Lesson Plan: US Civics and Government

Unit: The Electoral Process: Modern Political Parties and Elections

Materials: To save either file format, right-click on the link and select "save target as"

• Vocabulary Worksheet: Political Parties and Elections (MS Word 2000 or Adobe PDF)
• Comparing American Political Parties (MS Word 2000 or Adobe PDF)
• The Political Spectrum: Where Do You Stand? (MS PowerPoint)
• The Development of American Political Parties (MS Word 2000 or Adobe PDF)
• Political Party Identification Worksheet (MS Word 2000 or Adobe PDF)
• Political Parties: Video Worksheet: The Democratic Party (MS Word 2000 or Adobe PDF)
• Political Parties: Video Worksheet: The Republican Party (MS Word 2000 or Adobe PDF)
• PowerPoint Presentation: The Development of American Political Parties (MS PowerPoint)
• Computers with Internet access.

Objectives: The students will...
1. Define key terms relating to political parties and describe their function in American politics.
2. Outline the electoral process for major national offices such as the presidency and Congress.
3. Relate the place of political parties and election to the principles of American democracy.

Divide the class into teams of four students. Assign each team one of the following issues and allow them time in the library or on the Internet to determine the viewpoint of each political party on that issue.

• Election and Campaign Reform
• Education Reform
• Defense Spending
• Controlling Health Care Costs/Prescription Drugs
• The Death Penalty
• Proving Energy for America
• Protecting America's and Global Environment
• Raise or Cut Taxes?
• Social Security: How to protect it in the 21st Century.
  

Once students have completed their research, have them present to the class their findings.

Distribute Chart: Comparing American Political Parties. 
Have students take notes on their classmates' presentations by completing the chart.

Period 5: The Political Spectrum: Liberals and Conservatives -- An Investigation

Share the following information with students. Use the PowerPoint presentation entitled "The Political Spectrum: Where Do You Stand?" to share the information. (To save the file to your own PC, right-click the link and select "save target as." Decide which folder you want to save the file to and open the file using PowerPoint.  To view the presentation in your Internet Explorer browser, just double-click the link). (Class notes are available in the student workbook with answers in the corresponding teacher's edition). The following lecture has been converted to PowerPoint as one method for sharing the contents with students. 

• A person's views on the issues help determine where they fall on the political spectrum. 
• The labels used on the spectrum are not pure categories, but they make up a continuum, or value line, and citizens and politicians fall somewhere on that line depending on what they believe. 
• There are two major factors that shape political views. The first is how much change a person is willing to have within their society and government. The second deals with how much government involvement in the economy a person calls for. Others also bring in the question of how much freedom from government authority a leader is willing to give the people. 
• These factors place a person somewhere on a grid, which can be used to measure where a person stands in relation to each other and the issues. 
• To see where you stand, you would have to figure out where you stand on a number of social, economic, and political issues. First you need definitions of the terms radical, liberal, conservative, and reactionary. Some authors include the terms authoritarian and libertarian.

A. Radical: Seen as being on the far left of the political spectrum, radicals call for wide-sweeping rapid change in the basic structure of the political, social, or economic system. They may be willing to resort to extreme methods to bring about change, including the use of violence and revolution.
B. Liberal: Liberals believe that the government should be actively involved in the promotion of social welfare of a nation's citizens. Liberals usually call for peaceful, gradual change within the existing political system. They reject violent revolution as a way of changing the way things are, often called the status quo.
C. Moderate: Moderates may share viewpoints with both liberals and conservatives. They are seen as tolerant of other people's views, and they do not hold extreme views of their own. They advocate a "go-slow" or "wait-and-see" approach to social or political change.
D. Conservative: People who hold conservative ideals favor keeping things the way they are or maintaining the status quo if it is what they desire. Conservatives are usually hesitant or cautious about adopting new policies, especially if they involve government activism in some way. They feel that the less government there is, the better. They agree with Jefferson's view that "the best government governs least."
E. Reactionary: Sitting on the far right of the ideological spectrum, reactionaries want to go back to the way things were-the "good ol' days." Often reactionaries are willing to use extreme methods, such as repressive use of government power, to achieve their goals.

• Political parties are loosely formed around these broad political ideologies, or bodies of ideas. Of the two major political parties, for example, Republicans are generally seen as conservative because they advocate a reduction in government. Democrats are generally seen as liberal because they support government regulation of the economy. 
• Within parties, there are people who hold a variety of opinions on social and economic issues that fall along the spectrum of political ideologies, such as moderate Democrats, liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans, and moderate Republicans.

Take a look at this chart:

Take your class to the Computer lab or project the World Wide Web by way of LCD projector.
Have students visit or display "The Political Compass" at http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Direct students to investigate the following ideas as they move around the Political Compass:

· In the website, take a look at the political spectrum that shows US presidential candidates and international figures.
· Take the quiz. Compare your own views with those of American political candidates and international figures. Where would you place yourself on the political compass
· Think about American political figures in the news today. Where might they fall on the political compass?
· For each issue mentioned, think to yourself if you agree with the Republican party's view or with the Democratic Party view, or somewhere in between.

Once you have a good idea of what each term means in respect to the issues, look at any library materials that identify American political figures such as books on politics, encyclopedias, or the newspaper. Create your own political compass and place the names of several figures on the compass. When you think you have the idea, find our own place on the compass.

Assessment:  Political Party Identification Worksheet

Distribute the worksheet with the ten questions about the positions of the two major American political parties. Allow students ten to fifteen minutes to complete the worksheet. When students have finished, have them correct each other's papers using the "quick switch" method. Have them place the number correct in the blank provided. Use the worksheet as a quiz grade or as a diagnostic quiz to see what students understand or what needs to be retaught.

Video: America's Political Parties: The Democratic Party (1960-1992)

Available through Aims Multimedia at http://www.aimsmultimedia.com/titles/title.php3?code=8332-EN-VID

A full study guide with suggested activities is available for this video at
http://anon.aims.speedera.net/anon.aims/data/atm/8332-atm.pdf

America's Political Parties: The Republican Party (1960-1992)

Available through School Videos at http://www.schoolvideos.com/videos/SP595.cfm

These videos discuss the history of each party and the direction of their platforms through the three decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The election strategies of the two major parties are also outlined as the winners and losers of presidential elections through these years are portrayed.

Distribute the worksheet that corresponds to the video you are showing. 

Political Parties: Video Worksheet: The Democratic Party and Political Parties: Video Worksheet: The Republican Party. 

You can stop the video to guide students as they fill in the major issues facing each election. As historical and political figures are mentioned, have students place them on the line of the political spectrum. The winners of each election are listed in bold, red print. The losers of the election are listed in normal type. You can also make a transparency of the teacher's version and have students copy the information as the video progresses.