Week 3: Ending the War in Iraq

This week, President Obama announced the end of military action in Iraq. Your assignment this week is to watch the President's speech, and answer the question: Did we end the War in Iraq too soon, or too late, or should we have never gone there?

Please be thoughtful and respectful in your responses.

250+ Words. Due Tuesday @ 7am.

Week 2: The Bill of Rights

This week, we will look at the Bill of Rights. Your assignment is simple, yet complicated. Look at the Bill of Rights, and decide if we were only to be able to keep one, which one do you want it to be? Then explain what makes this particular amendment more important than all the others? In your explaination, discuss specifically why you didn't want to pick those specific amendments. (I didn't choose the 2nd Amendment because...)
Word Count: 250+ words
Due Monday @ 7am.

August 20th -- Government Role in the Economy

At a current rate of 9.6% nationally, unemployment is very high (natural unemployment is around 5%), and the economy continues to sputter. What role does government have in this situation? Is the government doing to much already with the bailouts of private industries (banks, GM, etc.) or is the government not doing enough? Read the following two articles and discuss in 200-250 words your thoughts on the topic.

CNBC - People do not trust the government with the economy.

The Street - We need another tax credit.

GCHS Government Project

Here is the link:
http://gchsgovproject.wikispaces.com/

GCHS Constitution Review Materials

There are a few review materials in this Google Docs folder.
Check them out!

One is Powerpoint set up like flashcards with definitions and terms on it.
One is a "Constitution by the Numbers" Powerpoint where you come up with everything associated with that number that is in the Constitution. The file labeled "answers" has the answers to the Powerpoint.

The video on how to put the PowerPoint into your iPod is here. Please note: Some people have reported that the slides do not go onto your iPod in order for the bigger review PowerPoint. No worries, you can just guess the word from the definition that is given to you.

Test is on Wednesday, March 24th .

Gov Slide show

Gov Slide show

Parker's Congress Vocab super party fun time

US Gov Congress Vocab

US Gov Congress Vocab

US Government vocab

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

Stephen B Congress Video

Congress vocab

Congress vocab

Gov Honors speer

Gov Honors speer
Scott Speer

Government

Government

Congress Vocab Video

Congress Vocab Video

Congress Vocab

http://animoto.com/play/mjs5JJoMePI6aNdhaxpf0w

Government Vocabulary Video

Government Vocabulary Video

Gov Congress Vocab

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Government Video

Government Video

Gov Congress Blog Video

Gov Congress Blog Video

Congress Video Haley Reckling

Congress Video

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

Government Vocab Video

Government Video

Congress Term Video

Congress Term Video

US Gov Congress Vocab Video

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Government Vocab.

Government Vocab.

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab by Raymond Mika

government words

government words

Gov video

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

Congress

Congress

Vocab video

US Gov

US Gov

Goverment IDs

Goverment IDs

US Goverment Congress Vocab-A Sipes

US Goverment Congress Vocab
Andrew Sipes

Congress vocab video

Congress vocab video

super awesomtastic government vocab video

super awesomtastic government vocab video

Vocab

Vocab

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Baby

Congress Baby

Congress Terms

Congress Terms

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Government Congress Video

Government Congress Video

Congress Terms.

What's in Congress?

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

http://animoto.com/play/82mB2M1YdNuyN5BVREBl4Q

Government Terms

Government Terms

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocabulary

Congress Vocab

Congress Vocab

Congress

Congress

Animoto Vocab Project

This week you will be working with a program called "Animoto" to create several short videos about your vocabulary words.

Here are the directions for using Animoto.

Here is a list of the vocabulary words you will choose from.

When loggin in for the first time make sure to use the code: A4Elab21910 in the "Program/Referral" Code Box for full access.

Pick 7 words to create for this project. Be creative!

To Post to Blog:
When you are done and you have "finished" videos under "My Videos", publishing is a snap.
Simply click on your video and when it comes up click on the blue "Video Toolbox" underneath it.
When the new box pops up click on "Share"
Then click on "Blogger"
Find the "GCHS Honors Government Blog" on the drop down box in the upper right hand corner.
Type your name below the code in the orange box.
Click on publish and you are done!

Presidential Roles and Health Care

There is little doubt that the President is in the fight for his political life as this Health Care debate rages on. 
Your goal today is to use 2 of the following articles to examine/evaluate what roles the President is using to get his message across to the American people and to what extent he is actually being successful.  You must also seek out and find one more article that supports your argument, or one article that you believe is an innacurate portrayal of the battle.

Please identify the role that the President is utilizing based upon the definitions from yesterday's document.
Feel free to respond to some of the comments from the websites that you visit as well.  Those are always VERY interesting to read. 



Philadelphia Daily News

Bill O'Reilly

New Jersey Star Ledger

The Huffington Post (Since I put Fox up as a link, I will put up a fiercely liberal page up too)

Due by midnight on 3/9.

Link to Presidential Roles

1st Hour: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcK2-G2u2rgQZGdzYnp6ejVfMjdna2huMjNkdw&hl=en


3rd Hour: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AcK2-G2u2rgQZGdzYnp6ejVfMzBkamhranZmaw&hl=en

Week 9: Elections Test Question

This week you are to answer the following question on your own blog:

What does it take to get elected in today's political environment and is that method truly democratic?

In your discussion you must include the definition of the following:

Hard Money

Soft Money

Media Bias

Political Action Committees (PACs)

Voter Turnout

Political Parties

Also, in your answer, explore the question of whether or not low turnout is good for America. 

You have time to write this in class on Tuesday, however please do not post before then.  If you have any questions, you can always email Mr.Janczak 

Your grade will be based upon the support of your arguments and the correct use and definition of the terms. 

Reading for this test are from the book on the following pages:

413-420

426-436

297-308

403-406

Please note: Blogs MUST be submitted by the end of your class period.  There will be no late blogs accepted for this assignment without a 10% decrease in the grade per day. 

Week 8: Media

What media outlets do you use to find out news? Give specifics and explain why you have chosen that source instead of others. If you do not watch broadcast news, or read print media explain why. Can a lack of engagement in news and media coverage from Americans negatively impact American society, culture, and political decision? What could the media do to attract more views/readers and get Americans engaged in debate?

Visit the following two websites: http://www.mediaresearch.org/ and http://www.fair.org/. One of the following websites takes the stance that the media is liberally biased and the other claims the media has a conservative slant. Identify what each website believes and how they have come to that conclusion. Comment on the differences between the headlines, articles, and information presented on the site. In your opinion is the media politically biased? If so, what way does it lean? (liberal, moderate, conservative). What other types of biases are there that can be present in the media?

Word Count 500+
Due Midnight on 3/1 (thank you Casmir Pulaski!)

Week 7: Political Ideology

Your blog assignment this week is find out your political ideology and the ideology of those who are close to you in your life.  It is a 2 part assignment that is due on Sunday 2/21.

Part 1 (In class): Head to The Political Compass and honestly take the 6 page political ideology (click on "Take the Test").  When you are done, respond to the findings of the test on a blog post. (You do not have to reveal your thinkings, but just write something short (150 words) about whether you think the test was correct/wrong, whether or not you were surprised by the findings, and any general comments about the test).

Part 2: (Outside of class): Have a discussion with some of your family members and friends about where they stand ideologically (if they don't know, you can always have them take the test) and create a 2nd blog entry with your findings.  In your findings, be sure to answer this question: do the people who are close to you have any impact on your political ideology? Why or why not?   Part 2 should be about 250+ in word length.



Part I: due Wednesday 2/17 @ 12pm

Part II due Sunday 2/21 @ 8pm.

Week 6: Some time off

Even the greatest President ever needed to take some time off to ride his horses in California...and you should have some time off too! No blog post this week.  Enjoy the week off. 

Civil Liberties Test Question for Test on 2/8

You are to answer the following question in class, on your blog on Monday 2/8:

Using examples from at least 3 different amendments and supporting your argument with at least 4 different court cases, what happens when freedoms and protections collide? In your discussion be sure to include at least one example that differentiates freedoms and protections in school vs. freedoms and protections outside of school. 

Once again you are to post this answer to your blog, with the title of "Civil Liberties Test"

Feel free to discuss the question with your classmates or leave comments below with questions or suggestions.  I will be checking the blog on Sunday afternoon prior to the Super Bowl to answer any questions you may have. 

Week 5: Landmark Cases

Since we are studying civil liberties this week, I want you to think about the cases that we have talked about and read about some other cases we haven't and decide which case has had the most impact on our way of life in this country. 

Head to the Landmark Cases website and skim through the cases (they are just brief summaries).  From there, decide which case has had the most impact on our lives as Americans and explain how that impact has changed our lives. 

Word Count: 200+

Due 2/7 @ 12pm. 

Week 4 -- The State of the Union Address

This week, President Obama will be giving his first State of the Union Address (hence the picture of the last State of the Union Address having a picture of President Bush in it!).  The State of the Union Address is the best chance for the President to address the nation about the his agenda for the forthcoming year.  Wtih the ailing economy, stalled out health care reform and this being President Obama's first State of the Union speech, it promises to be a both interesting and important speech in President Obama's career.

Here are some fun facts about various State of the Union Addresses throughout the years.

Your assignment this week is to watch the speech sometime before Thursday night, and post a 150 word post on your thoughts on the speech including whether you think his ideas were right or wrong.  Then before Sunday night, respond to one of your classmates comments either agreeing or disagreeing with what they said.  This post will also be about 150 words.

Link to both video and audio files (for podcasting, right click save the MP3 file to your iTunes):

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010-state-union-address

Thank you to all those who posted in real time tonight throughout his speech.  

First post: 150+ words due Thurs @ Midnight

Second post: 150+ words due Sunday @ 12pm. 

Week 3 -- Federalism

The debate between state and federal power has been around since our early founding. Throughout our history we've seen the National Government grow and assume more responsibility that may have been typically left to the states. During the 90s, we saw increasing devolution (delegating certain responsibilities back to the states), but it seems that we've moved back towards a stronger national government in the last decade. Do you believe that federalism, as we see it today, is practiced as the founders intended? Has the Fed. Gov't taken too much power? Should states be given more autonomy? When and why have we seen the national gov't expand? For this Blog Entry, I would like you to define Federalism, answer the above questions in paragraph format, and find one other article to link to your Blog entry that relates to federalism. (Please explain why you included this article and how it relates to your entry.)

350+ Words
Due 12pm on Sunday 1/24

Week 2: The Necessary Evil?

This week's blog post center's around a reading by Northwestern political science professor Garry Wills which can be found on the class website ( http://tinyurl.com/yzdm88x ) at the bottom under "Attachments" with the title of "Wills Reading."  If you wish to save the environment and not print out the reading, you can read it on your computer, and rotate the page by right clicking on it and choosing rotate (or "Shift" "Control" "+") if needed to line up the pages. .

In your post this week consider the following questions: we know that government is a necessary evil, but at what point does it become too evil...in other words, how much government is too much? Are there things/situations that the government is involved with that they shouldn't be? Are there areas in society where government isn't involved but should be? In your response please post which parts of the reading you found most interesting and thought provoking, and also if you have a question you would like pose to the author and or class, please do so.

Word count: 400+
Due 1/17/10 @ 12pm.

8th Congressional District Debate 1/10/10 @ 2pm.

The debate we have been planning for is this Sunday at 2pm in the GCHS Theater. 
If you are still interested in volunteering to help please plan on being there by 1pm....we still have many spots open.  Please plan on dressing appropriately. 

The debate will feature the Republican candidates for the 8th Congressional District and is sponsored by the League of Women Voters.  We have worked on the questions this week and some of them will be asked to the candidates.  Come interact with the people are vying for your vote...this is the first opportunity for you to start demanding more from your government.  We hope you can make it!

No need to comment on this post, it is for informational purposes only.

Week 1: Getting as Good of Government as We Demand

We started off our class with this week with the saying of  "we get as good of government as we deserve..." and this week's Chicago Tribune had an Op-Ed (Opinion/Editorial) raising awarness of what we have been getting, and how we can get better.

This week's blog assignment is to think about what you think the government we deserve would look like? Are we getting as good of a government as we deserve? Are we we getting as good of a government as we demand right now, in other words are people complacent with what we have right now or are we feeling hopeless to change it? What is the role of the average citizen in this ideal government? These are the underlying themes in this course and this first blog post with set the tone for the rest of the semester. 

Here is the article:
Chicago Tribune Editorial

Word count: 450+ words. 
Due: Midnight 1/8/10