Politics and Policy

1. Politics and Policy Lesson Plan by Kelsie Brook

2. Topics Lesson 1: Personal Politics Lesson 2: Ideology Lesson 3: Economics: Spending and Taxation Lesson 4: Civic Engagement

3. Personal Politics Political Influences: Family, Media, and Community Personal Ideology American Ideologies

4. Politics • Take a moment and ponder the word “politics.” What comes to mind? • From whom do we hear about politics most? • What information sources are available to us?

5. Journal: Political Influences • What are your guardians political preferences? • Do you talk about politics at home? • What do those conversations, if any, look and sound like? • Does your community have a bias? Toward what? • How has your community influenced you? • Who has influenced you most politically? • What news sources do you listen to, watch, or read from? • If you know, does that source have a bias? Toward what?

6. Energy/Environment • “We’ve subsidized oil companies for over a century; that’s long enough! It’s time to end the tax payer give-aways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable and double down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising.” • “’Green’ technologies are typically far too expensive to compete in the marketplace, and studies have shown that for every “green” job created there are actually more jobs destroyed. Unsurprisingly, this costly government investment has failed to create an economic boom.”

7. Education • “Let’s offer schools a deal; give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job and reward the best ones. And in return, grant schools flexibility to teach with creativity and passion. Stop teaching to the test and replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.” • “My legislature tried to say no more charter schools. I vetoed that… As a matter of fact, there are four measures on which the federal government looks at schools by state… testing our kids, excellent curriculum, superb teachers, and school choice.”

8. Jobs/Economy • “For way too long we have had a financial institution that was stacked against ordinary Americans… We shouldn’t be weakening oversight, we shouldn’t be weakening accountability, we should be strengthening it! Especially when it comes to looking out for families like yours.” • He will “rebuild the foundations of the American economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work, and innovation. His plan seeks to reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs…It relinquishes power to the states instead of claiming to have the solution to every problem.”

9. Iran • “We have a window of opportunity where this can still be resolved diplomatically.” • “The overall rubric of my foreign policy will be the same as Ronald Reagan’s: namely, ‘peace through strength.’ Like Reagan, I have put forward a comprehensive plan to rebuild American might and equip our soldiers with the weapons they need to prevail in any conflict… I intend to restore our position so that our Navy is an unchallengeable power on the high seas. As for Iran in particular, I will take every measure necessary to check the evil regime of the ayatollahs.”

10. Health Care • “Every American should have access to affordable health care, and no one should go bankrupt just because they get sick.” • “The only healthcare reforms that will make a real difference are those that draw on the strength of the free market.”

11. Values • Generate a list of values from your daily experience. Attempt to fill a page. • Start broad: honesty, integrity, nobility, or peace. • Get narrow: my school bus, my mom’s home cooked meals, friends, sports, or watching movies. • Get even more narrow: making money, spending my money how I want, or getting equal treatment by teachers.

12. Categorize • With a partner, combine your values, eliminate duplicates, and begin to group your values into like-categories. • For example: • Think about how the different categories relate, are they social relating to your personal life, or are they more business related? Watching TV ESPN ENTERTAINMENT Call of Duty Going to the Theatre

13. Ranking Values • Write down your new categories. • On your own, go through and rank each category in terms of it’s priority for you.

14. Politics are Colliding Values • Energy/Environment • Our current habits are damaging our environment and threatening sustainable living v. green practices are expensive and damage our already weak economy. • Education • Accountability testing is preventing teachers from being able to teach life skills v. competition between schools and teachers will improve the education system. • Jobs/Economy • The government should provide the safety net for the nation’s economy as to protect the middle class v. stimulus and government funding stifles economic process. • Iran/National Security • Diplomacy v. determent. • Health Care • Everyone should have health care v. health care for all is too expensive and violates principles of a capitalist economy.

15. Spectrum • Most people will find that they agree with a little bit of both. This is because values conflict. • The majority of people are somewhere in the middle on these issues. • Your position, either right or left, is your location on the “political spectrum.”

16. Journal • Are your values the same as your family, community, or most often used news source? Why or why not? • Did anything strike you about this exercise?

17. Ideology What is a Spectrum? What does it mean to be liberal? What does it mean to be conservative?

18. Spectrum • A continuum with a unifying theme: political ideology. • A way of modeling different political positions by placing them on an axes symbolizing independent political dimensions.

19. Spectrum NOT Scale • How are you feeling? = Scale GOOD BAD • Teachers Pet? YES NO

20. Ideology Scale http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/luc/2009/11/rethinking-political-ideologies/

21. Polarization • The process by which public opinion divides and goes to the extremes. • Moderate voices often lose power.

22. Spectrum Example http://fefe.ge/2011/08/07/2658/light-color-spectrum/

23. Ideological Spectrum ? Liberal Progressive Conservative ?

24. Liberal- LEFT • The portion of the political spectrum associated in general with egalitarianism and popular or state control of the major institutions of political and economic life. Leftists tend to be hostile to the interests of traditional elites, including the wealthy and members of the aristocracy, and to favor the interests of the working class. They tend to regard social welfare as the most important goal of government. Socialism is the standard leftist ideology in most countries of the world; communism is a more radical leftist ideology. • A common way of distinguishing conservatism from both liberalism and radicalism is to say that conservatives reject the optimistic view that human beings can be morally improved through political and social change. Skeptical conservatives merely observe that human history, under almost all imaginable political and social circumstances, has been filled with a great deal of evil. Far from believing that human nature is essentially good or that human beings are fundamentally rational, conservatives tend to assume that human beings are driven by their passions and desires—and are therefore naturally prone to selfishness, anarchy, irrationality, and violence. "left." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. "conservatism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012.

25. Conservative- RIGHT • The portion of the political spectrum associated with conservative political thought. • Conservatism is a preference for the historically inherited rather than the abstract and ideal. This preference has traditionally rested on an organic conception of society—that is, on the belief that society is not merely a loose collection of individuals but a living organism comprising closely connected, interdependent members. Conservatives thus favor institutions and practices that have evolved gradually and are manifestations of continuity and stability. Government’s responsibility is to be the servant, not the master, of existing ways of life, and politicians must therefore resist the temptation to transform society and politics. This suspicion of government activism distinguishes conservatism not only from radical forms of political thought but also from liberalism, which is a modernizing, anti-traditionalist movement. "right." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. "conservatism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2012.

26. Ideological Exploration • http://politicalcompass.org

27. Economics: Spending and Taxation What role does the US Government play in economics? What affect do taxes have on the economy? Public Transfer Payments, the Safety Net, and Social Welfare What’s the debate about?

28. Civic Engagement Modern Politics Current Candidates Where do they stand?

29. Democrat • The Democratic Party is one of the two main U.S. political parties, which follows a liberal program, tending to promote a strong central government and expansive social programs.

30. Republican • The Republican Party is one of the two main U.S. political parties, favoring a conservative stance, limited central government, and a strong national defense.