Grade 12: Civics Content

Introduction*: The Participation in Government core curriculum is designed to be a culminating course of study that focuses on New York State Social Studies Learning Standard 5- Civics, Citizenship, and Government. Participation in Government is the civics capstone course of the New York State PreK-12 social studies curriculum and this civics roadmap. Upon entering 12th grade, students should be ready to synthesize and apply this content-rich social studies curriculum to the study of contemporary and/or historic public policy issues. Students should also be prepared to accept their rights and responsibilities as informed, active citizens. Fundamental to Participation in Government is a course of study that has students defining, analyzing, monitoring, and discussing issues and public policies. The course reflects:

an issue-based approach to public policy
the tools and skills needed in real-world learning experiences, and
the knowledge needed for effective citizenship.

We the People: Project Citizen is a civic education program that promotes competent and responsible participation in state and local government. The program actively engages students in learning how to monitor and influence public policy and encourages civic participation among students, their parents, and members of the community. The goals and activities of Project Citizen reinforce the public policy content, concepts, skills, and civic dispositions outlined in Participation in Government. For further information contact the Center for Civic Education at www.civiced.org.

(*Taken from: Participation in Government, The University of the State of New York, The State Education Department, 2002, p. iii. For the full text, see: www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/partgov.pdf click on Participation in Government.)

Concepts
- Citizenship
- Civic Values
- Decision Making
- Government
- Human Rights
- Justice
- Nation-State
- Political System
- Power
Content Understandings
- Unit A: Philosophical Foundations and Comparative Perspectives
  - Purposes and principles of government, politics, and the law
- Unit B: Citizenship in Comparative Perspective
  - Roles and rights of citizenship
  - Becoming a citizen
- Unit C: Citizenship, Participation, and the Electoral Process
  - Does your vote count? Political party system
  - Preparing to vote
  - Seeking public office
  - Campaigns and elections
  - Becoming an effective media consumer
- Unit D: Legal Obligations of Citizenship
  - Registering for the Selective Service
  - Civic implications of taxation
  - Responding to jury duty
  - Place of the jury in a democratic system
- Unit E: Public Policy and Political Participation
  - Doing public policy research
  - Distribution of federal, state, and local powers in the federal system
  - Workings of the public policy process
  - Purposes, principles, and values reflected in the public policy process
  - Becoming more involved in the public policy process (Project Citizen, Center for Civic Education at www.civiced.org)
- Unit F: Legal Rights and Responsibilities
  - Legal rights and responsibilities in civic life, and in the workplace and school
  - How rights can vary from place to place
- Unit G: Selecting a culminating question (optional)