Government and Citizenship looks at such topics as democracy, the Constitution, political parties, the branches of government, national defense, among other things. Students will learn the how the institutions of government work and skills to evaluate politics events.

2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Pre-election overview
Exit Polls
Election results, House and Senate
Bush and Gore on the issues

2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Exit Polls

PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES

Sirs Knowledge Source

ABORTION

IMMIGRATION:

SAME SEX MARRIAGE:

GAY ADOPTION:
Pro and Con (Time Article)

GUN CONTROL:

Assault Weapons ban (slide show)

DEATH PENALTY:

RELIGION IN SCHOOLS, Evolution v. Creationism:

Court rules against creationism (Check for related video)

DNA TESTING:

The basics of dna testing

MEDICAL MARIJUANA:

WIRETAPPING / DATA MINING / NSA:

Interview with James Bamford (Audio)
James Bamford speech to the ACUL (Audio)
Debate over wiretapping, News Hour (Streaming video & transcript)

POLITICAL PARTIES

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

Link to mock trial page

>>GENERAL RESOURCES>>


The American President
The American Presidency Project
The American Presidency (Grolier)


The Powers That Be, The Bush Presidency (CSM 9-2-05)
Impeachment Primer
House Impeaches Clinton
Clinton Escapes Conviction
Ronald Regan's Presidency (CNN Indepth)
Inside Bush's Cabinet (60 Min. Interveiw)
Bush Cabinet (White House)
Karl Rove (NewYorker)

>>ELECTORAL COLLEGE >>

Electoral College Map
How the Electoral College system works (ABCNews)
Electoral College Explainer (CNN)
How the Electoral College Works (national atlas)
U.S. Electoral College
State laws, faithless electors
Electoral College Football
Reforming the Electoral College
The electoral college, pros & cons

>>MISC.>>

Presidential Speech Writing

>>GENERAL RESOURCES<<

FAS
GLOBAL SECURITY
NATIONAL SECURITYARCHIVES
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT SECRECY (FAS)
BULLETIN OF ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
GERTZ FILE
WHASHINGTON POST


Israel targets terrorists
Hammas leader killed by Israel
Shakeup At the CIA (CNN)
CIA's License to Kill (CBSNews)
Bush Pushed First Strike Strategy
First-Strike Strategy Considered
First-strike strategy under fire
2002 National Security Strategy of the US
US-China Show down Ineractive (2001)
China intercepts US Navy plane
US Military Organization: CBSNews Interactive (go to "military 101" link on the page)

>>DEFENSE ORGRANIZATIONS<<

US Department of Defense
US Strategic Command
Joint Chiefs of Staff
NORD (North American Aerospace Defense Command)
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)


>>INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATIONS<<

CIA (home page)
CIA (info from FAS)
CIA World Fact Book
NSA (National Security Agency)
NSA ( CNN In depth)
Echelon (FAS info)
Echelon (Report on Echelon)
European study of Echelon (NYTimes)
NRO (National Reconnaissance Office)

WEAPONS AND TECHNOLOGY

Missile Wars (Frontline Special)
MissleWars Video (NORAD)
The Nuclear Football (Global Security)

TACAMO (Federation of American Scientists)
US Weapons systems (Global Security)
Weapons of Operation Enduring Freedom
Spy Satellites
UAV’s, UCAV’s, drones
Special Operations

Reapportionment
( Use this electoral college map to see reapportionment before and after the 2000 election)
Jeffords switches parties
Congress Falls Short on Oversight (US News)

CONSTITUTION
(Back to top)

The Amendment Process
Rex E Lee on the Constitution
The Commerce Power, How the Constitution is redefined
Supreme Court Justice Scalia argues for judicial restraint
(EXAMPLE of a strict interpretation of the Constiution)
U.S. v Lopez
McCulloch v. Maryland

BILL OF RIGHTS

1ST AMENDMENT
The Scopes Monkey Trial
Read the story behind the famous trial over separation of church and state
Flag burning Amendment

2ND AMENDMENT
Gun Laws, State by State
CBS News interactive on Gun Control
Gun control timeline

4TH AMENDMENT
Kyllo v US 1
Kyllo v US 2
Illinois v Wardlow
Fleeing from the Police
DNA tests approved by federal circuit court
Debate over privacy and security (CBS News)

6TH AMENDMENT
How a Federal Grand Jury Works (NPR)

8TH AMENDMENT
Court Ends Juvenile Death Penalty
Death Penalty and Juveniles
Three Strikes Law challenged
Supreme Court takes up issue of teen executions

CHECKS & BALANCES
CIA nominee goes before Senate Intelligence Committee
Senate confirms Goss as head of CIA
Bush critisizes Democrats for blocking Judicial nominee
Estrada nomination fails in wake of Democratic filibuster
The praticed of the filibuster is questioned
President Doesn't Hold Power To Start War
Appeals Court Upholds President's War Powers
Bush Seeks Congress's Aproval To Attack Iraq
Iraq Resolution Scaled Back
War Powers, Unchecked Executive Authority
Presidential War Making Powers
Congress Falls Short of Oversight Duties (US News)
Senators Wary of Court's Reach (CSM)

IMPEACHMENT
Impeachment Info
House Impeaches Clinton
Clinton Escapes Conviction

FEDERALISM
High Court takes up the issue of Medical Marijuana (CBS News)
Court Keeps Medical Marijuana Illegal
(Story on the concept of National Supremacy)
U.S. v Lopez

DEMOCRACY
(Back to top)
How direct should democracy be? (CS Moniter)
The Perils of Cyber Democracy (National Review Online)
Too Stupid for Democracy (musical parody on democracy)

FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES
(Back to top)

THE NEOCONSERVATIVES
(The following resources, some from the Christian Science Moniter, reveal the innerworkings of the so called Neoconservative movement. If you want to know the ideology and influences behind the White House's foreign policy, these are great resouces. )

Bush's brainiest hawk, Paul Wolfowitz (CNN)
Empire builders
Decline of the Neocons?
Tracing the roots of War in Iraq


LAW

GENERAL
Inside the Tabacco Lawsuit (Frontline)
Punishment in America (ABC News in-depth)
How a Grand Jury Works (NPR)
How a Federal Grand Jury Works (audio link)

LAW ENFORCEMENT
Inside the FBI: CBS News Interactive (scroll down the link "Inside the FBI")

POLITICAL PARTIES

Overview of U.S. Electoral process
Political parties and Voting (ABA resource)
Hussein gets 100% of vote
Democrats attack Bush policies
Americans want divided government (CBSNews)

Two-party system

Beauty of the Two-Party System
Two-party system is letting us down
Third parties can't win in a Two-party system

Getting on the Ballot

Voter Freedom Act 2003
(See a bill to remove obstacles to third party candidates ballot access)
What it takes to get on the ballot
Primary Elections
About the Caucus Primary system (About.com)

Caucuses
Beyond the Smoke and Mirrors

LANDMARK CASES

Marbury v Madison (1803)
McCulloch v Maryland (1819)
Dred Scott Case (1857)
Brown v Board of Education (1954)
Nixon v US (1974)

MODERN CASES
US v. Morrison (2000)
US v Lopez (1995)

NUCLEAR WEAPONS
(Back to top)

Building the Super
Ground Zero (CNN)
Loose Nukes (Frontline)