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California Civics/Government Alignment and Standards
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Standards for Did My
Bill Pass?--A Model Legislature
|
| 12.4 |
Students analyze the unique roles
and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established
by the U.S. Constitution |
| 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. |
| 3 |
Identify their current representatives in the
legislative branch of the national government. |
| 12.7 |
Students analyze and compare the powers and
procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. |
| 6 |
Compare the processes of lawmaking at each
of the three levels of government, including the role of lobbying
and the media. |
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Standards for Running
for Office--The Politics of Elections
|
| 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. |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| 12.8 |
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. |
| 12.10 |
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. |
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Civics
Standards for:
Taxation With Representation--The Politics of Economics
|
| 12.4 |
Students analyze the unique roles
and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established
by the U.S. Constitution |
| 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. |
| 12.7 |
Students analyze and compare the powers and
procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. |
| 6 |
6. Compare the processes of lawmaking at each
of the three levels of government, including the role of lobbying
and the media. |
Economics
Standards for: Taxation With Representation--The Politics of Economics |
| 12.1 |
Students understand
common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning. |
| 1 |
Examine the causal relationship
between scarcity and the need for choices |
| 12.3 |
Students analyze the influence
of the federal government on the American economy. |
| 1 |
Understand how the role of government
in a market economy often includes providing for national defense,
addressing environmental concerns, defining and enforcing property
rights, attempting to make markets more competitive, and protecting
consumers’ rights. |
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Identify the factors that may cause the costs
of government actions to outweigh the benefits. |
|
Describe the aims of government
fiscal policies (taxation, borrowing, spending) and their influence
on production, employment, and price levels. |
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| Standards for
Puttin' on the Robes--The Court System |
| 12.1 |
Students explain the fundamental
principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in
the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American
democracy. |
| 5 |
Describe . . . the importance of an independent
judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78) . . . the rule of law . .
. . |
| 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. |
| 12.4 |
Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities
of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution.
|
| 5 |
Discuss Article III of the Constitution as
it 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 Court justices. |
| 12.5 |
Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court
interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. |
| 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). |
| 4 |
Explain the controversies that have resulted
over changing interpretations of civil rights, including those in
Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona,
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Adarand Constructors,
Inc. v. Pena, and United States v. Virginia (VMI). |
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CA Civics/Government
Standards for Grade 12
Principles of American Democracy
|
| 12.1 |
Students explain the fundamental principles
and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S.
Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy.
|
| 1 |
Analyze the influence of ancient Greek, Roman,
English, and leading European political thinkers such as John Locke,
Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Niccolò 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 United
States, including the process of naturalization (e.g., literacy,
language, and other requirements). |
| 12.3 |
Students evaluate and 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 U.S. Constitution |
| 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 office
and length of term, election to and removal from office, the oath
of office, and the enumerated executive powers. |
| 5 |
Discuss Article III of the Constitution as
it 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 Court justices.
|
| 12.5 |
Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court
interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. |
| 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. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland,
and United States v. Nixon, with emphasis on the arguments espoused
by each side in these cases. |
| 4 |
Explain the controversies that have resulted
over changing interpretations of civil rights, including those in
Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona,
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Adarand Constructors,
Inc. v. Pena, and United States v. Virginia (VMI). |
| 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 |
3. Evaluate the roles of polls, campaign advertising,
and the controversies over campaign funding. |
| |
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., California) courts and the interrelationships
among them. |
| 8 |
Understand the scope of presidential power
and decision making through examination of case studies such as
the Cuban Missile Crisis, passage of Great Society legislation,
War Powers Act, Gulf War, and Bosnia. |
| 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. |
|
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., Italy, Japan, Haiti, Nigeria, Cambodia). |
| 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 Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland,
including the roles of individuals (e.g., Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel). |
| 8 |
Identify the successes of relatively new democracies
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the ideas, leaders, and general
societal conditions that have launched and sustained, or failed
to sustain, them. |
| 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. |
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