Syllabus

Fall 2005

Mr. Blazer

Required Text

Holt American Government.  Holt Rinehart, and Winston: New York, 2001. 

Mississippi Trial, 1955.  Chris Crowe.

Animal Farm.  George Orwell

To Kill A Mockingbird.  Harper Lee.

Supplemental Texts

Primary Source Documents.  (Provided by the teacher)

Supreme Court Case Briefs (Provided by the teacher)

Course Description

This course is required by the state of Tennessee and is usually taken during the sophomore year at CCHS.  It will highlight the foundations of government, the three branches of government, examine state and local governments, the political arena and how it impacts daily lives, and literature related to contemporary issues and governmental topics.  As the teacher, I make the assumption that in a course of this nature that the majority of students who take this course have a basic working knowledge of the government.  This course will take more time analyzing and discussing issues relating to government.   It is important that students keep up with contemporary issues in during the course of the semester as well.  Students will need to watch the news, read the local newspaper, and read weekly news magazines periodically, in order to be successful in this course.  This course is designed to appeal to many different interests students may have.  There will be a variety of teaching techniques used in this course as well.  Expect to take lecture notes almost every single day.  Some days will have more than others.  Also expect to take part in class room discussions. These are very important.  If you do not pay attention and participate in class it will be difficult to do well. 

Grading policy

            Grades for this course will be based on a variety of things.  There will be two major projects that will be completed over the course of the semester, one each of the two nine weeks.  Homework, test grades, memorizations, class participation, current events, and other things will constitute your grade. 

General Outline

I.   Foundations of Government

    A.    Political Theories and Theorists

    B.    Colonial Rule

    C.    Articles of Confederation

    D.    Constitution

    E.     Federalism

II.    Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

    A.   1^st Amendment

    B.    Rights of the Accused

    C.    Privacy

    D.    Local Court Case Proceedings

III.    Campaigns and Elections

    A.    Political Party System

    B.     Political Campaigns

    C.    Election Process

    D.    Election Analysis

IV.    Congress

    A.    Powers and Duties of Congress

    B.    Role of Congress in Public Policy

    C.    How a Bill becomes a Law

    D.    History of Congress

    E.    Congress Today

V.    The President

    A.    Powers and Responsibilities

    B.    History of the Presidency

    C.    Organization of Federal Bureaucracy

    D.    The Federal Budget

VI.    The Supreme Court

    A.    Power of the national judiciary

    B.    Structure of the court

    C.    History of the court and court cases that shaped it

VII.      Public Policy