January 5-9: Homework: create a short video that you can use for or in your Experience Presentation. We will be doing our WTP lessons in class! December 15-19: No homework this week--WORK ON QUEST!!! You should be up to Chapter 23 in your homework! Have a great vacation!
PRESIDENT PAPER EXPLANATION IS BELOW!
Weekly Assignment: NO READING ASSIGNMENT THIS WEEK!
Read two lessons a week from the text, answer the questions from the text that I assign you (there usually are not that many). These questions are really to review for your tests and quizzes. They are also an excellent way to earn points in my class. You are also going to be keeping a "Critical Thinking" Journal, which will count towards your classwork grade. So make sure you keep that up as well. Use a Google document and just add to it. Make sure you add me as a collaborator! Example of excellent responses to the questions in the book: 2. Civic Virtue is setting aside personal interests to promote the common good. Examples of civic virtue are: practicing generosity, courage, self-control, and fairness.
3. Classical Republicans believed the purpose of government should be to work cooperatively with the citizens to achieve the common good. In a classical republic, citizens were expected to participate fully in their government. They were not to be left free to devote themselves only to their personal interests. They were discouraged from spending much time making money or caring for their families. They were discouraged from traveling or reading or thinking about things that had nothing to do with their government. If citizens had the freedom to do such things, it was feared that they might stop being reliable and fully dedicated to the common good. Classical Republicans believed that a republican government would only work in a small community.
4. Small, uniform communities would be more likely to foster civic virtue than large, diverse communities because a small community is necessary if people are to know and care for each other and their common good. Also, people must be very much alike. A great degree of diversity was considered to effect the structure of the government and it was not tolerated. Classical Republicans believed that if people differed greatly, they would divide into factions or interest groups, rather than work together for the common good.
5. The differences between the natural rights philosophy and classical republicanism are that the natural rights philosophy stressed the rights of the individual to life, liberty, and property. Classical Republicanism stressed promoting common good above the rights of the individual. The natural rights philosophy included a belief in the law of nature. The law of nature stated that no one ought to harm another in life, liberty, or possessions. The natural rights philosophy considered the rights of the individual to be primary in importance. The state existed to serve the interests of the individual instead of the other way around. In classical republicanism, the rights of the community as a whole came first. The natural rights philosophy also stated that a legitimate government cannot exist until the people have given their consent to be ruled by it. Classical Republicans believed that this form of government was likely to promote common good only if the society shared the characteristics of civic virtue, moral education, and small, uniform communities.
President Paper: Choose one President of the United States, then research the major Supreme Court decisions from his term(s) in office. Explain what the cases were about, how the reflected the period, and how the conflicted with or supported the policies of the President. 3-5 pages, typed double spaced, 12 point font. Due December 7, 2008. MLA citations please.
Political Involvement Project: You must volunteer 5 hours this quarter to the candidate of your choice. Write a one page summary of what you did during your volunteering and what you learned. You can volunteer in lots of different ways, be creative. Hearing Questions: You will be assigned one of these questions and asked to write a short essay answering them. We the People Topics:
Unit One: What Are the Philosophical and Historical Foundations of the American Political System?
1. How and why did ideas developed in the Age of Enlightenment influence the American Founders?
· How and why did the Enlightenment pose a threat to established institutions and authority? · What important new ideas about government were developed during the Enlightenment?
2. What constitutional principles established by the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights were important to the American colonists? Why?
· How are the principles established in the Magna Carta related to the idea of limited government?
· How are the principles set forth in the English Bill of Rights related to the natural rights philosophy? |
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