Civics
Course Syllabus

Course Description
Civics is a one semester course designed to give you knowledge of the American political system and an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States.  This course will include both the study of general concepts used to interpret US politics and the analysis of specific examples.  Throughout the course of the semester, you will become familiar with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that constitute US politics.  You will also become familiar with a variety of political perspectives and their explanations for various political behaviors and outcomes. 

Goals
Upon successful completion of this course, you will have achieved the following goals:

1. To know important facts, concepts, and ideas pertaining to US government and politics;
2. To understand typical patterns of political behavior and their consequences (including the components of political behavior, the principles used to explain or justify various government structures and procedures, and the political effects of these structures and procedures);
3. To analyze and interpret basic data relevant to US government and politics, including but not limited to charts, graphs, written documents, maps, demographic data, and visual sources.

Washington State EALRS Covered in Civics
Social Studies EALR 1: CIVICS - The student understands and applies knowledge of
government, law, politics, and the nation’s fundamental documents to make decisions
about local, national, and international issues and to demonstrate thoughtful, participatory
citizenship.
                 
Component 1.1: Understands key ideals and principles of the United States, including
those in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other fundamental documents.
1.1.1:  Analyzes and evaluates the ways in which the U.S. Constitution and other fundamental documents promote key ideals and principles.
1.1.2:  Evaluates how well court decisions and government policies have upheld key ideals and principles in the United States.

Component 1.2: Understands the purposes, organization, and function of governments, laws, and political systems.
1.2.2:  Evaluates the effectiveness of the system of checks and balances during a particular administration, court, Congress, or legislature.

Component 1.4: Understands civic involvement.
1.4.1:  Analyzes and evaluates ways of influencing local, state, and national governments to preserve individual rights and promote the common good.

Social Studies EALR 2: ECONOMICS - The student applies understanding of economic concepts and systems to analyze decision-making and the interactions between individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies.

Component 2.3: Understands the government’s role in the economy.
2.3.1:  Evaluates the role of the U.S. government in regulating a market economy in the past or present.

Social Studies EALR 5: SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS - The student understands and applies reasoning skills to conduct research, deliberate, form, and evaluate positions through the processes of reading, writing, and communicating.

Component 5.1: Uses critical reasoning skills to analyze and evaluate positions.
5.1.1:  Analyzes the underlying assumptions of positions on an issue or event.
5.1.2:  Evaluates the depth of a position on an issue or event.

Component 5.3: Deliberates public issues.
5.3.1:  Creates and articulates possible alternative resolutions to public issues and evaluates these resolutions using criteria that have been identified in the context of a discussion.

Component 5.4: Creates a product that uses social studies content to support a thesis and presents the product in an appropriate manner to a meaningful audience.
5.4.1:  Evaluates and interprets other points of view on an issue within a paper or presentation.

Text and Supplemental Resources
To achieve goals listed above, the following resources will be used:

1. Curriculum Pathways:  SAS in School:  interactivities, lessons, and document analyses  (http://www.sasinschool.com/)
2. C-Span Classroom
3. Primary Source Readings, charts, Polls, etc. taken from a variety of sources including the National Constitution Center, From Revolution to Reconstruction - an .HTML project, US National Archives and Records Administration, The Constitution Society Library of Constitutional Classics, USA.gov, Close Up Foundation, & The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
4. Current newspaper and magazine articles:  you will have access to 13 online periodicals that provide newsfeeds that are updated every 4 hours.

To achieve these goals, this course will be organized into the following six units.  The readings and the major assignments for each unit are listed below; other timely readings may be added at any point in the course. Smaller assignments do not appear on this syllabus but must be completed.

I.  Underpinnings and Documents of American Government, Weeks 1 – 3

Themes:

• Historical, philosophical, and ideological considerations and traditions that influenced the formulation and adoption of the Constitution and the debates at the Constitutional convention
• Specific concerns of the framers of the Constitution
• Separation of powers and Federalism
• Supreme Court interpretation of key provisions of the Constitution, especially in regard to theoretical and practical features of the separation of powers and federalism
• Theoretical perspectives relating to the Constitution, including theories of democratic government, theories of republican government, pluralism, and elitism

Essential Questions:
 

• What is the purpose of government?
• What was the founders’ view of the purpose of government and the role of the citizen in the American Republic? Are these views still relevant at the close of the millennium?
• What are the principles of the Constitution?  How do these constitutional principles form the basis of U.S. government?
• Why did the Anti-Federalists fear this new system?
• Did this new system strengthen or weaken the concept of separation of powers? Explain.
• What are the powers of state and local governments?
• What influence should the federal government have over state and local issues such as education, affirmative action, abortion, and the environment?

Readings:

• Declaration of Independence
• The Constitution
• Bill of Rights
• Articles of Confederation

Selected Assignments:

• SAS In School:  The Influence of John Locke
• SAS In School: Constitutional Convention
• National Archives Investigation
• SAS In School:  Constitutional Slideshow Jigsaw
• Current Events Journal Entries:  “Federalism in the News”
• Unit Assessment:  Constitutional Amendments and their Impact

II. Political Beliefs and Behaviors, Weeks 4 - 5

Themes:

• US political culture & beliefs that citizens hold about their government, its leaders, and the US political system
• Formation of political beliefs, processes by which citizens learn about politics, & reasons why US citizens hold certain beliefs about politics
• Ways that families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change citizens’ beliefs
• The nature, sources, and consequences of public opinion
• Ways that political culture affects and informs political participation
• The ways in which citizens vote and otherwise participate in political life and the reasons why individuals engage in various forms of political participation
• Factors that influence citizens to differ from one another in terms of political beliefs and behaviors, including demographic features of the American population, & beliefs and behavior systems held by specific ethnic, minority, or other groups in America
• Effects of citizens’ political participation on the political system

Essential Questions:

• How do we come by our political beliefs?
• What are the sources of public opinion?
• What is the “political spectrum”?
• How do political beliefs define who we are as citizens?
• What are the privileges and responsibilities of a citizen?
• How can citizens get involved in the American political process?
• What is the relationship between individual rights and the needs of the larger community?  

Readings:

• Harris Polls
• Washington Post Polls
• “20 Questions Journalists Should Ask About Poll Results”
• “Polls:  What do the Numbers Tell Us?”
• “Beyond Red vs. Blue”

Selected Assignments:

• SAS Project - Margin of Error: Polls and Public Opinion
• Evaluation of recent Harris &/or Washington Post polls
• Critique of the accuracy and validity of polls, Analytical Response
• Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of polls and their role in political contests and decisions
• Political Ideology Typology—Are you a liberal or a conservative?  A Survey
• Current Events Journal Entries:  Political Socialization; Public Opinion, Ways that citizens vote and participate in public life
• Unit Assessment:  SAS In-School:  How has the electorate changed since the Constitution was first written?

III. Political Parties, Interest Groups, the Mass Media, and the Electoral Process,      Weeks 6 - 8

Themes:

• Political parties and elections; their functions and structures, organization, historical development, and their effects on the political process
• Ideological and demographic differences between the two major parties and third parties
• Political party reform, campaign strategies, and campaign financing in the electronic age
• Elections, electoral laws and systems on the national and state levels
• Party and individual voting behavior
• The development of and role of PACs in elections, activities of PACs and interest groups
• The effects of interest groups on the political process and public policy; roles played by a variety of lobbying and interest groups; reasons why some interest groups have more power than others
• The mass media’s role in the political system
• The impact of media on public opinion, voter perceptions, campaign strategies, electoral outcomes, agenda development, and the images of officials and candidates
• Analysis of the relationship among candidates, elected officials, and the media

Essential Questions:

• What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? Are there other options beyond these two choices?
• Political parties and interest groups are not mentioned in the constitution yet they play a critical role. How? Why? Do they serve our democracy or are they an obstacle?
• How do interest groups and political parties influence government decisions and policy making?
• Should the present campaign system be overhauled and reformed?
• What role do the media play in elections and shaping public opinion?
• Is the media an impartial observer or an active participant in political elections and in the formation of public policy?

Readings:

• Federalist Paper #68
• “It Pays to Win the Small States,” New York Times
• “The Electoral College, Don’t Drop Out,” National Review
• “Making Voices Count; Abolish the Electoral College,” New York Times

Selected Assignments:

• Electoral College Discussion Board Debate
• SAS In-School: The Electoral College
• Announcing the New Party (create your own political party)
• Political Party Issues’ Comparison
• Political Action Committees, Create your own PAC
• Current Events Journal Entries:  Political Parties, PACs, the Media
• Unit Assessment:  SAS In-School:  Voting Rock—Getting out the Vote—homepage/video activity

IV. Institutions of National Government: The Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts, Weeks 9 - 14

Themes:

• The organization of and the major formal and informal powers of political institutions in the US:  the Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Federal Court System
• Relationships among these four institutions, varying balances of power, and the ways that power balances and relationships between these institutions either evolve gradually or change dramatically as a result of crises
• Powers of each institution, functions performed by each, implications of this arrangement
• Conflicting interests and powers of the institutions
• Linkages between institutions and between the institutions and each of the following:                     Public opinion and voters

                  Interest groups
                  Political parties
                  The media
                  Sub-national governments

Essential Questions:

• How does Congress represent and reflect the interest and desires of the nation?
• Is Congress representative of the nation as a whole?
• Is the American legislative system the most efficient and effective way to make policy?
• Compare and contrast the makeup and operations of the House and Senate.
• What are the formal and informal powers of the presidency? How does the president use these powers to influence policy?
• Is the president too powerful or not powerful enough when compared to the legislative and judicial branches?
• What role do the courts play in interpreting the Constitution and implementing public policy?
• What is the proper role for the judicial branch in the public policy process?
• What is the relationship between the three branches of government?

Readings:

•  The Imperial Presidency,” Schlesinger, excerpts
• “Supreme Court Power Play:  Assessing the Appropriate role of the Senate in the Confirmation process,” Washington and Lee Law Review
• “Foreign Policy Roles of the President and Congress,” USA.gov

Selected Assignments:

• SAS In-School:  Congressional Committee Simulation—using Wimba Classroom
• SAS In-School:  How do leaders in the House and Senate Influence Legislation? 
• SAS In-School:  The Supreme Court
• SAS In-School:  Presenting the Executive Departments--Jigsaw
• Who’s Got the Power?  An analysis of relationships among the four institutions and their varying balances of power, Discussion Board Debate
• Current Events Journal Entries:  Congress, the President, the Bureaucracy, & the Courts
• Unit Analysis:  SAS In-School—The War Powers Act

V.  Public Policy, Weeks 15 - 16

Themes:

• Policy making in a federal system
• The formation of policy agendas
• The role of Congress and the President in the enactment of public policy
• The role of the bureaucracy and the courts in policy implementation and interpretation
• Policy making at the state and local level

Essential Questions:

• What are the specific issues addressed in public policy making?
• Define an “Iron Triangle.” Does it exist, and if so how does it influence policy implementation?
• Who controls the bureaucracy: The president? Congress? The people?
• Who sets policy agendas for our nation?
• Who sets policy agendas for our communities?

Readings:

•  “Executive Order 13132,” Bill Clinton
• “Acquiring Financial Assets to Fund Future Entitlements,” Congressional Budget Office

Selected Assignments:

• Entitlement Programs and the National Government—Is the government responsible for the welfare of its citizens?  Discussion Board Debate
• Current Events Journal Entries:  Public Policy and the Courts, Domestic and Foreign Policy
• Unit Assessment:  SAS-In-School:  Our Town.gov, interview/collaborative newspaper creation

VI. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Weeks 17 - 18

Themes:

• The development of individual rights and liberties and their impact on citizens
• The development of civil liberties and civil rights by judicial interpretation, such as freedom of speech, assembly, and expression, the rights of the accused, rights of minority groups and women
• Understanding of the workings of the US Supreme Court and familiarity with its most significant decisions; legal, social, and political evolutions as a result of court decisions
• Knowledge of substantive rights and liberties
• The impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development of rights and liberties
• Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Supreme Court decisions as tools of social change

Essential Questions:

• What constitutes free speech?
• How does the national Bill of Rights apply to states?
• What is “equal protection” under the law?  How does it affect Americans?
• What is procedural due process?
• Is there a right to privacy?
• What do property rights mean in relation to community interests?

Readings:

• “Balancing Security and Liberty,” Washington Post
• “The Right to Privacy,” Brandeis and Warren
• US Constitution, 14th Amendment
• “Race and the Death Penalty,” ACLU
• “Landmark Supreme Court Cases,” Selected cases

Selected Assignments:

• Balancing Liberty and Security in a time of war, PATRIOT Act Response
• SAS In-School:  “How did the case of Ernesto Miranda affect arrest procedures in America?”
• Visual Literacy—Race and the Death Penalty
• Statistical Analysis:  Imposing the death penalty by state
• Graphical Analysis:  Race of the Defendant and the Death Penalty
• Graphical Analysis:  Percentage of each race in the overall population on Death Row as convicted murderers AND Race of murder victims AND Percentage of Inmates on Death Row by race of victim
• Graphical Analysis:  Support for the death penalty
• Is there a racial bias in the imposition of the death penalty?  Discussion Board Debate
• Current Events Journal:  Civil Liberties in Today’s World