Political Thought
Overview
In the last unit, we looked at the foundation of our democratic government and understood that this was a process and not something that happened overnight.
In this session, you will understand how governments make decisions based upon the political will of the members of society. You will demonstrate your understanding of the factors of pluralism and compromise and be exposed to the types and uses of the models of democracy within the United States.
Lastly, you will understand how the democratic process works and how YOU can participate.
Introduction
- Distinguish between government and politics
- Evaluate the method of compromise
- Take a Typology Quiz and write a summary based on your results
- Study a first-hand account on political identity in America
Government or Politics?
Read:
After reading the definitions for each of the two terms relating to American political thought, fill in the blank for each example of the term as a method to begin to learn how the term applies to you personally, to your community, state and nation.
Research:
GOVERNMENT: The recognition of responsibilities to fulfill the needs or wants for individuals or groups in a society such as the United States of America.
Or asked as a question: WHAT IS NEEDED?
POLITICS: The distribution of the benefits to fulfill the needs or wants for individuals or groups in a society such as the United States of America.
Or asked as a question: WHO GETS WHAT?
Respond:
Go to the following worksheet to complete this assignment: Submit your work via your Brady Gmail account.
Promoting the Art of Compromise in America
Read:
In the United States, the government makes decisions based upon the political will of the members of the society. Two political concepts impact almost every legislative, executive and judicial decision at the community, state and federal levels.
Making political decisions is never as easy as this might seem. Many factors and influences are considered prior to legislation being designed by councils, legislatures and Congress, executive decisions enacted by mayors, governors or Presidents and final outcomes that are sometimes very slowly incorporated into the lives of the members of American society.
Two factors are always involved in who gets what in America.
Pluralism- the concerns of multiple individuals or groups who can influence a political decision through their interest, concerns or own political efforts.
Compromise- the ability for elected officials to give and take in order to ensure that the workings of a government and the will of the people are effectively addressed.
Research and Respond:
Complete the following worksheet, The Art of Compromise.
Submit your work via your Brady Gmail account.
Political Typology
Read:
The Democratic Process is a style of government where the citizens have the right to participate in the decisions of their government.
So how do you participate in these decisions? The first step is to have an opinion. Most students know what they believe in, but they don't know what political party or candidate supports their views.
Research:
Go to the following website and take the typology quiz. This quiz will tell you what type of voter you are and what party typically supports your views. Clearly establishing your political views is a vital part of the Democratic process.
Click on the Typology Quiz and take the quiz.
Respond:
When you are done with the quiz, complete a screen shot. Then type a 200 word or more summary of your results provided by the website.
Here is a tutorial on taking screen shots of your quiz results to submit to your teacher:
1) Normally, you press the button 'print screen' (next to F12) and you go to Microsoft Word, create a new document and click paste (or Ctrl+v). You can cut out the parts you don't want. Pressing ALT + Print Scrn takes only the active window
Submit your work as a Word Document via your Brady Gmail account.
Citizenship Article and Questions
Respond:
When you have finished reading the article, complete the following graphic organizer:
SOAPStone Graphic Organizer Template.doc
Submit your work via your Brady Gmail account.
Did I Submit It?
Now
that you have a better understanding about our democratic process in
our country, let's make sure that you completed all the assignments in
this session before moving on to the Unit assessment.
√ I submitted it!
- U1S3 - Government or Politics worksheet
- U1S3 - The Art of Compromise worksheet
- U1S3 - Typology Quiz results and summary
- U1S3 - SOAPStone for Sabine Barnhardt
Now let's finish this unit by completing the final project.
