Government (HS)

Essential Question

What are the ideals and key principles that characterize American democracy?

Main Ideas

• Understanding major political ideas and classic forms of government will help you understand the purposes of government.

• Different forms of governments are categorized based on who exercises authority and how power is organized.

• American democracy is characterized by core democratic ideals and principles, as well as by the free enterprise system.

Sections

Section 1:The Purposes of Government

Section 2: Forms of Government

Section 3: Democracy in the United States

Essential Question

What events led to the development of American democracy?

Main Ideas

• American democracy was shaped by our English political heritage, colonial experiments in self-government, and a range of intellectual influences.

• The British imposed new policies on their American colonies, sparking rebellion and, in time, the American Revolution.

• The states’ first attempt to build a national government, the Articles of Confederation, proved too weak to last.

• Delegates at the Constitutional Convention created a plan for a strong national government.

• Before the Constitution could take effect, a debate between those in favor of the Constitution and those who opposed it took place in the states.

Sections

Section 1:The Roots of American Democracy

Section 2: American Independence

Section 3: Articles of Confederation

Section 4: The Constitutional Convention

Section 5: Ratification and the Bill of Rights

Essential Question

How has the resiliency of the United States Constitution contributed to the strength of the government it created?

Main Ideas

• Drawing lessons from history, the Framers wrote a constitution that divided, limited, and balanced power among three branches of government.

• The Constitution is both a product of its time and a document for all time. It can be changed as society’s needs change. .

• The scope and impact of the Constitution have expanded as it has been put into practice, interpreted, and applied to new or changing social and political challenges.

Sections

Section 1: A Blueprint for Government

Section 2: An Enduring Document

Section 3: Applying the Constitution

Essential Question

How is the balance of power between the state and the national government characterized today?

Main Ideas

• The Framers of the Constitution established a federal system that divides powers and responsibility between the national and state governments

• Over the past 200 years, conflicts over the balance of power between the national and state governments have led to changes in American federalism.

• Today the balance of power between the states and the national government is characterized by a system of grants and mandates, as well as by a number of key policy areas.

Sections

Section 1: Dividing Government Power

Section 2: American Federalism: Conflict and Change

Section 3: Federalism Today

Essential Question

What powers does the Constitution give to Congress?

Main Ideas

• Congress represents the people and enacts laws in their name. Congress plays a vital role in our government’s system of checks and balances.

• The Constitution gives Congress many expressed powers, and it implies some others. Other powers are denied.

• The House of Representatives is the more representative chamber of Congress. Its members carry out much of their work in committees

• Senators represent entire states, have longer terms, and follow different rules of debate, giving the Senate its reputation as a more weighty body than the House.

• Congress makes laws through a well-established and orderly process.

Sections

Section 1:Congress

Section 2: The Powers of Congress

Section 3: The House of Representatives

Section 4: The Senate

Section 5: The Legislative Process

Essential Question

What are the formal and informal powers of the presidency?

Main Ideas

• The Constitution gives only a brief description of the president’s qualifications and powers. Yet the job is vast and complex, as the president must fulfill many roles.

• The powers of the presidency, outlined in Article II of the Constitution, are vast and have grown throughout the history of the United States. They are, however, checked by the other branches of government.

• The president leads a large team of people who help carry out the duties of the office. This team includes a staff of advisers, the vice president, and members of the cabinet.

Sections

Section 1: The President

Section 2: The Powers of the Presidency

Section 3: The President's Administration

Essential Question

What are the functions of executive departments and independent agencies?

Main Ideas

• The federal bureaucracy includes all the organizations and agencies of the executive branch. The civil service system is used to place qualified civilians into positions within the agencies of the federal bureaucracy

• Executive departments and independent agencies provide key services and regulate important industries for the American people.

• By collecting taxes and borrowing money, the federal government is able to generate the funds it needs to run the nation. The government then assigns these funds to create a federal budget for the upcoming year.

Sections

Section 1:The Federal Bureaucracy

Section 2: Executive Departments and Independent Agencies

Section 3: Financing Government

Essential Question

How does the Supreme Court function as the final word on questions of federal law and the Constitution?

Main Ideas

• The Framers created an independent judicial branch as part of the separation of powers of the national government. At the federal level, the judicial branch consists of three tiers of courts, each performing a different function.

• Congress has created a system of lower courts for the federal judicial system. Each court has a specific role to play in the judicial branch.

• The Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation and the most important component of the judicial branch. It serves as the final word on questions of federal law and the Constitution.

Sections

Section 1:The Federal Court System

Section 2: Lower Federal Courts

Section 3: The Supreme Court

Essential Question

What is the electoral process established by the Constitution, and how can citizens affect it?

Main Ideas

• Public opinion is the collection of views that people hold on public issues. Public opinion is important because it often influences the political process and affects the actions the government takes.

• Interest groups are private organizations that try to influence public opinion and convince public officials to accept their goals and views. They give political power to segments of society that have similar views.

• Political parties are formal organizations that work to elect candidates to public office. Our political system is dominated by two major parties, but other parties are actively involved in the system.

• The Constitution creates a system in which citizens elect representatives to public office. Each citizen has the responsibility to help make this system work. Citizens can affect the electoral process in many ways, but the most powerful is by voting on election day.

Sections

Section 1: Public Opinion

Section 2: Interest Groups

Section 3: Political Parties

Section 4: The Electoral Process

Essential Question

How does the Constitution protect the civil rights and civil liberties of Americans?

Main Ideas

• The United States was formed out of a belief that individuals had certain important liberties and rights. The Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects these liberties and rights.

• : The First Amendment protects five fundamental freedoms that are central to the American notion of liberty: the freedoms of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petition.

• A key purpose of the Bill of Rights is to protect individuals from government abuses. Several amendments limit the government’s power and protect individual rights against government actions.

• The Constitution contains many features that help ensure that people accused of a crime receive fair and reasonable treatment—from arrest to trial to punishment.

Sections

Section 1:Protecting Constitutional Rights

Section 2: First Amendment Freedoms

Section 3: Protecting Individual Liberties

Section 4: Crime and Punishment

Essential Question

How did the civil rights movement lead to new laws protecting the rights of women, African Americans, and other groups?

Main Ideas

• The Constitution is designed to guarantee basic civil rights to everyone. The meaning of civil rights has changed over time, and many groups have been denied their civil rights at different times in U.S. history.

• The Fourteenth Amendment was designed to bolster civil rights by requiring states to guarantee to freed slaves “the equal protection of the laws.” However, African Americans and women still struggled to win equal treatment in American society.

• In the 1950s and 1960s, an organized movement demanding civil rights changed American society and led to a series of new federal laws that protected the civil rights of African Americans and other groups

• Being a U.S. citizen includes certain rights and responsibilities. The federal government regulates citizenship through its immigration and naturalization policies.

Sections

Section 1: Civil Rights and Discrimination

Section 2: Equal Justice under Law

Section 3: Civil Rights Laws

Section 4: Citizenship and Immigration

Essential Question

What are the ways that Americans can participate in the political process?

Main Ideas

• The purpose of election campaigns is to help the public learn about the candidates, so that voters can make an informed decision on election day. Candidates today take advantage of media exposure and polling in order to influence the voters and get elected to public office.

• Money plays a major role in election campaigns. Candidates and their staff must carefully decide where the campaign will get money and how it will use this money.

• Voting is one of the main responsibilities of U.S. citizenship. Being a part of the voting process and taking an active role in electing public officials helps give all Americans a voice in their government.

Sections

Section 1: Election Campaigns

Section 2: Campaign Funding and Political Action Committees

Section 3: Election Day and the Voters

Essential Question

How does the Supreme Court maintain the balance between federal and state powers?

Main Ideas

• Your freedom of expression is the cornerstone of our democracy. Through its power to interpret the Constitution, the Supreme Court can expand—or limit—your rights.

• : The Fourth Amendment guarantees your right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures.

• The Fourteenth Amendment requires that states provide due process and equal protection under the law. These requirements have made this amendment one of the most important parts of the Constitution

• The balance of power between the national government and the states shifts from time to time as a result of legislation and Supreme Court decisions.

Sections

Section 1:The First Amendment: Your Freedom of Expression

Section 2: The Fourth Amendment: Your Right to Be Secure

Section 3: Due Process and the Fourteenth Amendment

Section 4: Federalism and the Supreme Court

Essential Question

How and why does the United States engage in foreign policy?

Main Ideas

• Although U.S. foreign policy has changed over time, it has been guided by five basic goals and formulated through a set of theories, tools, and strategies.

• U.S. foreign policy is directed and shaped by the executive branch and Congress and is carried out by a large bureaucracy.

• The United States is a member of international organizations that work to maintain peace and political stability around the world.

• Helping countries make the transition to democracy and overcome poverty are some foreign policy challenges facing the United States.

Sections

Section 1: Foreign Policy Choices in a Complex World

Section 2: How Domestic Actors Affect Foreign Policy

Section 3: Foreign Policy and International Institutions

Section 4: Foreign Policy Challenges

Essential Question

How do authoritarian rulers govern their nations?

Main Ideas

• Today many of the world’s countries are democracies. Democracies consist of two basic forms of government: presidential and parliamentary. All democratic governments share certain characteristics, but no two governments are exactly alike

• Democracy has spread throughout the world in recent decades, but some countries are still under the rule of authoritarian governments. Citizens in these countries have little control over their own government and, in some cases, over their very lives.

• Economic systems can be characterized by three basic types: traditional, market, and command. Nearly all nations today have mixed economies, meaning they have some combination of traditional, market, and command features.

Sections

Section 1:Democratic Governments

Section 2: Authoritarian Governments

Section 3: Economic Systems

Essential Question

How are state governments organized and how do they fund their programs?

Main Ideas

• As you have learned, the word federalism is used to describe the relationship between the national and state governments. State governments function under the national constitution and a state constitution. State constitutions share important similarities as well as strengths and weaknesses.

• State governments, like the federal government, divide power among legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In terms of their structure and functions, these state branches mirror the branches of the federal government. Also like the federal government, state governments must find funding for expensive yet essential programs and services.

• A variety of local governments provide many of the services you rely on every day. These services are paid for by local, state, and federal revenue. Direct citizen participation in government is often easiest at the local level.

Sections

Section 1:States and the National Government

Section 2: State Government

Section 3: Local Government and Citizen Participation