American GovernmentWeek #2

2/1 to 2/5

Monday 2/1

• Laptops today• How much do you know about the American Revolution

and our Founders? Take the quiz and tally your score. • Go to the Student Accounts page. Complete the

survey.• Go to your Gmail account/ documents. Open a

document & share it with your survey partner.• Prepare and share a copy of your survey questions with

me (gsagan@gmail.com)• HW due tomorrow! Unit 1,lesson 1• Bonus:President Obama answers questions live @1:45

on WhiteHouse.gov and YouTube’s CitizenTube Channel.

Tuesday 2/2

• HW collected today• WTP Lesson One Review• Current Events• HW due Monday/Friday: SOTU Survey

• http://www.apexlearning.com/Catalog.htm?id_course=161&pdf

• What did you take away from the WTP reading & HW assignment?

Sources & Theories of Government

• 1.The founders learned about government from....

• 2. List the sources and theories about government. Create a chart with the info.

Two Lessons About Government

• The founders had learned two important lessons about government.– A fundamental higher law, or _________,

should _______ government.– Government should be the ______, not the

______ of the people.

Aristotle

• 4. How did Aristotle define democracy?

• 3. Create a chart that illustrates Aristotle's idea of three forms of government based on the number of people exercising power.

Aristotle

• Political Philosophy

• “Man is by nature a political animal”• democracy as system of rule by the masses at the

expense of wisdom and property. • He aimed to answer two questions: who rules? And, who

benefits from the rules? • In each case, government could be conducted either in

the selfish interests of the rulers or for the benefit of the whole community.

Forms of Government

• tyranny, oligarchy and democracy

•

• monarchy, aristocracy and polity

Mixed Constitution

• 5. According to the Greek Historian Polybius, what is a mixed constitution?

• 6. The eighteenth-century French political thinker Montesquieu, cited England as a mixed constitution. Why?

• 7. Define the following terms: republic, Parliament

Constitutions

• 7.What did the founders think about direct democracy?

• 8. What is a constitution?• 9. what are the two types of constitutions

described in the reading assignment?• 10. According to the founding fathers a

constitution should function as a type of higher law. How does a higher law differ from a statute (a law made by the legislature)?

Preamble

• Read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Identify the six fundamental purposes and guiding principles that the Constitution is meant to serve.

Preamble

• We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Wednesday 2/3

• Assignments, quiz

• Current Events

• Constitution discussion

WTP Lesson 2Bonus: Completed/ shared in Google docs

• Due: Monday 2/8• 1. Create a Venn diagram and compare/contrast Classical Republicanism

and the Natural Rights philosophy.2. Define the terms on page eleven in complete sentences.3. On a separate sheet of paper: Nominate someone you know who you believe shows civic virtue. Explain the actions the person takes and explain their relationship to the concept of civic virtue.4. Read the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence on page fifteen. What theory of government is set forth in this excerpt? Why?5. Create a Venn diagram and compare/contrast the English Philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.6. If you were creating a government that reflects the principles of both classical republicanism and natural rights philosophy, which elements of each would you use? Why?7. Examine the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. What influences, if any, of classical republicanism and natural rights philosophies do you find?

Thursday

• WTP lesson 1 quiz tomorrow (on line)

• WTP Lesson 2 due Monday (text)

• SOTU Project due Tuesday

Thursday

• Laptops today• Assignments returned• Complete the form on the student info page• Google docs: submit (share) the survey questions• Research/submit:

– Who is Scott Brown? – What is a filibuster? What is cloture?– What is the relationship of all three terms?– What are the political ramifications of these terms and Scott

Brown? What is the impact of Scott Brown’s win on congress?

SOTU in the news

Research and describe what happened with the SOTU themes this week?

EconomyEducationClean energyHealth CareTrustSecurityDon’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT)

Friday 2/5

• Unit I/ lesson 1 Quiz

• Scott Brown/Filibuster Q

• Current events video:

• Scott Brown, Terror Trial

• Homework start