History-Social Science Content Standards.
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important historical documents such as the Federalist Papers.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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 Africa, Asia, and