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Curriculum and Instructional Guide
Curriculum and Instructional Guide
Course Description: United States Government provides a framework for understanding the nature and importance of responsible civic participation and for learning the rights and responsibilities of individuals in a constitutional democracy. The course enables students to explore the historical origins and evolution of political philosophies into contemporary political and legal systems. Constitutional structure and the processes of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the national, state, and local levels of government are examined. Students learn to draw conclusions about the impact and interrelationships of history, geography, and economics upon our system of government. They also learn to demonstrate an understanding of the governmental structures of the United States and other political systems, as well as the relationship of American government to world affairs. Students learn to analyze the roles of individuals and groups in the political process by identifying and analyzing political issues.
Key Ideas include things such as vocabulary, essential knowledge, places, historical figures
Course Concepts - The content and performance Social Studies standards are organized around the following guidelines:
ECO - Economics – Economics includes the study of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Students will understand how their economic decisions affect themselves, others, the nation, and the world as a whole. Students will be able to reconcile unlimited wants with limited resources. Students will understand the effects of economic decisions in daily living.
GEO - Geography – Geography includes the study of location, place, regions, movement and human interaction with the environment. Understanding the world and its delicate balance are essential to human survival. A geographic perspective allows better understanding of the past and preparation for the future.
HIS - History – History is an interpretation of events, people, ideas, and their interaction over time. In order for students to understand the present and make plans for the future, they must understand the past. Students will be able to understand, analyze, and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop historical perspectives.
CIV - Civics & Government – Citizenship entails an understanding of the nature of government and the unique qualities of a democracy including fundamental rights, structure, and the role of the citizen. Students will apply justice, equality, responsibility, and freedom to life. Students will understand and be able to describe various forms of government and analyze rights and responsibilities within each
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Ways to Infuse the Catholic Faith:
Catholic Social Teaching Themes:
Life and Dignity of the Human Person – The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. The Church believes that every person is precious, that people are more important than things and the measure of every institution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person.
Call to Family, Community and Participation – The Catholic Church tradition proclaims that the person is not only sacred but also social. Marriage and the family is the central social institution that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. Our Church teaches that the role of government and other institutions is to protect human life and human dignity and promote the common good.
Rights and Responsibilities – Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met.
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable – Catholic teaching proclaims that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. We are instructed in Matthew 25: 31-46 to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers – The Catholic Church believes that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation.
Solidarity – Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. Learning to practice the virtue of solidarity means learning that “loving our neighbor” has global dimensions in an interdependent world.
Care for God’s Creation –The Catholic tradition insists that we show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation.
Unit 1
The state is only one institution among many that influence the lives of individuals. What areas of life should be impacted by state decisions and what areas of life should be left to the Church and family? What is the ultimate point of politics and government?
How do different theories of state formation influence the way that one thinks about the relationship between individuals, families, communities, and the state? What is the role of the common good in each of these theories?
How do democratic forms of government promote the dignity of the human person? What particular threats to the dignity of individuals and families are present in democratic forms of government?
What areas of Catholic social teaching are demonstrated in the development of the US Constitution? Where is the Constitution lacking in promoting those principles?
Unit 2
“Human society can be neither well-ordered nor prosperous unless it has some people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all.” (Pacem in Terris, 46). What expectation can individuals have of their elected representatives to pursue the common good?
What limits should be placed on individuals and institutions to ensure that they do not extend their powers into areas of life legitimately held by the family and local community? How does a system of checks and balances help to restrict institutional power?
Many politicians and government officials are Catholic. What role should the faith play in the decision-making process of policymakers?
Unit 3
“Rights must be religiously respected wherever they exist, and it is the duty of the public authority to prevent and to punish injury, and to protect every one in the possession of his own.” (Rerum Novarum, 37). How do the civil liberties protected in the Bill of Rights demonstrate the government’s role in protecting the diginity of the individual?
“All the faithful are well aware that specifically religious activities (such as the profession of faith, worship, administration of sacraments, theological doctrines, interchange between religious authorities and the members of religions) are outside the state’s responsibility. The state must not interfere, nor in any way require or prohibit these activities, except when it is a question of public order. The recognition of civil and political rights, as well as the allocation of public services may not be made dependent upon citizens’ religious convictions or activities.” (Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, The Participation of Catholics in Political Life) How is this commitment to religious liberty reflected in the protections of the First Amendment? What is the relationship between a civil protection religious liberty and the call to preach the Gospel to all?
What is a correct ordering of rights and responsibilities? Should certain rights or expectations precede others when in conflict? How does one decide?
What is the expectation of a Christian when public policy is ineffective in protecting the life and dignity of the human person or ensuring that groups do not suffer from unjust discrimination?
How does the government’s commitment to civil rights protections reflect the Church’s call to solidarity?
Unit 4
What is the role of the Church in forming the civic consciences of its members? Which issues and principles are primary for faithful citizens when making electoral choices? What are some issues in which the Church allows for prudential decision-making?
How can the Church legitimately influence public opinion without becoming a partisan actor? What role does it play in facilitating collective political action?
Where do political ideologies find agreement with the social teachings of the Church? Where do they fall short?
Unit 5
Why doesn’t the Church engage in partisan politics? How would partisan engagement advance or hurt the mission of the Church?
How does each party reflect the social teachings of the Church? In what ways do they contradict those teachings?
Does a person have a moral obligation to vote? What should an individual do when the major political parties/candidates hold stances that contradict the social teachings of the church?
How does the Church distingusih itself in the public square that it is not relegated as one NGO among others?
How can the public policy process be used to protect the poor and vulnerable in society?
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