United States Government and Civics


US Capital
us-capitol-477987_640_ranOLCT.jpgUS Capital

US Capital

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This course will provide an introduction to the major ideas, institutions, and issues in American government and politics. The focus is on how the structure of our political system influences the practice of politics at the national level -- the ongoing struggles among competing groups and individuals for influence over government activities and public policy.


Module

Seminar

Challenge

Module 1: Foundations of American Government

Pre-Test

Background Seminar - What is Government?

Seminar 1 - Social Contract Theory

Seminar 2 - Basic Principles of Democracy

Seminar 3 - Creating the Constitution

Seminar 4 - Development of the Constitution

Seminar 5 - The Constitution

Seminar 6 - Constitutional Change

Test

Problem 1:

Civic Disengagement

Module 2: The Sociological Perspective and Methods of Inquiry

Pre-Test

Background Seminar - Federalism

Seminar 1 - The Evolution of American Federalism

Seminar 2 - Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism

Seminar 3 - Civil Liberties

Seminar 4 - Securing Basic Freedoms

Seminar 5 - The Rights of Suspects

Seminar 6 - Interpreting the Bill of Rights

Test

Problem 2: Gun-control, Gun Rights, and the Second Amendment

Module 3: Electoral Process and Voter Behavior

Pre-Test

Background Seminar - Public opinion

Seminar 1 - Voting

Seminar 2 - Elections

Seminar 3 - What are political parties and how did they form

Seminar 4 - Modern Political Parties

Seminar 5 - Interest Groups

Seminar 6 - Interest Groups as Political Participation

Test

Problem 3: Voter Apathy

Module 4: Congress and the Federal Courts

Pre-Test

Seminar 1 - Introduction to Congress

Seminar 2 - Congressional Elections and Representations

Seminar 3 - Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

Seminar 4 - How a bill becomes a law

Seminar 5 - The Federal Court System

Seminar 6 - Federal and Supreme Courts

Test

Problem 4: Creating "Just" Laws

Module 5: The President and the Bureaucracy

Pre-Test

Seminar 1 - The Design and Evolution of the Presidency

Seminar 2 - Presidential Powers

Seminar 3 - Bureaucracy and the Evolution of Public Administration

Seminar 4 - Understanding Bureaucracies and their Types

Seminar 5 - Controlling the Bureaucracy

Seminar 6 - State and Local Government

Test

Problem 5:

Bureaucracy Problems

Module 6: Domestic and Foreign Policy

Pre-Test

Seminar 1 - What Is Public Policy?

Seminar 2 - Monetary and Fiscal Policy

Seminar 3 - US Policy and African Americans

Seminar 4 - Defining Foreign Policy

Seminar 5 - Approaches to Foreign Policy

Seminar 6 - On being a woman and a diplomat - Madeleine Albright

Test

Problem 6: Immigration


 Creative Commons License
Academic English by Intermediate Unit 08 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License 

This course is a remix of courses from here:

OpenStax American Government. Textbook content produced by OpenStax American Government is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 license. https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government

Crash Course U.S. Government and Politics  - The Standard YouTube licence https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H

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