This course will guide students through an in-depth study of the history, structure, and guiding principles of American government. The first unit will review the origins of government in general and American government in particular—from the earliest models for democracy to the founding documents that created a federalist system of government in the U.S. Several units will help students explore the roles and responsibilities of each branch of government as well as the impact that the Constitution has had and continues to have on the way government works and on the lives of individual Americans. The course’s final unit will guide students through a series of projects that require them to apply what they have learned about American government to an issue that interests them.
