visible phenomenon.
C) Hidden power is sometimes the most potent type.
1) With authority, how is the authority actually given?
1) Do you feel you relate to our laws or not? And why?
1) To what extent is there a connection between a nation's economic status and the rule of law? Give an example to prove your point.
1) What makes a country secure?
2) What is the role of the individual vs. that of the government in making a nation secure?
1) How do you see power relationships within your own community?
1) Compare and contrast a direct vs. a representative democracy.
1) Select the quote that you feel best addresses your ideal concept of what the rule of law is. Be sure to justify your answer.
1) Which data point surprises you the most and why?
2) Considering the 15th anniversary of 9/11 and the fact that it is a general election year, what have you noticed about how Americans talk about diversity and equality within national conversation?
1) The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are now America's longest. In your opinion, what is the proper way to care for the Veterans of these wars?
1) What issues relating to the rule of law do you see within the Rohingya crisis within Myanmar?
1) Who are the individuals within this painting?
2) What do you think it is trying to say about the belief system of the culture and time that created it?
Unit 1, Lesson 1: What is equality in America?
Objective: Students will be able to evaluate the extent to which their own life experience's are or are not representative of the statement "All men are created equal." Students will conduct a document based analysis, as well as a personal reflection statement to compare and contrast the various opinions and forms of equality in America.
Essential Question: What does equality in America specifically look like to you?
Unit 1, Lesson 2: What is Liberty in America?
Objective: Students will be about to evaluate how the concept of individual interpretation has shaped, and continues to shape, the development of liberty in America.
Unit 1, Lesson 3: What is democracy within my own community research project?
Objective: Students will be able to apply their understanding of democracy in America through the development of a "People on the Streets" style research project. Students will conduct a series of interviews with community members within their community to identify the similarities and differences between their own personal democratic experience and that of other members of their community. Students will present their findings in a portfolio presentation and through the development of a personal website.
Essential Question: To what extent does my community demonstrate the democratic experience?
Objective: Students will be able to construct and formulate a historical event narrative of the events leading up the writing of the US Declaration of Independence with the stated goal of being able to evaluate the level that legal vs. constitutional rights played in the development of the DOI.
Essential Question: Why did the interactions between the American Colonies and the British Empire from 1774 to 1776 lead to the writing of the US Declaration of Independence?
Objective: Students will be able to assess the influences of natural and legal constitutional rights within the development and writing of the US Declaration of Independence. Students will conduct a document-based analysis of the to determine how Jefferson's arguments demonstrate a synthesis of both types of law, as well as the philosophical undercurrents of prior political thinkers.
Essential Question: In what ways does natural and legal constitutional rights appear within the US Declaration of Independence?
Unit 2 requires the students to complete a detailed document based analysis of the US Constitution, to understand each of its 27 Amendments, and to analyze some of the legal issues behind the development of specific constitutional amendments. Students will begin this unit by understanding the 6 basic principles of the US Constitution: Popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, and federalism. Students will establish an understanding of each of those 6 concepts by participating in various direct instruction lessons and through reading of the primary text. Students will then conduct a document based analysis of the Articles of Constitution to establish how each of those 6 concepts appears within the Constitution. Lastly, students will use these concepts to conduct a primary and secondary source research project on a modern constitutional issue. Students will be assessed based off their individual abilities to connect the constitutional interpretations to their own value system.
1) Select one document, work of art, piece of music, building, or book that you feel has change human history in some way and state why. Be ready to share-out with the sub.
Question 1: What similarities do you notice between the US Declaration of Independence of (1776) and Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945) made by Ho Chi Minh? Be ready to share out.
Question 2: What do the secondary sources do to your idea of who Ho Chi Minh was? How do they conflict with speech from Ho Chi Minh from 1945?
1) Which Article of the Constitution best supports your principle?
To what extent does your principle of the Constitution help the document adapt to changing times and why?
1) How do you see conflict in your own life?
2) How do you see compromise in your own life?
1) Which of the following is true about checks and balances within the US Constitution?
1) The Constitution as originally ratified in 1788 included which provision regarding majoritarian democracy?
Decide if each description below refers to the House of Representatives (H) or the Senate (S). Write the appropriate letter on the line before each statement.
2) ____ Branch referred to as the "upper house."
3) ____ Branch in which members are required to be at least twenty-five years old.
4) ____ Branch whose members have the larger constituency.
5) ____ Branch in which the majority of work is done in committees.
1) Explore the following three links and use each to fully address questions 2 and 3.
"We are very hip on the fact that America's always No. 1. On this we are not, in terms of the number of women in our legislative branches and obviously as head of state. We need to push on that. I hate to say this: It isn't all men's fault. I think some of it is our own attitude and approach. Some of it very healthy, that women want to make choices about their lives and how they want to spend their time, and what they value."
3) With such a clear representation gap in American government, to what extent is our government truly representative of the people?
1) Using the "How a Bill becomes a Law" video, identify the parts a bill must travel through in order to become a law.
2) Which steps does your congressional member fit in and why?
2) Does the commentary appear in support or against President Obama use of executive orders and why?
3) Follow the two links and look for trends or questions that you have regarding the history of executive orders.
​​Decide if each description below refers to the House of Representatives (H) or the Senate (S). Write the appropriate letter on the line before each statement.
Analyze your group's rubric and use it to answer the following two questions.
3) What did you learn about your figure from your rubric?
1) Using the event of Hurricane Katrina as your guide, what is the correct balance of clean-up and recovery responsibility charged to the State and Federal levels of government? Who should pay for what?
Which of the following is true about the federal system?
A) It operates under a system of unified sovereignty.
B) It places all power under the control of the federal government.
C) It balances power between the federal and state governments.
D) It puts most of the power in the legislative branch.
Which of the following is NOT true about the way the federal system has developed in the United States?
A) The Supreme Court's constructions of federalism have changed over time.
B) The authority of state governments has expanded significantly.
C) The complexity of the levels of government working together has increased.
D) It has become more confusing for citizens to determine what their rights are.
1) How does this story address federalism?
2) How does this story highlight some major benefits of federalism?
3) How does this story highlight some major negatives within federalism?
Please follow the link below to answer the warm-up question. Please just write Poll Everywhere on your warm-up document.
1) What are some of the inherent powers of tribal self-government?
2) How might some of these inherent powers lead to conflict between tribal governments and the outside communities (not just the federal government)?
1) How do you see "deculturalization" in American schools today? Or do you and why?
1) This Thanksgiving 2017, what are some things you are thankful for and why?
1) What does infograph below tell us about how states are choosing to establish their tax policies on marijuana?
2) What issues do you see from this data?
1) What themes do you notice within the image below?
1) After reviewing the attached link, who in your mind should determine the long term/legal status of land? IE one, the current generation, or the generations yet to come.
1) The word of 2017 was tribalism. Scan through the images below, what takeaways do you have from the collection?
1) What is this document?
2) When and where is it from?
3) What does this tell you about equal rights within California's history?
2) To what extent does affirmative action confuse the 14th Amendment?
1) As an academic, what do you think is going to happen this evening?
1) Biggest surprise from last night and why?
1) In what specific ways is a pen and paper helpful during an interview?
1) Research one posted online job description of your dream career. Then tell me about the essential skills and experiences necessary for it. Write the link and title as well.
Select something you've either created, led, designed, or worked on that you could include within a portfolio.
2) Why did you pick it?
3) What does it tell the interviewer about you?
1) What potential concerns do you see with this type of "hacking"?
2) In light of those concerns, what should the role of the government be in regulating this new practice?
Please write a thank you email to the Camarillo Chamber of Commerce member(s) who interviewed you yesterday.
3) Invite the individuals back to ACE for our Spring Showcase in the Spring.
1) Using the Constitution USA film as your guide, or any current constitutional debate that you are familiar with, explain how a specific modern constitutional issue is challenging your sense of right and wrong.
I.E. Freedom of religion within a public space, gun ownership, privacy and age of the internet. Please write your answer with as many specific examples as you can.
1) Identifiy a issue or topic that you feel needs to be addressed through the development of a new law.
1) Do political advertisements work? What evidence do you have that supports your opinion?
2) Describe one that resonates with you. What was it? How did it relay its message?
What was the Watergate campaign finance scandal?
How was Corporate America’s ability to participate within the American political system effected by the Watergate scandal?
What is political “soft money”?
Do you agree or disagree with the statement that we have come full-circle with political campaign funding? Why?
1) John Adams spoke in favor of “arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion … in private self-defense.” Which side of the gun control debate is more likely to cite this quote?
2) John Adams spoke in favor or “arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion … in private self-defense.” How might individuals on the other side of the gun control debate respond to this quotation?
1) Why does the Constitution give the power to regulate trade among the States to the Federal Government?
2) Why do you think the Constitution has been amended so infrequently since 1789?
1) The Preamble to the Constitution begins with the words “We the People.” Was every person living in the United States in 1789 included in that collective “We”?
2) The Preamble to the Constitution begins with the words “We the People.” Which, if any, of the 27 amendments to the Constitution corrected the situation of exclusion from the collective “We”?
Develop a list of questions that you have about how the Federal government and the States interact with each other. Try to develop multiple question across different levels of critical thinking. Be ready to share your questions. You have 5 minutes!
Objective: Students will be able to understand how the Articles of the U.S. Constitution outline 6 basic principles for our government to be structured with. Students will then determine the extent to which specific articles demonstrate those 6 principles and how those principles shape the rule of law and government within the US.
Essential Question: In what ways does the U.S. Constitution outline the rule of law and governance within both the federal government and amongst the States?
Objective: Students conduct a document based analysis to evaluate the extent to which the constitution was written to account for both historical as well as future political and governmental conflicts.
Essential Questions: How is a sense of fear and distrust of a strong centralized government addressed within the US Constitution?
Objectives: Students will be able to determine how the structure and language of the US Constitution establishes fundamental principles of individual rights. Students will then be able to analyze specific issues within the constitution to research how individual interpretations are changing the meaning of law.
Essential Questions: How is the Bill of Rights being challenged by 21st century issues?
Objectives: Students will be able to use current event issues to define the concept of Eminent Domain and to understand which specific part of the US Constitution grants governmental bodies the right to use it. Students will then be able to understand how city and county planners use Eminent Domain within redevelopment planning with the stated goal of being able to evaluate the impacts this concept can have on the private-to-public relationship.
Essential Question: Who should decide when a neighborhood should be torn down, gotten rid of, or rebuilt? What do you see as the proper role of private residents, business interest groups, city planners, and other community members within this debate?
Objective: Students will be able to research a current constitutional issue of their choosing to develop a political action platform around that issue. Students will be able to analyze how current case law and voter demographic trends are shaping current laws surround their issue with the stated goal of being able to understand the best way to solve the issue legally. Students will create an action platform surrounding the issue and present their research to the class within a town hall forum presentation.
Essential Question: How is the U.S Constitution a living document?
This unit asks students to analyze the basic structure of federalism in the United States. The desired results for this unit of study are for the students to understand how our nation divides up governmental powers among the federal, state, and local level. Students are asked to understand the specific roles and responsibilities of each power, analyze significant policy and legal issues that appear within federalism (such as Gun Control, Health Care, Education policy, Abortion, Marriage, Immigration, and Tax structure), and lastly evaluate the conflicts between powers that is significant within federalism structures. Students will be exposed to a historical look at issues that have developed between the federal government and tribal governments as a result of federalism. Students will be asked to study the role of the individual citizen within federalism (such as voting, taxes, jury service, and military service). Students will use our supplemental texts to understand several major federalism Supreme Court cases, such as Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden, United States v. Lopez, and Printz v. United States. Students will use our primary text to understand the unit’s two key academic concepts: the Supremacy Clause and the Commerce Clause. Students will then be asked to apply those two concepts to an individual research essay where students are asked to demonstrate they understand the specific roles and responsibilities that each power has, and how those roles and responsibilities can lead to conflict.
Read section 4.1 and complete the section 4.1 assessment, questions 1-6. Please be sure to turn in a hard copy of this assignment.
how his words still apply today.
"Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread."
A) What is the issue?
C) Yes or no, do you think other states would care about your issue and why?
"The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States"
1) What does this clause do?
2) Provide at least two examples of how the Privileges and Immunities Clause has affected your life or might do so in the future.
1) What is one part of Federalism that frustrates you?
2) For the issue described in #1, develop a solution to that issue.
1) What makes a story newsworthy?
1) What are some of the common themes that you noticed within each individual document? Between the two documents?
2) What are some major differences within each individual document? Between the two?
3) Taking our data sets into consideration, what do you see as the state of poverty within America?
1) How should we balance the rights of individuals with common good?
2) Are censorship and democracy compatible?
Lesson #1 What is Federalism in America?
Objective: Students will be able to connect the Commerce Clause, Supremacy Clause, the elastic clause, and the 10th and 14th Amendments together to evaluate how the divisions within American Federalism create governmental conflict.
Objective: Students will be able to analyze and evaluate a specific issues (IE immigration reform) under federalism and note how that issue is complex due to States' Rights vs. Federal Rights Issues. Students will then be able to communicate arguments for and against their topic in an academic way.
Objective: Students will analyze Albert Einstein’s Declaration of Intention and identify how the document demonstrates Article I, sections 8-10 of the Constitution in action. Students will also select a big idea of the Constitution that is contained within the document. Big ideas include: civic responsibility, checks and balances, enumerated power, implied power, separation of powers, federalism and representative government.
Objectives: Students will be able to explain the process by which a bill becomes a law through the legislative and executive branches of government. Students will be able to discuss the importance of committees and how they differ in the House of Representatives and Senate.
Lesson #5 Constitution USA film analysis "Federalism"
Objective: Students will be able to assess the varied interpretations of tribal sovereignty within the Courts over time, and how specific decisions alter what "inherent" powers Indian tribes currently have.
2) To what extent are Indian nations able to establish "Self Governance" instead of "Self Determination" within the US?
Unit 4 exposes students to the workings of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches. The desired results for this unit of study are for students to understand the academic concepts of Implied, Expressed, and Inherent Powers, and the specific roles and responsibilities of the three branches of the federal government. Students will understand and analyze the specific roles and responsibilities of each of the three branches through a critical reading of Article I, II, and III of the US Constitution. Unit 4 begins with a class reading of Baron de Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws (1748), with a specific focus on his arguments for divided power. After students have an understanding of the historical context and philosophical viewpoints that the Framers used to develop the three branches of government, students will conduct a comparison analysis of the three branches within a modern context. Students will use both direct instruction and the primary text to understand the specific parts of the Legislative branch, with a focus on the academic concepts of: The House of Representatives, US Senate, Bicameralism, Expressed Power, Implied Power, Inherent Power, a congressional committee, the specific steps of how a Bill becomes a Law, and impeachment power. Students will then use the same instructional methods to understand the specific duties of the Executive branch, with a focus on the academic concepts of: Commander in Chief, Chief Executive, Chief Diplomat, Part Leader, National Leader, Ceremonial Head of State, Manager of the Economy, and Presidential Mandate. Students will conduct a historical analysis of several major former Presidents (Washington, John Adams, Lincoln, FDR, Nixon, Reagan, George W. Bush, etc.) to determine how each American President interprets Presidential Mandates differentially. Students will then read our supplemental texts Machiavelli’s The Prince (1532) and Aristotle’s Politics, Book 1 (unknown) to conduct an individual research essay on the different types of leadership strategies and to then evaluate how individual presidents have demonstrated those specific attributes of leadership during their terms of office. Lastly, students will use direct instruction and a document based analysis of Bush v. Gore 531 U.S. 98 (2000) to understand the specific duties of the judicial branch. Students are asked to understand the academic concepts of judicial activism, judicial review, and judicial restraint and to then apply those understandings to an analysis of both the Per Curiam and the dissenting opinions within Bush v. Gore.
Unit 5 closes American government and therefore the students are expected to apply their understandings of the key concepts of America’s governmental structure to analyses of several other types of governmental systems. Students will focus on conducting a series of comparative analyses on the major differences and similarities between the U.S. and the case study nations of France, Germany, South Korea, North Korea, China, and the United Kingdom. The desired results for this unit of study are for the students to gain an understanding that specific governmental systems, like representative democracies, have common similarities. Once those similarities are identified within a governmental system, an understanding of how a practicing nation works can easily be inferred. Students will read the supplemental texts 1984 (1948) by George Orwell and The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels to identify specific tenets within communist systems and then conduct a case study on the differences between the two Korean nations. The unit will close with students conducting a collaborative project-based research analysis on a specific 21st Century issue (International Terrorism, International Trade, Globalization, World Health, Child Labor, Global Warming, etc.) and proposing a solution to their specific issue.

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