This course is the 2nd part to a rhetorical level course intended to introduce the student to the major themes and functions of the government. Students may join even without completing part 1. This semester will focus on Comparative Government.  This course will involve both writing and reading.  We will be reading a full-range of primary documents from each topic we study.  You will be learning how to read, think about, analyze, argue with, and present ideas about political science and to connect events to the larger trends and themes in world history.  This course can be taught at an AP level if requested, as I am AP authorized.

This class is a discussion-based, interactive format. Each week you will be responsible for reading background material and assigned primary documents.  You will be expected to write a reading response for each of your readings.  These reading responses should be 1-2 pages on the background material for each topic.  In class, we will spend much time discussing our reading, putting themes in their historical context and asking questions about the author’s and our own worldviews.  I expect you to come to class prepared to participate in this discussion. You will also be assigned brief presentations.  These presentations will involve researching the biographical information for significant figures and key information for major moments we will study in class. 

The early weeks of the course will focus on US government, but unit 2 will explore a variety of world governments with historical and modern day examples.  Students will conduct independent research to augment our study of world governments.  

Weekly topics:

1-Executive branch

2-Judicial branch

3-Bureaucracy

4-Public opinion and the media

5-Public policy, duty of citizens

6-Federal system-state and local government

7-Test 2

8-Types of world governments-fascism

9-Communism

10-Parliamentarian, Monarchy

11-Oligarchy/Aristocracy, Theocracy

12-Dictatorship, Socialism

13-Developed and Less Developed-case studies

14-Iran vs. China case study

15-Test 3/Presentations