Reminder Senior Project Proposal and Plan is due
today. Turn an electronic copy in to turnitin.com and a hard copy to the office. If it is not turned in today you will need to wait until the fall to propose a senior project.
T-shirts: Who still owes money?
Why is this cartoon funny?
Why do we study history?“History is important. If you don't know history it's as if you were born yesterday. And if you were born yesterday, anybody up there in a position of power can tell you anything and you have no way of checking up on it.” --Howard Zinn
Don’t know much about history…
“The Constitution was written explicitly for one purpose: to restrain the federal government.” –Ron Paul, after the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8, 2008
Don’t know much about history…
“And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.“ –Barack Obama, addressing a Joint Session of Congress, February 24, 2009
Don’t know much about history…
“Barack Obama is facing a financial emergency on a grander scale. Yet his approach has been to engage in one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history.” –Mitt Romney, writing in a Union Leader op-ed, April 25, 2011
Don’t know much about history…
“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’” –Joe Biden, recounting the political fallout after the 1929 stock market crash to Katie Couric on Sept. 22, 2008
Don’t know much about history…
“[Paul Revere] warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms, by ringing those bells and making sure, as he is riding his horse through town, to send those warning shots and bells, that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.” –Sarah Palin, after touring Paul Revere’s house in Boston, June 2, 2011
Monday, May 28 Objectives:
To gain a basic understanding of US politics To examine where people get their political
views To introduce Book Chats and begin
discussing author information Due Today: Book/Author bio info Homework: Read ¼ of book, Book Chat
assignment (Friday), follow the news Agenda: Politics 101 Lecture, Book
Chats
The Rules Respect Trust no one Keep an open mind
Political Terms What do these terms mean?
Right v. Left Conservative v. Liberal Republican (GOP) v. Democrat Red v. Blue
How did we get here? Origin of the Two-Party System
No parties originally Federalist v. States rights Jackson Democrats Anti-slavery Republicans
Civil War Republicans: Northern, pro-business,
Blacks Democrats: Southern, populist
How did we get here? 1896 Election
Modern campaigning Campaign funding
New Deal Coalition: Big city machines, poor and
middle class, white South, intellectuals, labor unions, blacks
Democrats for life
How did we get here? Civil Rights
JFK and LBJ Nixon’s Southern Strategy
Reagan Falwell’s Moral Majority Tax cuts
Republicans
Small government Personal
responsibility Low taxes Higher defense
spending Fiscal conservatism
South/Midwest (+22/+10) Suburban/Rural
(+12/+28) White Evangelical (+58) Men (+14) Seniors (+16) Very Rich (+18) Veterans (+24) Big Business
Platform: Constituency:
Democrats
Social safety net Social justice Higher taxes Less defense
spending
Urban (+32) Coastal (+5) Post-graduates (+4) Minorities
(+82/+32/+18) Women (+2) LGBT (+38 Youth (+16) Labor
Platform: Constituency:
Money in Politics Spiraling cost of campaigns Lobbyists Campaign Finance Reform
McCain-Feingold Citizens United Super-PACs
Who finances the Senate?
Who finances the House?
Legislative Branch Senate
2 Senators per state Elected every 6 years Needs a 60 vote super-majority to pass
most bills House of Representatives
By population Elected every 2 years Simple majority
112th Congress House of Representatives:
Republicans – 240 Democrats – 193
Senate: Republicans – 47 Democrats – 51 Independents – 2
How do you pass a bill? Both houses write a bill, then try to
reconcile the two versions into one bill Add amendments and riders The bill comes up for a vote If it passes both houses, it goes to the
President The President can either sign or veto Congress can override a veto with a 2/3
majority
Congressional Gridlock“Least functional
Congress” in history--Why?
Polarization Being “for” something
v. being “against” something
Politics as a zero-sum game
Increased use of the filibuster
The Filibuster Votes in Senate require simple majority Votes to end debate (invoke cloture)
require super-majority (3/5) Minority party uses this tactic to prevent
majority from bringing legislation to a vote
Both parties have used it
Politics v. Policy Policy is what you want to do Politics is how you get it done
Where do we get our political ideas?
Parents Religion Teachers Community Media
Snapshot of Sammamish Median Age: 35 Households: 87% families, 50% kids
under 18 Median Income: $134,000 Industry: Prof/Sci/Tech/Info Education: 98% High School, 70%
College + Religion: 37% (50% nationally) Race: 75% White, 17% Asian, 4%
Hispanic
Where do you stand?Click the Political Compass Quiz link on the website and take the quiz:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/
CBA Read the Rubric Need to make a connection to current
events for a 4 Russia ≠ USSR Causes of policy should come before
policy Effects should address who was affected
and how Should get used to standard form of in-
text citations
Book Chats: Who brought their book and biographical
info? Book Chats Assignments (on website) Book Chats Presentations (on website) Book Chats Discussion
Assign a note-taker (turn in on last discussion day)
Discuss the biographical info (look at the Author Biography section of the presentation for ideas)
Read silently when finished
