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The Democracy
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The Citizenship
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STUDENT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

"STUDENTS WANTED FOR A VALUES BASED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
BASED ON OUR CONSTITUTION"

10. YOU THE PEOPLE STUDENT CHALLENGES

Directions

—These are lessons that can be used together or can be done separately. They are best followed in order, but the Optional Exercises can stand alone if desired. You can use them one or many at a time depending on your schedule.
—The exercises and follow on discussions are designed to be done by your normal You the PEOPLE groups. Each exercise requires considerable homework, but by doing it as a group they should be able to divide the homework into manageable chunks.
—We recommend you alert your local librarian and give them a copy of these lesson plans in advance to help them help the students with their research.
—The students will find plenty of web sites that can help them. Just make sure they at least push the search button more than once.
—There are many right answers to these questions. The deeper they look the more they will come up with. The group that comes up with most right answers wins the quantity grade. For their quality grade they need to make sure they are accurate, can identify their sources, and have a sensible logic trail that is at least internally consistent.

—Feel free to contact us if you need any help. Our phone number is 1-800-833-5310 and our email is ytp@compuserve.com. Our web site is www.youthepeople.com

LESSON 1 - Play The You the PEOPLE Video through “whoever lived up there”. Then ask the following questions:

1. What was the political system like in Europe in the 1700s?

2. Was the rest of the world much different?

3. How long had it been since the previous functional republic/democracy?

4. How many republics/democracies can you find in history?

5. How long did each last?

6. Did you find any patterns in their life cycle?

7. Has democracy won? Can we relax now? If not, why?

LESSON 2 - Play the video through “as you know it”. Then ask the following questions:

1. Why is it important for people to participate in the political process in this country?

2. What are they supposed to do?

3. What happens if they don’t?

4. Did you see examples of this in the previous exercise?

5. What happened as a result?

6. Do you see the United States following any of the patterns you found in previous republics/democracies? If so, where do you think are we in the cycle and can we reverse it?

LESSON 3 - Play the video through “right or wrong”. Then do/ask the following exercises/questions:

1. Why is freedom important?

2. Find some recent examples of countries where people had their freedoms taken away.

3. How long did it take?

4. Did the people allow it to happen without a fight?

5. What are their prospects for getting it back?

6. Could it happen here? If so, how?

7. Can you see why the Founders four principles of self-government are so important?

LESSON 3A (OPTIONAL) - Give/ask your students the following exercises/questions:

1. Explain the “Divine Right of Kings”?

2. How did the Founders modify it here?

3. How important was Religion in America at that time?

4. How many religions were there?

5. How many are there now?

6. Why do you think the Founders gave us a God centered nation that separates religion and government as a matter of principle?

7. Is this concept still valid in your view?

8. Is it useful?

LESSON 4 - Play the video through “ not a one time thing”. Then ask your students the following questions:

1. Why did the Founders use a militia concept in the Revolution?

2. Is this concept a natural one for a republic/democracy?

3. How many of the others used this military method? Which other nations currently use a militia concept?

4. What are the political, economic, and social consequences of such a policy?

5. Is the idea that the citizens of a free country owe some service to it still valid? If so, why?

LESSON 5 - Play the video through “two sides of an issue”. Then ask your students the following questions:

1. What was wrong with the Articles of Confederation?

2. How did these problems cause the creation of the Constitution?

3. How did the Founders try to strike a balance between order and freedom? Is this still a problem?

4. What is the function of a free press in a nation ruled by its people?

5. How are they performing in your view?

6. What is the difference between a republic and a democracy?

LESSON 5A (OPTIONAL)

Have your students do the following exercise:

EVALUATING THE MEDIA

Informed citizens need to understand the the role of the Media in the American Governmental System. They are separate from yet essential to the republican governmental process. Here is an exercise to help you see how the Media are really part of the system and not separate from it:

Follow a current story/issue of your choice. Read different newspapers from cities all over the nation, but at least the Washington Post and Times, The New York Times and Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune plus your local major papers, Time, Newsweek, U. S. News, all the network and local news telecasts, Cable news channels, PBS (radio and TV), and local and national radio.

Take written notes on what you find and focus on the differences in the coverage of the same story, and where it was placed ( Was it the lead story or on page 2, did the TV newscasts hype your interest by inserting teasers about it or just drop it in, was it the cover story on one of the news magazines, etc.). Note what other stories were playing at the same time and how they seemed to fare vis a vis the assigned story (coverage, placement, etc.).

Answer these questions for yourselves:

1. What differences were there in the coverage?

2. Can you think why these differences were there?

3. How did the coverage differ among the types of media?

4. How important do you think this issue really is to the nation?

5. Were there any other issues you consider more important that didn’t get covered as well or at all?

6. Which type stories seemed to get the most coverage?

7. What does this tell you about the Media coverage in this nation?

8. Why do you think the Media are this way? Are they likely to change?

8. What does this mean to someone seeking to be an active informed citizen?

LESSON 6 - Play the video through “want to solve your problems”. Then have/ask your students the following exercise/questions:

1. Read Article I of the U. S. Constitution.

2. What does it say they can do?

3. What does it say they can’t do?

4. Are they sticking to the rules?

5. How did they justify their passage of the Civil Rights Act?

6. The balance between the State governments and the Federal government was critical to the Constitutional debate. How has it changed over the years? Is it changing now? Do you agree with the current effort to change it? If so, why?

LESSON 6A (OPTIONAL)

The idea that the League of the Iroquois was a factor in the creation of our Constitution goes against conventional wisdom. Research the League on your own to answer the following questions:
1. If the U. S. form of government is derived from the parliamentary model, why are the meetings and traditions of the two legislative bodies so different?

2. Do you think the concept of dual sovereignty, which was a key agreement in the Constitutional Convention, came from the Iroquois?

3. What other features of the League are common in the United States today?

4. Did you find any evidence that some of the Founders had contact with the Iroquois prior to the creation of the Constitution?

5. Is it reasonable to infer, or is there any direct evidence that the Founders were influenced by the League?

6. If the League did influence the Constitution, why is it not given credit for doing so?

8. Was it easy to find information on the League of the Iroquois?

9. What does this exercise tell you about how history is written?

10. How will this experience affect your future research into issues?

LESSON 7 - Play the video through “when you pick your representatives”. Then do/ask the following exercise/questions:

1. Read Article II of the Constitution.

2. How much power does it give the President?

3. Does the President control the economy? Do people think he/she does? If so, why?

4. How many people consider a presidential candidate’s military and foreign policy experience. Should they?

5. Has the President been given more power by the Congress since the Constitution was written. When did this happen and why? Is it a good idea in your view?

LESSON 8 - Play the video through “it is, very important”. Then ask your students the following questions:

1. How many other countries have Supreme Courts similar to ours?

2. Can you find any examples of such a court in history?

3. What is the value of having a court that operates as a separate power center and participates in the balance of power.

4. What is the value of a Court that bases its judgments on the ideals of the nation, on the spirit rather than the letter of the law?

How do citizens affect this process?

LESSON 9 - Play the video through “listen for it”. Then ask your students the following questions:

1. Who is the President and Congress’ boss, the highest political officeholders in the nation?

2. How are they doing their job?

3. What is their job?

4. What is your definition of citizenship?

5. Will that accomplish the Founders ideals and goals?

6. What do you think the citizens of this country should do to make our system of government work and assure the survival of government of, by. and for the people?

7. What kind of citizen did the Founders think was needed?

8. Are you a good citizen by either of these definitions? If not, why?

9. Would you be a better citizen if you practiced and improved the “citizenship skills” outlined in the video? If so, will you?

LESSON 10 - Play the video through to the end. Then do/ask the following exercise/questions:

1. Put yourselves in the place of the Founders in 1787. The Articles of Confederation are failing. The economy is in shambles. The people are starting to revolt.

2. How would you correct the situation while still being true to your noble ideals?

3. What if anything would you do differently? If so, what? If so, why didn’t they do it? How would your version balance freedom, equality and unity? How would it balance human nature and the noble ideals on which the nation is founded.

4. Would you have placed a citizenship requirement or job description in the Constitution? If so, what would it look like?

5. Where do you see this nation going in the next 50 years? Are you happy with that? If not, what can you do about it?

6. What problems do you think the nation will face while it is going down this 50 year road? What type of citizen is needed to help it deal with these problems and still remain true to its ideals?

7. Are you that type of citizen? If not, can and will you become that type of citizen?

8. Have these lessons helped you understand more about your country and your role in it?

LESSON 10A (OPTIONAL)

1. Have your students write down what they think are the skills of a good representative.

2. Then have them form into 5 or more groups of 5 -13 students each.

3. Pick a “hot” issue currently being featured in the press.

4. Have them discuss it in their groups and come to a group conclusion as to how it should be handled.

5. Then have them elect representatives who meet in front of the whole class and again come to a conclusion as to how it should be handled.

6. Ask the class how they thought the representatives did in general and how their representative did in particular.

7. Ask the representatives to say how they felt they did and comment on their thoughts and feelings about being a representative.

8. Then ask them again to write down what they think are the skills of a good representative and compare their answers with those they wrote down earlier. Ask them to explain any differences?