Grade 8 – Social Studies Curriculum:
Civics and Government Chicopee Public Schools
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The curriculum for grade 8 Civics and Government was developed with help from The National Center for Civic Education. These National Standards for Civic and Government are intended to help schools develop competent and responsible citizens who possess a reasoned commitment to the fundamental values and principles that are essential to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy.
Civics is a part of political science: the study of the rights and duties of citizens and the nature of civic virtue. To exercise their rights and fulfill their duties responsibly, citizens must learn what their rights and duties are and acquire respect for the equal rights of others. Civic knowledge and civic virtue have long been fundamental aims of the education of the public in representative democracies and constitutional republics.
However, even knowledgeable and responsible citizens cannot all by themselves secure or safeguard human and civil rights. The fundamental ideals of democracy-liberty and justice for all-depend also for their security on institutions of government; laws that apply equally to those who govern and the governed; and nongovernmental religious, social, and economic institutions.
Students need to learn, then, not only the equal rights and the duties of citizens, but also the purposes, form, and limited extent of their government and its authority. They should learn as well fundamental differences between this form and other forms of government.
Students must learn concepts and principles essential to American constitutionalism-representative government, the purposes of a written constitution, citizenship, rights (including property, freedoms of speech, assembly, religion, and the press), duties, ordered liberty, justice, privacy, law, authority, power, government. And they must learn facts the history of constitutional and democratic ideals and how they have fared, sacrifices made and suffering endured for the sake of liberty and justice, advances in the achievement of justice for all and grim failures and unjust discrimination. Students should become familiar with reasoning about the principles of American constitutionalism by considering the case that has been made for the principles by statesmen such as Madison, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson, and Lincoln, and also arguments offered by Anti-federalists and positions taken later by Southern Secessionists.
The Founding Documents of the United States and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including its Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants, are not mere relics to be treasured because they are old. They are the living foundation of the United States as an experiment in ordered liberty, vital safeguards of the rights of the public, including students, and, imperfect though their implementation may be, they are the basis of this country's never-ending quest for justice.
The yearning for freedom and justice transcends national and temporal boundaries. But the achievement of these goals has varied dramatically depending on political systems, traditions, popular education, and such factors as religion, geographical conditions, and patterns of prejudice.
The narrative of the history of government, including government by consent of the people, is long and suspenseful. It never ends. Students need to learn that the future of freedom can never be taken for granted.
The Learning Standards for Civics and Government are:
1. The Founding Documents. Students will learn in progressively greater detail the content and the history of the Founding Documents of the United States-the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, and selected Federalist papers (as required by the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993). They will assess the reasoning, purposes, and effectiveness of the documents; and, similarly, elements of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
2. Authority, Responsibility, and Power. Students will explain forms of authority in government and other institutions; explain purposes of authority and distinguish authority from mere power, as in "a government of laws, but not of men"; and describe responsible and irresponsible exercise of both authority and power.
3. Principles and Practices of American Government. Students will describe how the United States government functions at the local, state, national, and international levels, with attention to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, its Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants, and the basic elements of its Frame of Government; analyze the background and evolution of constitutional and democratic government in the United States to the present day; and explain the place of institutions of government in securing the rights of citizens.
4. Citizenship. Students will learn the rights and duties of citizens and the principle of equal rights for all; consider the nature of civic virtue in a school, a community, a nation; and identify major obstacles and threats to civil rights.
5. Forms of Government. Students will study, compare, contrast, and analyze diverse forms of government; the ways of life and opportunities they permit, promote, and prohibit; and their effects on human rights. They will evaluate forms of government in terms of justice, ordered liberty, efficiency, public safety, educational opportunity, and economic and social mobility.
6. Civics/ Government: outline the structure of the Constitution and the powers that it gives to the three branches of government: discuss selected amendments to the Constitution in order to show that it is a “living document” that addresses contemporary issues as well as historical ones, Explain how the conflict between states’ rights and the federal system led to the Civil War.
Week 1
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding the American idea of constitutional government
1. Explain essential ideas of American constitutional government as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other writings,
2. The purposes of government, as stated in the Preamble to the Constitution, are to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general welfare.
3. Explain how the following provisions of the United States Constitution give government the power it needs to fulfill the purposes for which it was established
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand the essential ideas of American constitutional government.
Week 2:
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding the American idea of constitutional government
1. Explain the means of limiting the powers of government under the United States Constitution, e.g., separation and sharing of powers, checks and balances, and the Bill of Rights
2. Explain how specific provisions of the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, limit the powers of government in order to protect the rights of individuals, e.g., habeas corpus; trial by jury; ex post facto; freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly; equal protection of the law; due process of law; right to counsel
3. Evaluate, take, and defend positions on current issues involving constitutional protection of individual rights, such as
a. Limits on speech, e.g., “hate speech,” advertising, libel and slander,
“fighting words”
b. separation of church and state, e.g., school vouchers, prayer in public
c. cruel and unusual punishment, e.g., death penalty
d. search and seizure, e.g., warrant-less searches
e. privacy, e.g., fingerprinting of children, national identification cards,
wiretapping, DNA banks
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand the essential ideas of American constitutional government and the limits placed on the government to protect individual civil rights.
Week 3:
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding the distinctive characteristics of American society
1. Identify and explain the importance of historical experience and geographic, social, and economic factors that have helped to shape American society.
2. Explain important factors that have helped shape American society, such as;
a. The absence of a nobility or an inherited caste system
b. religious freedom
c. The Judeo-Christian ethic
d. a history of slavery
e. relative geographic isolation
f. abundance of land and widespread ownership of property
g. social, economic, and geographic mobility
h. effects of a frontier
i. large scale immigration
j. diversity of the population
k. individualism
l. work ethic
m. market economy
n. relative social equality
o. universal public education
Learning Objectives:
Students will learn the importance of historical experience and geographic, social, and economic factors that have helped to shape American society.
Week 4:
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding diversity in American society
1. Evaluate, take, and defend positions on the value and challenges of diversity in American life.
a. Identify the many forms of diversity in American society, e.g., regional, linguistic, racial, religious, ethnic, socioeconomic
b. Explain why diversity is desirable and beneficial, e.g., increases choice, fosters a variety of viewpoints, encourages cultural creativity
c. Explain why conflicts have arisen from diversity, using historical and contemporary examples, e.g., North/South conflict; conflict about land, suffrage, and other rights of Native Americans; Catholic/Protestant conflicts in the nineteenth century; conflict about civil rights of minorities and women; present day ethnic conflict in urban settings
2. Evaluate ways conflicts about diversity can be resolved in a peaceful manner that respects individual rights and promotes the common good
Learning Objectives:
Students will learn the values and challenges of diversity in American life.
Week 5:
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding the American identity
1. Explain that an American's identity stems from belief in and allegiance to shared political values and principles rather than from ethnicity, race, religion, class, language, gender, or national origin, which determine identity in most other nations
2. Identify basic values and principles Americans share as set forth in such documents as the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Gettysburg Address
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand the importance of shared political values and principles to American society.
Week 6:
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding fundamental values and principles of democracy
1. Identify fundamental values and principles as expressed in the following documents;
a. Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution
b. significant political speeches and writings, e.g., The Federalist, Washington's Farewell Address, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, King's “I Have a Dream” speech
c. individual and group actions that embody fundamental values and principles, e.g., suffrage and civil rights movements
Learning Objective:
Students will how the meaning and importance of the fundamental values and principles of American constitutional Democracy as expressed in specific American documents.
Week 7:
Unit 1: The Foundations of the American Political System
Goal: Understanding fundamental values and principles of democracy
1. explain the meaning and importance of each of the following values considered to be fundamental to American public life
a. individual rights: life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness
b. the common or public good
c. self government
d. justice
e. equality
f. diversity
g. openness and free inquiry
h. truth
i. patriotism
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the meaning and importance of the fundamental values and principles of American constitutional Democracy.
Week 8:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Defining civic life, politics, and government
1. Define and distinguish between private life and civic life
2. Describe politics as the ways people whose ideas may differ reach agreements that are generally regarded as binding on the group, e.g., presenting information and evidence, stating arguments, negotiating, compromising, and voting.
3. Describe government as the people and institutions with authority to make, carry out, enforce laws, and manage disputes about law.
4. Define authority as the right, legitimized by custom, law, consent, or principles of morality, to use power to direct or control people.
5. Identify institutions with authority to direct or control the behavior of members of a society, e.g., a school board, city council, state legislature, courts, Congress.
Learning Objective:
Students will learn the meaning of the terms civic life, politics, and government.
Week 9:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Understanding the necessities and purposes of government
1. Explain major ideas about why government is necessary;
a. People's lives, liberty, and property would be insecure without government, e.g., there would be no laws to control people's behavior, the strong might take advantage of the weak
b. Individuals by themselves cannot do many of the things they can do collectively, e.g., create a system of highways, provide armed forces for the security of the nation, make and enforce laws
2. Evaluate competing ideas about the purposes government should serve;
a. Protecting individual rights
b. Promoting the common good
Learning Objective:
Students learn why government is necessary and the purposes government should serve for society.
Week 10:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Understanding limited and unlimited governments
1. Describe the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited governments
a. limited governments have established and respected restraints on their power
b. constitutional governments--governments characterized by legal limits on political power
c. unlimited governments are those in which there are no effective means of restraining their power.
d. authoritarian systems--governments in which political power is concentrated in one person or a small group, and individuals and groups are subordinated to that power
e. totalitarian systems--modern forms of extreme authoritarianism in which the government attempts to control every aspect of the lives of individuals and prohibits independent associations
Learning Objective:
Students will learn what make up the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited governments.
Week 11:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Understanding concepts of “constitution”
1. Distinguish among the following uses of the term constitution
a. constitution as a description of a form of government
b. constitution as a document
c. constitution as a higher law limiting the powers of government, i.e., a constitutional or limited government
2. Identify historical and contemporary nations with constitutions that in reality do not limit power, e.g., former Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Iraq under Saddam Hussein
3. Identify historical and contemporary nations with constitutions that in reality do limit power, e.g., United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Botswana, Chile
4. Explain that a government with a constitution but with no effective ways to enforce its limitations is not a constitutional government
Learning Objective:
Students will learn the alternative uses of the term “constitution” and to distinguish between governments with a constitution and a constitutional government.
Week 12:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Understanding the purposes and uses of constitutions
1. Explain how constitutions;
a. set forth the purposes of government
b. describe the way a government is organized and how power is allocated
c. define the relationship between a people and their government
2. describe historical and contemporary examples of how constitutions have been used to protect individual rights and promote the common good, e.g., United States Constitution “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, (First Amendment) ...,” “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied...on account of sex (Nineteenth Amendment).”
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand the various purposes constitutions serve.
Week 13:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Understanding shared powers
1. Describe the major characteristics of systems of shared powers, e.g., in the United States.
a. The president and members of the Cabinet cannot be members of Congress
b. Powers are separated among branches, each branch has primary responsibility
for certain functions, e.g., legislative, executive, and judicial
c. Each branch also shares the powers and functions of the other branches, e.g.,
Congress
i. may pass laws, but the president may veto them
ii. the president nominates certain public officials, but the Senate needs to approve them
iii. Congress may pass laws, but the Supreme Court may declare them unconstitutional
d. Describe the major characteristics of parliamentary systems, e.g., in the
United Kingdom
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand the major characteristics of systems of shared powers and of parliamentary systems.
Week 14:
Unit 2: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
Goal: Understanding confederate, federal, and unitary systems
1. Define confederate, federal, and unitary systems of government
2. Identify examples of confederate, federal, and unitary systems in the history of the United States
3. Explain the major advantages and disadvantages of confederate, federal, and unitary systems
Learning Objectives:
Students will understand the advantages and disadvantages of confederate, federal, and unitary systems of government.
Week 15:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in the government established by the United States Constitution and social life
1. Explain how the three opening words of the Preamble to the Constitution, “We the People...,” embody the principle of the people as sovereign--the ultimate source of authority
2. Explain how legislative, executive, and judicial powers are distributed and shared among the three branches of the national government
3. Explain how each branch of government can check the powers of the other branches
a. Legislative branch has the power to
· establish committees to oversee activities of the executive branch
· impeach the president, other members of the executive branch, and federal judges
· pass laws over the president's veto by two-thirds majority vote of both Houses
· disapprove appointments made by the president
· propose amendments to the United States Constitution
Learning Objective:
Students will learn in what way the powers of the national government are distributed, shared, and limited.
Week 16:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in the government established by the United States Constitution and social life (continued)
3. Explain how each branch of government can check the powers of the other branches
b. Executive branch has the power to
· veto laws passed by Congress
· nominate members of the federal judiciary
c. Judicial branch has the power to
· overrule decisions made by lower courts
· declare laws made by Congress to be unconstitutional
· declare actions of the executive branch to be unconstitutional
Learning Objective:
Students will learn in what way the powers of the national government are distributed, shared, and limited.
Week 17:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding the sharing of powers between the national and state governments
1. Identify the major parts of the federal system
a. national government
b. state governments
2. Describe how some powers are shared between the national and state governments, e.g., power to tax, borrow money, regulate voting
3. Describe functions commonly and primarily exercised by state governments, e.g., education, law enforcement, health and hospitals, roads and highways
4. Identify powers prohibited to state governments by the United States Constitution, e.g., coining money, conducting foreign relations, interfering with interstate commerce, raising an army and declaring war (Article I, Section 10)
5. Explain how and why the United States Constitution provides that laws of the national government and treaties are the supreme law of the land
Learning Objective:
Students will understand why and how the powers are distributed and shared between national and state governments in the federal system.
Week 18:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding the duties of the national government
1. Identify historical and contemporary examples of important domestic policies, e.g., Pure Food and Drug Act, Environmental Protection Act, civil rights laws, child labor laws, minimum wage laws, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Social Security
2. Explain how and why domestic policies affect their lives
3. Identify historical and contemporary examples of important foreign policies, e.g., Monroe Doctrine, Marshall Plan, immigration acts, foreign aid, arms control, promoting democracy and human rights throughout the world
4. Explain how and why foreign policies affect our lives
Learning Objective:
Students will learn how the national government protects and serves its citizens, in terms of foreign policy and domestic policy.
Week 19:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding financing government through taxation
1. Explain why taxation is necessary to pay for government
2. Identify provisions of the United States Constitution that authorize the national government to collect taxes, i.e., Article One, Sections 7 and 8; Sixteenth Amendment
3. Identify major sources of revenue for the national government, e.g., individual income taxes, social insurance receipts (Social Security and Medicare), borrowing, taxes on corporations and businesses, estate and excise taxes, tariffs on foreign goods
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the necessity of taxation and the purposes for which taxes are used.
Week 20:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding state governments
1. Explain that their state has a constitution because the United States is a federal system 2. Identify major purposes of the constitution of the state in which they live
3. Identify and explain the basic similarities and differences between their state constitution and the United States Constitution
4. Explain why state constitutions and state governments cannot violate the United States Constitution
5. Explain how citizens can change their state constitution and cite examples of changes
Learning Objective:
Students will understand why states have constitutions, their purposes, and the relationship of state constitutions to the federal constitution.
Week 21:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding organization and responsibilities of state and local governments
1. Identify major responsibilities of their state and local governments, e.g., education, welfare, streets and roads, parks, recreation, and law enforcement
2. Describe the organization of their state and local governments, e.g., legislative, executive, and judicial functions at state and local levels
3. Identify major sources of revenue for state and local governments, e.g., property, sales, and income taxes; fees and licenses; taxes on corporations and businesses; borrowing
4. Explain why state and local governments have an important effect on their own lives
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the organization and major responsibilities of state and local governments.
Week 22:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding your representation in local, state, and national governments
1. Name the persons representing them at state and national levels in the legislative branches of government, i.e., representatives and senators in their state legislature and in Congress
2. Name the persons representing them at local, state, and national levels in the executive branches of government, e.g., mayor, governor, president
3. Explain how they can contact their representatives and when and why it is important to do so
4. Explain which level of government they should contact to express their opinions or to get help on specific problems, e.g., opinions about a curfew for persons under 16 years of age, an increase in state sales tax, aid to another country; problems with street lights, driver's license, federal income taxes
Learning Objective:
Students will learn who their representatives are in the legislative branches as well as the heads of the executive branches of their local, state, and national governments.
Week 23:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding the place of law in the American constitutional system
1. Appreciate the importance of law in protecting rights
2. Understand the importance of voluntary adherence to the law
3. Identify the purposes of American public life best served by law and the purposes best served by other means
4. Support new laws and changes in existing law that are in accord with the fundamental values and principles of the Constitution and serve the needs of their communities and the nation
5. Evaluate the operation of the legal system and proposals for improvement
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the place and importance of law in the American constitutional system.
Week 24:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding the place of law in American society
1. Explain the importance of the rule of law in
a. establishing limits on both those who govern and the governed
b. protecting individual rights
c. promoting the common good
2. Describe historical and contemporary examples of the rule of law, e.g., Marbury v. Madison, Brown v. Board of Education, U.S. v. Nixon
3. Identify principal varieties of law, e.g., constitutional, criminal, civil
4. Explain how the principal varieties of law protect individual rights and promote the common good
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the importance of law in the American constitutional system.
Week 25:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding judicial protection of the rights of individuals
1. Explain the basic concept of due process of law, i.e., government must use fair procedures to gather information and make decisions in order to protect the rights of individuals and the interests of society
2. Explain the importance to individuals and to society of major due process protections
a. habeas corpus
b. presumption of innocence
c. fair notice
d. impartial tribunal
e. speedy and public trials
f. right to counsel
g. trial by jury
h. right against self-incrimination
i. protection against double jeopardy
j. right of appeal
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the due process that all citizens are afforded.
Week 26:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding the public agenda
1. Explain that the public agenda consists of those matters that occupy public attention at any particular time, e.g., crime, health care, education, child care, environmental protection, drug abuse
2. Describe how the public agenda is shaped by political leaders, interest groups, the media, state and federal courts, individual citizens
3. Explain how individuals can help to shape the public agenda, e.g., by joining interest groups or political parties, by making presentations at public meetings, by writing letters to government officials and to newspapers
Learning Objective:
Students will understand what is meant by the public agenda and how it is set.
Week 27:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding political parties, campaigns, and elections
1. Describe the role of political parties
2. Describe various kinds of elections, e.g., primary and general, local and state, congressional, presidential, recall
3. Explain ways individuals can participate in political parties, campaigns, and elections
Learning Objective:
Students will understand how political parties, campaigns, and elections provide opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process.
Week 28:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding associations and groups
1. Describe the historical roles of prominent associations and groups in local, state, or national politics, e.g., abolitionists, suffragists, labor unions, agricultural organizations, civil rights groups, religious organizations
2. Describe the contemporary roles of prominent associations and groups in local, state, or national politics, e.g., AFL-CIO, National Education Association, Chamber of Commerce, Common Cause, League of Women Voters, American Medical Association, National Rifle Association, Greenpeace, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Public Citizen, World Wildlife Federation
3. Explain how and why Americans become members of associations and groups
4. Explain how individuals can participate in the political process through membership in associations and groups
Learning Objective:
Students will understand how interest groups, unions, and professional organizations provide opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process.
Week 29:
Unit 3: A constitutional government and American Democracy
Goal: Understanding forming and carrying out public policy
1. Define public policy and identify examples at local, state, and national levels
2. Describe how public policies are formed and implemented
3. Explain how citizens can monitor and influence the formation and implementation of public policies
4. Explain why conflicts about values, principles, and interests may make agreement difficult or impossible on certain issues of public policy, e.g., affirmative action, gun control, environmental protection, capital punishment, equal rights
Learning Objective:
Students will understand how public policy is formed and carried out at local, state, and national levels and what roles individuals can play in the process.
Week 30:
Unit 4: The USA and the Rest of the World
Goal: Understanding Interaction among nation-states
1. Describe the most important means nation-states use to interact with one another
a. trade
b. diplomacy
c. treaties and agreements
d. humanitarian aid
e. economic incentives and sanctions
f. military force and the threat of force
2. Explain reasons for the breakdown of order among nation-states, e.g, conflicts about national interests, ethnicity, and religion; competition for resources and territory; absence of effective means to enforce international law
3. Explain the consequences of the breakdown of order among nation-states
4. Explain why and how the breakdown of order among nation-states can affect their own lives
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the importance and means of international interaction and how international events will affect the United States
Week 31:
Unit 4: The USA and the Rest of the World
Goal: Understanding United States' relations with other nation-states
1. Explain the most important powers the United States Constitution gives to the Congress, president, and federal judiciary in foreign affairs
a. Congress--can declare war, approve treaties (Senate), raise and support armies, and provide a navy (Article I, Section 8)
b. President--is Commander in Chief, can make treaties and appoint ambassadors (Article II)
c. Federal judiciary--can decide cases affecting treaties and ambassadors, and those involving treason (Article III)
2. Describe various means used to attain the ends of United States foreign policy, e.g., diplomacy; economic, military, and humanitarian aid; treaties; trade agreements; incentives; sanctions; military intervention; covert action
3. Identify important current foreign policy issues and evaluate the means the United States is using to deal with them
Learning Objective:
Students will learn how United States foreign policy is made and by which means it is
carried out.
Week 32:
Unit 4: The USA and the Rest of the World
Goal: Understanding the impact of the American concept of democracy and individual rights on the world
1. Describe the impact on other nations of the American Revolution and of the values and principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights
2. Describe the influence American ideas about rights have had on other nations and international organizations, e.g., French Revolution; democracy movements in Eastern Europe, People's Republic of China, Latin America, South Africa; United Nations Charter; Universal Declaration of Human Rights
3. Describe the impact of other nations' ideas about rights on the United States, e.g., natural rights in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, social and economic rights in the twentieth century
Learning Objective:
Students will understand how other nations have influenced the social, political, and economical ideas of the America.
Week 33:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding citizenship and becoming a citizen
1. explain the important characteristics of citizenship in the United States. Specifically, citizenship;
a. is legally recognized membership in a self-governing community
b. confers full membership in a self-governing community--there are no degrees of citizenship or of legally tolerated states of inferior citizenship in the United States
c. confers equal rights under the law
d. is not dependent on inherited, involuntary groupings such as race, gender, or ethnicity
e. confers certain rights and privileges, e.g., the right to vote, to hold public office, to serve on juries
f. explain that Americans are citizens of both their state and the United States
Learning Objective:
Students will learn the process one follows in order to become a citizen of the United States and have a better understanding the meaning of American citizenship.
Week 34:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding citizenship and becoming a citizen (continued)
1. Explain that anyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen
2. Explain the distinction between citizens and non-citizens (aliens)
3. Describe the process by which non-citizens may become citizens
4. Compare naturalization in the United States with that of other nations
5. Evaluate the criteria established by law that are used for admission to citizenship in the United States
a. residence in the United States for five years
b. ability to read, write, and speak English
c. proof of good moral character
d. knowledge of the history of the United States
e. knowledge of and support for the values and principles of American constitutional democracy
Learning Objective:
Students will learn the process one follows in order to become a citizen of the United States and have a better understanding the meaning of American citizenship.
Week 35:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding personal rights
1. Identify personal rights, e.g., freedom of conscience, freedom to marry whom one chooses, to have children, to associate with whomever one pleases, to live where one chooses, to travel freely, to emigrate
2. Identify the major documentary sources of personal rights, e.g., Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, state constitutions 3. Explain the importance to the individual and to society of such personal rights as
a. freedom of conscience and religion
b. freedom of expression and association
c. freedom of movement and residence
d. privacy
4. Identify and evaluate contemporary issues that involve personal rights, e.g., restricting membership in private organizations, school prayer, dress codes, curfews, sexual harassment, the right to refuse medical care
Learning Objective:
Students will learn the positions on issues involving personal rights in the United States.
Week 36:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding political rights
1. Identify political rights, e.g., the right to vote, petition, assembly, freedom of press
2. Explain the meaning of political rights as distinguished from personal rights, e.g., the right of free speech for political discussion as distinct from the right of free speech to express personal tastes and interests, the right to register to vote as distinct from the right to live where one chooses
3. Identify major statements of political rights in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, state constitutions, and civil rights legislation
4. Explain the importance to the individual and society of such political rights as
a. freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition
b. right to vote and to seek public office
5. Identify and evaluate contemporary issues that involve political rights, e.g., hate speech, fair trial, free press
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the fundamental political rights each U.S. citizen possesses.
Week 37:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding scope and limits of rights
1. Explain what is meant by the “scope and limits” of a right, e.g., the scope of one's right to free speech in the United States is extensive and protects almost all forms of political expression. The right to free speech, however, can be limited if and when that speech seriously harms or endangers others
2. Explain the argument that all rights have limits
3. Explain criteria commonly used in determining what limits should be placed on specific rights, e.g.,
a. clear and present danger rule
b. compelling government interest test
c. national security
d. libel or slander
e. public safety
f. equal opportunity
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the limitation that American citizens have on their basic civil rights as well as current issues regarding the proper scope and limits of rights.
Week 38:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding civic responsibilities
1. Evaluate the importance of commonly held civic responsibilities, such as
a. obeying the law
b. paying taxes
c. respecting the rights of others
d. being informed and attentive to public issues
e. monitoring political leaders and governmental agencies and taking appropriate action if their adherence to constitutional principles is lacking
f. deciding whether and how to vote
g. participating in civic groups
h. performing public service
i. serving as a juror
j. serving in the armed forces
2. Explain the meaning of civic responsibilities as distinguished from personal responsibilities
3. Evaluate when their responsibilities as Americans require that their personal rights and interests be subordinated to the public good
4. Evaluate the importance for the individual and society of fulfilling civic responsibilities
5. Identify and evaluate contemporary issues that involve civic responsibilities, e.g., low voter participation, avoidance of jury duty, failure to be informed about public issues
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the importance of civic responsibilities to the individual and society.
Week 39:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding dispositions that enhance citizen effectiveness and promote the healthy functioning of American constitutional democracy.
1. Explain the importance to the individual and society of the following dispositions or traits of character
a. individual responsibility--fulfilling the moral and legal obligations of membership in society
b. self-discipline/self-governance--adhering voluntarily to self-imposed standards of behavior rather than requiring the imposition of external controls
c. civility--treating other persons respectfully, regardless of whether or not one agrees with their viewpoints; being willing to listen to other points of view; avoiding hostile, abusive, emotional, and illogical argument
d. courage--the strength to stand up for one's convictions when conscience demands
e. respect for the rights of other individuals--having respect for others' right to an equal voice in government, to be equal in the eyes of the law, to hold and advocate diverse ideas, and to join in associations to advance their views
f. respect for law--willingness to abide by laws, even though one may not be in complete agreement with every law; willingness to work through peaceful, legal means to change laws which are thought to be unwise or unjust
g. honesty--willingness to seek and express the truth
h. open mindedness--considering others' points of view
i. critical mindedness--having the inclination to question the validity of various positions, including one's own
j. negotiation and compromise--making an effort to come to agreement with those with whom one may differ, when it is reasonable and morally justifiable to do so
k. persistence--being willing to attempt again and again to accomplish worthwhile goals
l. civic mindedness--paying attention to and having concern for public affairs
m. compassion--having concern for the well-being of others, especially for the less fortunate
n. patriotism--being loyal to the values and principles underlying American constitutional democracy, as distinguished from jingoism and chauvinism
Learning Objective:
Students will understand the importance of certain dispositions or traits of character to themselves and American constitutional democracy.
Week 40:
Unit 5: What are the roles of citizens in American Democracy
Goal: Understanding forms of political participation
1. Explain how Americans can use the following means to monitor and influence politics and government at local, state, and national levels
a. voting
b. becoming informed about public issues
c. discussing public issues
d. communicating with public officials
e. joining political parties, interest groups, and other organizations that attempt to influence public policy and elections
f. attending meetings of governing bodies
g. working in campaigns
h. taking part in peaceful demonstration
i. circulating and signing petitions
j. contributing money to political parties or causes
2. Explain what civil disobedience is, how it differs from other forms of protest, what its consequences might be, and circumstances under which it might be justified
3. Explain why becoming knowledgeable about public affairs and the values and principles of American constitutional democracy and communicating that knowledge to others is a form of political participation
Learning Objective:
Students will learn how Americans can monitor and influence politics and government.
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