Grades 7-8: National Standards for Civics and Government
5-8 Content Standards*
American Political System
- What are the foundations of the American Political System?
- What is the American idea of constitutional government?
- What are the distinctive characteristics of American society?
- What is American political culture?
- What values and principles are basic to American constitutional democracy?
Governments
- How does the government established by the constitution embody the purposes, values, and principles of American democracy?
- How are power and responsibility distributed, shared, and limited in the government established by the United States Constitution?
- What does the national government do?
- How are state and local governments organized and what do they do?
- Who represents you in local, state, and national governments?
- What is the place of law in the American constitutional system?
- How does the American political system provide for choice and opportunities for participants?
Citizenship
- What are the roles of the citizen in American democracy?
- What is citizenship?
- What are the rights of citizens?
- What are the responsibilities of citizens?
- What dispositions or traits of character are important to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy?
- How can citizens take part in civic life?
(*Taken from: National Standards for Civics and Government, Center for Civic Education, 1994, pp. 43-44).
