You can see the purpose of this blog on the ‘About Eli/Disclaimer’ page.
Welcome back! Congrats on your completion of Unit 1 – The Foundations of American Government! We’re now taking a gigantic leap forward in the chronology of our country and begin our inquiry Units 2 & 3 – American Political Ideology & Modern Political Movements and Private Interests in Public Affairs. These units will also be heavy with volunteership work. The overall purpose and associated essential questions of these units are:
- Understanding key components and concepts of the Occupy Movement and the Tea Party Movement: What are their origins? What is the rhetoric, agenda, and action of these two groups in their efforts to actualize their goals? What common goals are shared by the two movements – where can they work together?
- Understanding how money affects a representative democracy: How did the founders of our country articulate the balance of powers in the U.S.? How have private interests in public affairs changed the confidence Americans have in their government? How have private interests attained greater power in U.S. government over time? How much power does money have in the modern political process? What are organizations doing to keep money in politics, and, conversely, take money out of politics?
- Tie-in with volunteership: Because the Tea Party and Occupy Movement are both grassroots organizations, they indeed fall into the category of organizations students may choose to work with for Volunteership. Similarly, there are plenty of organizations that work to increase or decrease the amount of money in public politics. We will look to see how these various organizations go about their businesses to ultimately conclude on the effects of money in politics. We will wrap up our year with preparing for Exhibition on Thursday, June 7. All of the information regarding the blog and story can be found on the “VSHIP” page of the course website: hthigovernment.edublogs.org/about/.
