American Government

• America’s Core Political Ideals 
• The Rules of American Politics
• Theories of Power

• List and discuss America’s three core political ideals. 
• Analyze how democracy, constitutionalism, and capitalism establish a political process that is intended to promote self-government, defend individual rights, and protect property. 
• Compare and contrast the four theories of power in America: majoritarianism, pluralism, elitism, and bureaucratic rule.
• Describe the evolution of the social contract, and explain why all members within a society must agree with its terms.

• Negotiating Toward a Constitution 
• Checks and Balances 
• The Bill of Rights 
• Democracy and Republic
• The Social Contract

• Discuss how the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation helped shape the Constitution. 
• Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans, and explain how they led to the Great Compromise. 
• Analyze how the system of checks and balances controls the power of government. 
• Examine the Bill of Rights and explain why it is important to Americans’ liberty.

• National and State Sovereignty 
• National and State Powers 
• The History of Federalism 
• Federalism and the Modern State

• Define federalism and describe the bargaining process at the Philadelphia Convention resulting in its inception. 
• Compare and contrast the powers of the federal and state governments. 
• Examine turning points in federalism. 
• Discuss two reasons why the national government’s authority increased dramatically in the twentieth century.

• Free Speech and Freedom of the Press 
• Libel and Obscenity 
• The Free-Exercise and Establishment Clauses 
• Abortion and Privacy Rights 
• Defendants’ Rights and Habeas Corpus 
• Terrorism and Civil Liberties

• Discuss key Supreme Court decisions involving free speech and freedom of the press. 
• Evaluate the standards that govern libel and obscenity. 
• Define the separation of church and state. 
• Discuss key Supreme Court decisions involving abortion and privacy rights. 
• Define procedural due process and habeas corpus. 
• Discuss the four constitutional amendments that contain specific procedural protections for the accused, and explain what protections each provides. 
• Describe the powers given to the U.S. government by the Patriot Act, and explain which rights it curtails.

• Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act 
• Women’s Right to Vote 
• Equal Protection: The Fourteenth Amendment 
• Social Movements

• Analyze the results of the Brown decision and the Civil Rights Act. 
• Discuss how African-Americans and women gained the right to vote. 
• Distinguish among reasonable basis, strict scrutiny, and intermediate scrutiny tests. 
• Describe how social movements interact with government to produce changes over time in civil rights.

• Does Public Opinion Matter? 
• Where Did You Get Your Political Beliefs? 
• How Has the Internet Changed Mass Media? 
• The Press and Democracy: Friends or Foes?

• Describe how the public’s disinterest in political information and lack of knowledge about the political world restricts the role it can play in policy formation. 
• Define and discuss public opinion and public opinion polls. 
• Test whether you are liberal or conservative, and examine where your political beliefs come from. 
• Describe how the Internet has changed the traditional news media's control of political information. 
• Examine the four roles of the media, and explain the importance of each to a democratic society.

• The Vanishing Voter 
• Why Your Vote Counts 
• Are Parties Obsolete?

• Examine the reasons for low voter turnout and what is being done to promote awareness of and participation in the electoral process. 
• Differentiate between prospective voting and retrospective voting, and explain how voting can strengthen democracy. 
• Examine reasons for the weakening of American party organizations and the decline in their influence, as compared to the powerful role of parties in European politics.

• Are Interest Groups Engines or Corrupters of Democracy? 
• The Free Rider Problem 
• Inside and Outside Lobbying 
• Pros and Cons of Pluralism

• Discuss whether interest groups are engines or corrupters of democracy. 
• Explain the free-rider problem, and discuss strategies employed by interest groups to surmount it. 
• Compare and contrast the tactics used in inside and outside lobbying, and examine how political action committees (PACs) influence politics. 
• Compare and contrast pluralism and interest-group liberalism.

• Why We Re-elect Incumbents 
• Why Incumbents Sometimes Lose 
• Redistricting
• Party Leaders 
• Committees 
• How a Bill Becomes a Law 
• What Does Congress Do?

• Analyze why incumbents are typically reelected and how incumbency weakens democracy. 
• Examine the reasons why incumbents sometimes lose. 
• Examine redistricting and how it affects Congressional elections.
• Compare and contrast the roles and responsibilities of Senate leaders and House of Representatives leaders. 
• Discuss the principal-agent model of congressional leadership, and explain how leadership in the modern Congress has changed. 
• Explain the role of the congressional committee system, discuss congressional committee makeup and assignments, and describe the jurisdiction of congressional committees. 
• Explain the duties of the committee chair, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the seniority system. 
• Create a flowchart that shows how a bill becomes law. 
• Differentiate between cloture and filibuster, and describe a rider. 
• Explain the three major policy-making functions of Congress, and analyze to what degree these roles are complementary, competitive, or mutually exclusive.

• What Does the President Do? 
• The Electoral College 
• What Does the Cabinet Do? 
• How Are Cabinet Members Held Accountable?

• Explain the four authoritative roles that the Constitution grants to the president, and explain how foreign and domestic policy events have shaped the development of presidential power. 
• Discuss the pros and cons of the electoral college. 
• Define the ways cabinet agencies differ from each other and from independent agencies. 
• Explain how the president can hold the bureaucracy accountable for its actions.

• The Judiciary System 
• Landmark Cases 
• Federal Court Appointees 
• Judicial Restraint and Activism

• Discuss the functions of the Supreme Court, courts of appeals, and district courts. 
• Distinguish between original and appellate jurisdiction, and examine the five types of Supreme Court opinions. 
• Define landmark cases that expanded the power of the courts. 
• Explain the criteria the president uses when selecting Supreme Court nominees, and identify factors that make it more likely nominees will be rejected by the Senate. 
• Compare and contrast judicial restraint and judicial activism.

• Fiscal Policy 
• Monetary Policy 
• Social Welfare Policy 
• Foreign and Defense Policy

• Differentiate between supply-side and demand-side economics, and explain when each should be used. 
• Examine how taxes are determined and whether we should have a deficit. 
• Examine how the Federal Reserve System controls monetary policy. 
• Analyze individual-benefit programs, and explain which programs have public support and why. 
• Trace the shift of U.S. foreign and defense policy, from dealing with communism to fighting terrorism.

State and Local Politics

• State Governments 
• State and Local Governments 
• Types of Local Government

• Explain the structure of state governments. 
• Describe the relationship between state and local governments. 
• List and discuss some of the major types of local government.

• Review

• Complete a review of key content covered in this course.