GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Curriculum Guide
Course Title Government & Law
Subject: Social Studies
Grade Level: 12
Department/School: Social Studies/High School
Duration: Half Year
Number of Credits: 2.5
Elective or Required: Elective
Author: Tim Liddy
Date Submitted: Summer 2003
Course Description
Government and Law will examine the foundations of the American Governmental system from the founding fathers to the 21st century. Government and Law stresses the concept of federalism. The course examines the national government by focusing on the roles of the three branches of government: Congress, the Presidency and the Judicial branch. The understanding and participation in state and local government will provide students the opportunity to understand local governmental function and action.
GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The mission of Social Studies in the Glen Ridge Schools is to educate students to become active participants in a democratic society. The Social Studies curriculum will develop the students’ understanding of themselves and their environment, encompassing family, community, state, nation, and the world. The curriculum stresses an educational environment, which teaches respect for cultures, gender and ethnic diversity. The goals will empower students with critical thinking, decision-making, and communications skills. The Social Studies program will provide students the opportunity to learn about the past and present so that they will be prepared for the future.
Unit 1 – Foundations
of American Government
Standard 6.2
Objectives:
Each student will be able to:
1. Understand
the basic ideas about government that the English colonists brought to
2. Describe
what government was like in the newly independent
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the basic provisions and major weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
4. Describe how the Constitution was written.
5. List the three major compromises incorporated into the Constitution.
6. Describe how the Constitution was ratified.
7. Analyze the operation of the system of checks and balances.
8. Examine the Bill of Rights and the reasons it was added to the Constitution.
9. Explain the processes by which formal changes can be made to the Constitution.
10. Determine the several means of informal change to the Constitution.
11. Understand
the major historical events and important ideas that led to the limited
constitutional government of the
12. Explore the relationship of voluntarism to Americans’ ideas about limited government. (6.2 B.5)
13. Compare the
American system of representative government with systems in other democracies
such as the parliamentary systems in
14. Compare the United States Constitution and its protections of political, social, and economic rights of citizens with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (6.2 E.2)
Duration: 2 weeks
Activities:
- Compare and contract landmark English documents to the 21st
Century
government.
- Create a timeline of the American governmental system through the colonial period to
independence.
- Create a chart on the Articles of Confederation emphasizing the strengths and
weaknesses.
- List and describe the major compromises incorporated into writing the Constitution.
- Role-play the positions of Federalist and Anti-Federalists in the ratification of the
Constitution.
- Analyze the years in which constitutional amendments were passed. Then use the dates
to create a timeline. Analyze what events in history may have spurred the amendment
process in each case. Add related events to the timeline to show cause and effect.
- Compare and contrast the United States Constitution to the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Students will research examples of each.
- Successfully complete tests and document-based assignments for Chapters 1, 2, 3.
- Read, outline and answer related questions for Chapters 1, 2, 3.
- Use the key terms/vocabulary and critical thinking and reading skills as a study pattern.
Unit 2 – The
Legislative Branch
Standard 6.2
Objectives:
Each student will be able to:
1. Determine ways in which the lawmaking function is central to democracy.
2. Analyze the importance of the terms and sessions of Congress.
3. Examine Congressional districts and understand gerrymandering.
4. Describe the terms and qualification of Senate members.
5. Identify who the members of Congress are and determine their political and personal backgrounds.
6. Examine how the Constitution and the federal system affect the power that Congress exercises.
7. Examine the ways in which Congress exercises its expressed powers.
8. Examine the reasons why the framers included the Necessary and Proper Clause in the Constitution
9. Determine the ways in which Congress exercises non-legislative powers.
10. Identify the floor leaders in Congress and the source of their powers.
11. Identify the different kinds of committees in Congress.
12. Identify the kinds of measures involved in the lawmaking process.
13. Analyze the final stages of the lawmaking process, specifically the powers in the Senate.
14. Understand how specific powers and the Constitution result in tensions among the three branches of government and that resolving differences ensures a better result for all. (6.2 A.1)
Duration: 4 weeks
Activities:
- Write and perform a short play showing how representative government operates in
your school or community.
- Create a timeline of the American Governmental system through the colonial period to
independence.
- Create an essay that captures the idea of Congress translating public will into public
policy.
- Work cooperatively to research changes in Congressional
apportionment in
since 1900.
- Create a chart that outlines size, terms, and membership qualification of the United
States Senate.
- Research their members of Congress.
- Research and list with examples the expressed powers of Congress.
- Analyze the Supreme Court Case Marbury v.
- Create a graphic organizer on the 3 non-legislative powers.
- Research and create a timeline of the laborious process of how a bill becomes a law.
Unit 3 – The
Executive Branch
Standard 6.2
Objectives:
Each student will be able to:
1. Describe how the president’s roles are interrelated and the presidential qualifications and terms.
2. Students will analyze presidential succession.
3. Describe what the framers intended the Electoral College to be.
4. Explain the roles that primaries, caucuses and conventions play in the nominating process.
5. Describe the different sessions of the national convention.
6. Explain how the Electoral College works.
7. Analyze the historic and ongoing debate over the scope of presidential power.
8. Examine the president’s diplomatic and military powers.
9. Examine the president’s legislative and judicial powers.
10. Describe the functions of the executive agencies and the role of the cabinet.
11. Identify the organization and function of the executive departments and the independent agencies.
12. Describe the civil service system today.
13. Identify how the federal government raises money.
14. Explain how the federal government spends money and the complex process of preparing the federal budget.
15. Analyze the
historic and continuing goals of
16. Identify the role of federal agencies in making and carrying out foreign and defense policies.
17. Identify
the major features of
18. Analyze with current historical examples and Supreme Court cases the scope of governmental power and how the Constitutional distribution of responsibilities seeks to prevent the abuse of that power. (6.2 C.2)
19. Understand
the nature of party politics in
20. Compare and
appreciate the benefits of American citizenship with those of citizens of
nations in
21. Understand how the world is organized politically into nation states and how nation states interact with one another including trade, diplomacy, treaties, and sometimes the use of force. (6.2 E.1)
22. Describe
the purposes and functions of, and evaluate the effectiveness of international
governmental organizations such as the United Nations, the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization, and the
23. Explain key
principal foreign policy actions and positions of the
Duration: 6 weeks
Activities:
- Create a chart showing the president’s many jobs and duties.
- Write a brief set of guidelines about how a president ought to exercise each of the
executive powers.
- Use newspapers/magazines/Internet to research president’s use of diplomatic and
military powers.
- Create an instruction manual for future presidents.
- Imagine that they are the newly elected president. Ask them to write a help wanted ad
for openings in the executive office and the cabinet.
- Write a help wanted ad for two jobs in your community that are part of the federal
bureaucracy.
- Research examples of different agencies and departments in the government.
- Write a description of a civil servant from the mid 1800’s and of a civil servant today.
- Create a chart showing the federal government’s sources of income.
- Create a collage that describes events or actions that have contributed to the public debt.
- Create an illustrated diagram about how the federal government raises revenue and
spends money.
- Look through newspapers and magazines to locate articles pertaining to American
foreign
policy and
- Research the roles of the four defense policy agencies.
- Create a timeline of major
Unit 4 – The Judicial
Branch
Standard 6.2, 6.3
Objectives:
Each student will be able to:
1. Analyze the basic role of the judiciary in the governmental process.
2. Understand the structure and function of the constitutional courts in the federal court system.
3. Examine the role of the Supreme Court as the nation’s highest court.
4. Evaluate the role and jurisdiction of the Special Courts in the federal system.
5. Understand the relationship between liberty and government.
6. Know the importance between liberty and government.
7. Illustrate the scope of and limits on free speech.
8. Understand the relationship between individual liberty and national security.
9. Understand the concept of due process of law.
10. Analyze the rights of the accused to a fair trial.
11. Understand the constitutional limits on punishment for a crime.
12. Analyze the
multi-cultural character of the
13. Analyze the Civil Rights laws passed by Congress over the past 30 years.
14. Understand that each individual has a responsibility to resist racism, prejudice, and discrimination. (6.2 A.5)
15. Identify and analyze any apparent disparities between American ideals and reality in American political and social life and suggest ways to address these issues. (6.2 B.3)
16. Describe historic and contemporary efforts to reduce discrepancies between ideals and reality in American social life. (6.2 B.4)
17. Compare and
appreciate the benefits of American citizenship with those of citizens of
nations in
18. Apply logical validity, factual accuracy, emotional appeal, soundness of evidence, and absence of bias and prejudice to evaluate various kinds of historical and contemporary communications. (6.2 E.1)
Duration: 4 weeks
Activities:
- Research magazines and newspapers on Federal Court cases in the news.
- Generate imaginary examples of cases that would fall under the jurisdiction of inferior
courts.
- Create a political cartoon on the role of the Supreme Court.
- Research and prepare a report on the role of one of the Special Courts.
- List the concepts and liberties and the ways in which government guarantees them.
- Create a chart on the separation of church and state and the free exercise of religion.
- Have a debate on freedom of speech during wartime.
- Create a timeline showing how the Supreme Court has helped due process guarantees.
- Create a political cartoon to represent the amendments for rights to freedom and
security of the person.
- Write an essay which expresses the importance of imposing punishment in a fair
manner.
- Create a chart on the growth of ethnic populations
- Create a timeline of the Civil Rights movement.
Unit 5 –
Participation in State and Local Government
Standard 6.2
Objectives:
Each student will be able to:
1. Understand the structure, organization, and powers of state legislatures.
2. Analyze the role of Office of the Governor.
3. Explain the structure of local government as creations of state.
4. Explain the services provided by states for their citizens.
5. Research the major sources of state and local government revenues.
6. Explain the different kinds of law applied by state courts.
7. Understand the overall organization of the state courts system.
8. Understand how participation in civic and political life can help bring about the attainment of individual and public good. (6.2 A.5)
9. Propose new governmental policies on such issues as taxation, education, public works, and elections by applying knowledge of state and national policies and decision-making processes. (6.2 B.2)
10. Understand how federal, state and local government is financed through a system of taxation and what the system includes. (6.2 C.5)
11. Appreciate the ways that participation in civic and political life can help citizens attain individual and public goods. (6.2 D.1)
12. Understand the processes by which public policies at the local, state, and national levels are made and how citizens can affect these processes and policies. (6.2 D.4)
Duration: 2 weeks
Activities:
- Create a graphic organizer of the structure and power of state legislatures.
- Create a brochure outlining the roles of a governorship in the American political
system.
- Create a chart of government in the state.
- Research and create a graphic organizer of different services provided to citizens.
- Create a graphic organizer that shows the state’s major source of revenue and how
much income the state raises from each source.
- Research court cases based on different kinds of law.
- Create a graphic organizer on the state court system.