EL SEGUNDO HIGH SCHOOL
Department: Social Studies
Grade Level: 12th
Students in grade twelve pursue a deeper understanding
of the institutions of American government. They compare systems of government
in the world today and analyze the history and changing interpretations of the
Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the current state of the legislative,
executive, and judiciary branches of government. An emphasis is placed on
analyzing the relationship among federal, state, and local governments, with
particular attention paid to important historical documents such as the Federalist
Papers. These standards represent the culmination of civic literacy as
students prepare to vote, participate in community activities, and assume the
responsibilities of citizenship.
Length: One Semester
Prerequisite: 12th grade standing
Type of Course: Meets Graduation Requirement
Based on the State
Standards for Government
A. Students explain the fundamental principles and moral
values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other
essential documents of American democracy. (Integration of core knowledge, critical
thinking)
1. Analyze the influence of ancient Greek, Roman, English, and leading European political thinkers such as John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Niccolò Machiavelli, and William Blackstone on the development of American government.
2. Discuss the character
of American democracy and its promise and perils as articulated by Alexis de
Tocqueville.
3. Explain how the U.S. Constitution reflects a balance between the classical republican concern with promotion of the public good and the classical liberal concern with protecting individual rights; and discuss how the basic premises of liberal constitutionalism and democracy are joined in the Declaration of Independence as “self-evident truths.”
4. Explain how the
Founding Fathers’ realistic view of human nature led directly to the
establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the
governors and the governed as articulated in the Federalist Papers.
5. Describe the systems of
separated and shared powers, the role of organized interests (Federalist
Paper Number 10), checks and balances (Federalist Paper Number 51),
the importance of an independent judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78),
enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, and civilian control of the
military.
6. Understand that the Bill of Rights limits the powers of the federal government and state governments.
B. Students evaluate and take and defend positions on
the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the
relationships among them, and how they are secured. (Integration of Core
knowledge, critical thinking, effective communication, social development)
1. Discuss the meaning and importance of each of the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, privacy).
2. Explain how economic rights are secured and their importance to the individual and to society (e.g., the right to acquire, use, transfer, and dispose of property; right to choose one’s work; right to join or not join labor unions; copyright and patent).
3. Discuss the individual’s legal obligations to obey the law, serve as a juror, and pay taxes.
4. Understand the obligations of civic-mindedness, including voting, being informed on civic issues, volunteering and performing public service, and serving in the military or alternative service.
5. Describe the reciprocity between rights and obligations; that is, why enjoyment of one’s rights entails respect for the rights of others.
6. Explain
how one becomes a citizen of the
C. Students evaluate and take and defend positions on
what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the
autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that
are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and
importance of those values and principles for a free society. (All ESLRs)
1. Explain how civil society provides opportunities for individuals to associate for social, cultural, religious, economic, and political purposes.
2. Explain how civil society makes it possible for people, individually or in association with others, to bring their influence to bear on government in ways other than voting and elections.
3.
Discuss the historical role of
religion and religious diversity.
4. Compare the relationship of government and civil society in constitutional democracies to the relationship of government and civil society in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.
D. Students analyze the unique roles and
responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S.
Constitution. (Integration
of core knowledge, effective communication, critical thinking)
1. Discuss Article I of the Constitution as it relates to the legislative branch, including eligibility for office and lengths of terms of representatives and senators; election to office; the roles of the House and Senate in impeachment proceedings; the role of the vice president; the enumerated legislative powers; and the process by which a bill becomes a law.
2.
Explain the process through which
the Constitution can be amended.
3. Identify their current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government.
4. Discuss Article II of the Constitution as it relates to the executive branch, including eligibility for office and length of term, election to and removal from office, the oath of office, and the enumerated executive powers.
5. Discuss Article III of the Constitution as it relates to judicial power, including the length of terms of judges and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
6. Explain the processes of selection and confirmation of Supreme Court justices.
E. Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court
interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. (Integration of core
knowledge, critical thinking, social development, effective communication)
1. Understand the changing interpretations of the Bill of Rights over time, including interpretations of the basic freedoms (religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly) articulated in the First Amendment and the due process and equal-protection-of-the law clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. Analyze judicial activism and judicial restraint and the effects of each policy over the decades (e.g., the Warren and Rehnquist courts).
3. Evaluate the effects of
the Court’s interpretations of the Constitution in Marbury v.
4. Explain the
controversies that have resulted over changing interpretations of civil rights,
including those in Plessy v.
F. Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for
national, state, and local elective offices. (Integration of core knowledge, critical
thinking, effective communication, social development)
1. Analyze the origin, development, and role of political parties, noting those occasional periods in which there was only one major party or were more than two major parties.
2. Discuss the history of the nomination process for presidential candidates and the increasing importance of primaries in general elections.
3. Evaluate the roles of polls, campaign advertising, and the controversies over campaign funding.
4. Describe the means that citizens use to participate in the political process (e.g., voting, campaigning, lobbying, filing a legal challenge, demonstrating, petitioning, picketing, running for political office).
5. Discuss the features of direct democracy in numerous states (e.g., the process of referendums, recall elections).
6. Analyze trends in voter turnout; the causes and effects of reapportionment and redistricting, with special attention to spatial districting and the rights of minorities; and the function of the Electoral College.
G. Students analyze and compare the powers and
procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. (All ESLRs)
1. Explain how conflicts between levels of government and branches of government are resolved.
2. Identify the major responsibilities and sources of revenue for state and local governments.
3.
Discuss reserved powers and
concurrent powers of state governments.
4. Discuss the Ninth and Tenth Amendments and interpretations of the extent of the federal government’s power.
5. Explain how public policy is formed, including the setting of the public agenda and implementation of it through regulations and executive orders.
6. Compare the processes of lawmaking at each of the three levels of government, including the role of lobbying and the media.
7. Identify
the organization and jurisdiction of federal, state, and local (e.g.,
8. Understand
the scope of presidential power and decision-making through examination of case
studies such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, passage of Great Society legislation,
War Powers Act, Gulf War, and
H. Students evaluate and take and defend positions on
the influence of the media on American political life. (Effective communication,
social development, critical thinking)
1. Discuss the meaning and importance of a free and responsible press.
2. Describe the roles of broadcast, print, and electronic media, including the Internet, as means of communication in American politics.
3. Explain how public officials use the media to communicate with the citizenry and to shape public opinion.
I. Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and
development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the
quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. (Integration of core
knowledge, critical thinking)
1. Explain how the different philosophies and structures of feudalism, mercantilism, socialism, fascism, communism, monarchies, parliamentary systems, and constitutional liberal democracies influence economic policies, social welfare policies, and human rights practices.
2. Compare the various ways in which power is distributed, shared, and limited in systems of shared powers and in parliamentary systems, including the influence and role of parliamentary leaders (e.g., William Gladstone, Margaret Thatcher).
3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of federal, confederal, and unitary systems of government.
4. Describe
for at least two countries the consequences of conditions that gave rise to
tyrannies during certain periods (e.g.,
5. Identify the forms of illegitimate power that twentieth-century African, Asian, and Latin American dictators used to gain and hold office and the conditions and interests that supported them.
6. Identify the ideologies, causes, stages, and outcomes of major Mexican, Central American, and South American revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
7. Describe
the ideologies that give rise to Communism, methods of maintaining control, and
the movements to overthrow such governments in
8. Identify
the successes of relatively new democracies in
J. Students formulate questions about and defend their
analyses of tensions within our constitutional democracy and the importance of
maintaining a balance between the following concepts: majority rule and
individual rights; liberty and equality; state and national authority in a
federal system; civil disobedience and the rule of law; freedom of the press
and the right to a fair trial; the relationship of religion and government. (Critical
thinking, effective communication, social development.)
A. Lecture and discussions
B. Class work and homework
C. Group projects (social development)
D. Debates (Effective communication)
F. Role playing
III. EVALUATION OF STUDENT
WORK
A. Tests and quizzes
B. Homework and class work
C. Projects.
D. Written essays
E. Class presentations
IV. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
A. Textbook: American
Government
B. Supplementary Materials
and Resources