California State Standards: United States Government
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local governments, with particular attention paid to important historical
documents such as the Federalist Papers.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.
In
addition to studying government in grade twelve, students will also master
fundamental economic concepts, applying the tools (graphs, statistics,
equations) from other-subject areas to the understanding of operations and
institutions of economic systems. Studied in a historic context are the basic
economic principles of micro- and macroeconomics, international economics,
comparative economic systems, measurement, and methods.
12.1 Students explain the fundamental
principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the
1.
Analyze the
influence of ancient Greek, Roman, English, and leading European political thinkers
such as John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Niccolo
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.
12.2 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.
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
12.3 Students evaluate, 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.
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.
12.4 Students analyze the unique roles and
responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the
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 of office and length of term, election to and removal from of
office, the oath of office, and the enumerated executive powers.
5.
Discuss Article m
of the Constitution as * 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
7.
Court justices.
12.5 Students summarize landmark
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.
12.6 Students evaluate issues regarding
campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices.
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.
12.7 Students analyze and compare the
powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments.
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.,
12.8 Students evaluate and take and defend
positions on the influence of the media on American political life.
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.
12.9 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.
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
12.10 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. Principles of Economics.