May 12th 2020

By | Published Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The End

Congratulations and thank you for staying engaged through e-learning.  All that is left is for me to finish up your grades.  You guys have been an amazing group and I am looking forward to seeing you next year!  Have a great summer!

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May 7th 2020

By | Published Thursday, May 7, 2020

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Review

Activity #1: Civil Liberties

Answer the following questions in your notebook...

1.  How does the Bill of Rights protect citizens and states from an overpowering national government?  Hint:  Recall the reason that these 10 amendments were added to the US Constitution in the first place.....cough...cough...Antifederalists....cough.....

2.  What limitations are there on our freedom of speech and religion?  Hint: Think setting.

3.  Why are the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th considered the "rights of the accused"?  Hint:  Think like someone wrongfully accused.

4.  In what ways is the 2nd amendment different than the other civil liberties expressed in the Bill of Rights?  Hint:  "infringed"

Activity #2: Civil Rights

1.  Why did the court reverse the Plessy v Ferguson (1896) separate but equal doctrine the case of Brown v Board of Education (1954)?  Hint:  It is "inherently unequal"

2.  Under what power granted to them under the US Constitution did Congress pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964?  What were the limits?  Hint:  "Public Accommodation"

3.  The 24th Amendment abolished the poll tax.  Why were these taxes, and literacy tests, seen as a deliberate attempt to limit minority voting?  Hint:  Look at the states that had poll taxes.


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May 5th 2020

By | Published Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Activity #2: Supreme Court Review:


Watch the following video and answer the questions that are listed below...



 

  1. The Constitution says that there shall be a Supreme Court, who makes and creates all other courts and rules about the courts?
  2. How are the Federal Courts structured? 
  3. What does Judicial Review mean and what case did it come from?

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April 30th 2020

By | Published Thursday, April 30, 2020

Scenario Practice

We have already practiced the argumentative essay, and we will one more time next week.  Today, we are going to practice the second essay which is the Scenario Question. 

We are going to do this by furthering the scenario that we talked about last week involving that "virus" that spread to the United States from East Asia.  The situation has evolved now.  A company has a cure, but there is a problem...

Activity #1: Scenario Practice

Answer the following prompt in your notebooks...
Consumers complained after vaccine maker Gilead Pharmaceuticals “hiked the price of the emergency vaccine for COVID-19 by $100 in recent months for no obvious reason. The price has increased 450 percent since 2008, when a dose cost $100 in today’s dollars, to its current price of more than $600. . . . The medication itself isn’t expensive. Analysts calculate that the dosage contained in a single vaccination is worth about $1.”
-Washington Post, April 23, 2020 

After reading the scenario, respond to A, B, and C below: 

(A) Describe a power the Bureaucracy could use to address the comments outlined in the scenario. 

(B) In the context of the scenario, explain how the use of Bureaucratic power described in Part A can be affected by its interaction with the Judiciary (Federal Courts including the Supreme Court). 

(C) In the context of the scenario, explain how the interaction between the Bureaucracy and the Judiciary can be affected by linkage institutions.  (Remember: Linkage institutions are the things that connect people to the government, interest groups, media, political parties, voting etc...)

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April 28th 2020

By | Published Monday, April 27, 2020

Bureaucracy and Scenario Question Practice

Today, we are going to split our lesson into two parts.  First we will review the Bureaucracy and the Iron Triangle (or Sub-Government or Issue Network).  Then, we will use that information to practice another Scenario FRQ on Thursday!...

Activity #1: Bureaucracy and Iron-Triangle

First, let's review what the Bureaucracy is and answer a few questions in your notebooks.



  1. What is the job of the Bureaucracy, and what do they issue (Think R and R) to get their job done...
  2. Where do the heads of the agencies generally come from? (Make sure to explain "patronage")
  3. Where do the rest of the employees come from? (Make sure to explain "merit")

Activity #2: The Iron-Triangle (or sub-government or issue network)

Take a look at the following website.  Scroll down to the section titled "Iron Triangle."  Once there, complete the following tasks...
  1. Diagram the Iron Triangle in your notebooks...
  2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to the iron triangle (or issue network).  
On Thursday, we will use this information to work on the second FRQ, the scenario...

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April 23rd 2020

By | Published Thursday, April 23, 2020


The Expansion of the Power of the Presidency

Activity #1 Expanding Presidential Power


An argument, going all the way back to the constitutional convention, says that in the end, most people want a single leader (king, dictator, emperor, etc.) even if they are not willing to admit it, or even aware that they wanted it. Since the convention in 1787, there is no doubt that the power and scope of the president has grown. Watch the video (embedded above), and then answer this question:

To what extent have presidents used past and/or current crises, to expand executive authority? How so?

Activity #2: What did the founder originally intend?

Below are excerpts from Article II of the US Constitution that describe the office of the president as the framers saw it in 1787, as well as a couple of amendments that we have since added that affect the executive branch.

For each line, identify what you believe to be the intended purpose of this clause and how it has shaped the office of the president (its effect). The first one has been completed for you as an example... (Feel free to copy and paste the prompts to your notebook)
  • The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term
Purpose: To allow presidents time to implement policies, but still hold them accountable by requiring election/reelection every 4 years.

  • No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Purpose:

  • The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
Purpose:

  • He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States
Purpose:

  • He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.
Purpose:


  • No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice (22nd Amendment)
Purpose:

Effect:

  • Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or Congress that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President (25th Amendment)
Purpose:






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April 21st 2020

By | Published Monday, April 20, 2020

The Executive Branch: The Many Roles of the President

Article

Today, we are going to begin our review of Article II of the Constitution, The Executive Branch.  Over the year, we studied how the Executive Branch has substantially grown in power over the last 200 years.  Let's review what Article II is all about!

Activity #1: What is Article II all about?

Check out the following website, look at Section 1 and answer the following questions in your notebook...
  1. Who does the Constitution vest, or give, executive power?
  2. What is the term of office for the president?
  3. How does one get elected president?
  4. What are the qualifications to be president?

Activity #2: Powers of the President:

Read and watch the video about the jobs of the president at the following website.  Once you finish, complete the following sentences in your notebooks by describing what the president does in each one of these roles...
  1. As the Chief Executive, the President...
  2. As Guardian of the Economy, the President...
  3. As Chief of Party, the President...
  4. As Commander in Chief, the President can...
  5. As Chief of State, the President...
  6. As Chief Legislator, the President...
  7. As Chief Diplomat, the Presdent...

Activity #3: Scenario Claim:

In your notebooks, answer the following question as it relates to the prompt...

Over several weeks in March, a new virus, which originated in East Asia, slowly spread across the European continent.  The virus demonstrated "pneumonia-like" symptoms but seemed to be a little more deadly and difficult to contain than typical pneumonia.  The virus finally reached American cities on the East and West Coast of the United States.  Many US citizens began panic and shortages of medical and food supplies began to appear as the virus slowly spread across the United States...

1.  Describe an action that the president could take in response to the scenario listed above.



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