Background Information

Transcription

1 Background Information The United States is designed as a representative democracy. Among the essential elements of a representative democracy are the ideas of: popular sovereignty where the people are the ultimate source of authority government derives its right to govern from the consent of the people majority rules with protection of minority s rights government s powers are limited by law a country has a written or unwritten constitution obeyed by those in power. In Lincoln s Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln called democracy government of the people, by the people and for the people. What this means is that we are not here to serve our government, but that our government is here to serve us. What this means is we have the right to decide who will represent us and how we want to be represented. As a people, we have one of the greatest rights in the world today, the right to vote. Who votes? In 2008, 54% of the registered voters participated in the Presidential election. The United States ranks last among industrialized nations in terms of participation by the people. Why vote? You vote so you have a voice in what happens to you. Issues affect your quality of life. In the last 10 years, we have fought a war in Iraq and in Afghanistan, cut education funding, begun job training programs, had laws passed affecting your reproductive rights and who can you marry, and debated how the government spends money and gives services. All these issues affect the quality of your life. Important Dates in Voting History These dates represent key actions taken by governments to enable people to vote The U.S. Constitution gives white male property owners, age 21 and over, the right to vote Series of acts that changed voting requirements so that all white men 21 and older could vote. Could you summarize these? 1870 After the Civil War, the 15 th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote to all men that were 21 or older regardless of race or ethnic background. This amendment granted voting rights to Native Americans who were considered citizens which meant that not all male Native Americans could vote.

2 1920 The 19 th Amendment gave women, age 21 and older, the right to vote The 24 th Amendment made it illegal for states to charge poll tax to voters The Voting Rights Act authorized the federal government to take over registration of voters in areas where state officials had regularly prevented blacks and other minorities (including Native Americans) from registering to vote or cast their ballots through usage of literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and intimidation tactics. This Act enforced provisions previously guaranteed in the 13 th, 14 th, and 15 th Amendments almost a century earlier The 26 th Amendment lowered the voting age across the nation to The Voting Rights Act Amendments extended right to vote guarantees given in the 1965 legislation. Further provisions for Americans with disabilities, voters not able to read and write, and those not fluent in English were added to insure their freedoms. All of these milestones represent significant changes in people s right to vote and decide who governs which ultimately decides how we spend our money and what services the government provides. Therefore, citizens should understand and appreciate their rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Citizenship is the common thread that connects all Americans. We are a nation bound not by race or religion, but by the shared values of freedom, liberty, and equality. Among these responsibilities is the idea that we should participate in the democratic process. Citizens need to know that they should support and defend the Constitution of the United States, the basic law of the land. Additionally they should stay informed of the issues affecting their nation and be able to respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others, and participate in their local community. Local community for students can be their school. And possibly the most important of these rights is the right to vote. By voting, the people have a voice in the government or their school. The people decide who will represent them in the government just as students decide who will represent them in student government. Every person s vote counts.

3 Why Vote? Name Student elections for the student council are just around the corner. You must decide if you are going to participate in the election or let the decisions be made by other people. What are the advantages and disadvantages of voting for those who wish to be on student council? Do you really care? Is it worth your time? Do you want to take some time and actually participate? There are arguments on both sides. Advantages Disadvantages

4 How Does a Candidate Strategically Plan to Get the Votes? The next thing we need to do is to decide how power is distributed across a campus. Is the power distributed equally across the campus? Below is an example of the Halverson School. This will serve as a model for the kind of information you will need to collect. This activity will require you to determine what teachers belong to which team, how many students are in each class and color code the classrooms to show team identity. Additionally, you will observe where the grade levels are located. Using the map, fill in the chart, create a color code for the map, and then color the map appropriately. Once that is done you can use the information to make some judgments. Teacher Team # of students Grade Location Color Blass HAWK 36 8 SW Green Bradshaw OWL 31 7 S Purple Bushrod ROADRUNNER 34 8 S Brown Carston HAWK 35 7 SW Green Clemente EAGLE 29 7 SW Red Clendenon ROADRUNNER 32 8 N Brown Duddle COYOTE 39 8 NW Yellow Engleka ROADRUNNER 29 8 S Brown Greene OWL 31 8 S Purple Griffith COYOTE 34 8 S Yellow Knepper EAGLE 32 7 SE Red Lambert OWL 30 7 S Purple Loren OWL 32 7 S Purple Mars HAWK 37 8 SW Green O Rielly EAGLE 31 7 E Red Opie COYOTE 29 8 E Yellow Otto COYOTE 36 8 W Yellow Samuels ROADRUNNER 37 8 S Brown Semaj ROADRUNNER 38 8 SE Brown

5 Stargell OWL 32 7 S Purple Tector COYOTE 39 8 N Yellow Teresa EAGLE 38 7 E Red Tyler HAWK 39 7 SW Green Vinzani HAWK 28 8 S Green Watson EAGLE 37 7 E Red Totals for Teams Coyotes Roadrunners Hawks Eagles Owls Total Map Example: Total Students for each Team Percentage of Student Body % The object is to reinforce math skills while showing the most concentrated team is also the smallest

6 My School Name My Chart (Cross off any columns not needed) Teacher Team # of students Grade Location Color

7 Analysis of My School Map If I Am Running for Office It is time to examine the map and begin to formulate some ideas. 1. My observation about where grade levels are concentrated. 2. My observation about where the largest numbers of students are located. 3. My observation about where I can strategically put signs or talk to people to gain votes. 4. My observation about where I can easily get support for my campaign. Why? 5. My observation about where I will have a difficult time gaining support for my campaign. Why? 6. My prediction on who will win the election? Why?

8 Writing Assignment As a member of your school, you have the opportunity to run for Student Council President. Based on your mapping activity and other work in analyzing your school, you need to decide if you wish to run for President. 1. If you decide to run for President, you must state why you will run and what your issues will be for improving the school and keeping up the good work of past Student Councils. You need to state your five strategies for winning the election. Or 2. You do not want the responsibility of being Student Council President; however, you really want to support someone else in his/her election. State five ways that will you support them? Or 3. You can write an essay on why voting in school elections is important. For any of the above writing assignments, you must: Support your writing with logical reasoning Use relevant, accurate data Show evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Include a topic sentence and an appropriate conclusion Your writing will be graded with the 6 Traits Writing Rubric for Ideas/Content and Organization.

9 Who Will You Elect? The student council has $ to spend this year. Here are the candidates for Student Council President and their platforms for spending the money. Who will you support and why? Bill Bill is a member of the 8 th grade and is in the honors classes. He is a solid A student who does not participate in extracurricular activities. He has a lot of friends across the school and is very loyal to the student council advisor. Bill wants to spend most of the money on i-pods for the tech lab and the balance will be spent on social studies materials for the campus. Yvette Yvette is an average student grade-wise but is very active in school serving on the Student Council and participates in school sports. Yvette wants to spend most of the money on sports equipment and the balance on dances for the 8 th graders only. Juan Juan is an A-B student with lots of 7 th and 8 th grade friends and two brothers at the school. Juan wants to take the 7 th grade to the water park at the end of the year. Juan also plans to have a DJ Day for 8 th grade lunch with free ice cream. Juan will also give the students a nonuniform day if he is elected. Susan Susan is an 8 th grade student with below average grades. Susan is not really into school. She wants each classroom to get an equal amount of the money to do as they please. Susan had the lead in the school play and is very popular. On a separate sheet of paper explain for whom you would vote and why.