Welcome to Government

An overview of Government and what students can be expected to learn

Your teacher: Ms. Garac 12th Grade Government
Welcome!

What is government?

Seniors! Can you believe you

are on the cusp of graduating
from high school?
Its an
amazing achievement, youve
come so far, and should be
proud of yourselves.
But
before you leave high school,
there are still a few things you
need to complete and one of
them is a government course.
So Id like to welcome you to
your government class! This
letter serves two purposes: (1)
to greet and welcome you to
an exciting semester of
American government in which
youll learn so much that will
carry beyond your high school
career and (2) to inform you
and provide you with a
directory as to what we will be
discussing and studying this
upcoming semester.

In
accordance
with
your
textbook,
Government is the institution through which a
society makes and enforces its public policies
(McClenaghan,
Magruders
American
Government, page 4). With respect to US
government, government is a government by
the people and for the people, who place
qualified individuals to represent and carry out
the interests of the people. In this course,
youll learn much about the workings of
government, its several institutions, how they
work together, and what binds them together.
Youll learn about several concepts including,
but not limited to, separation of powers, judicial
review, popular sovereignty, federalism, how a
bill becomes a law, and veto power. If you are
reading these terms and are confused by what
they are or what they mean, have no worries.
This is the class where youll learn about them.
That is my promise to you.

What kind of government does

the US have?
A) A constitutional monarchy
B) An anarchy
C) A parliamentary democracy
D) A monopoly
E) A democratic republic

Topics in Government
Why
study
government?
Other
than
the
requirement
factor,
youll learn about
issues
that
are
important to you.
Youll learn about the
society in which you
live (local, state, and
national
levels).
Overall,
learning
about and making
sense
of
governmental
processes
and
issues will help you
make
informed
choices. This is an
exciting time to be
taking a government
class because of the
current presidential
race to the Oval
office. The debates
and candidates are
all over the media
and you cant but
help notice them.

What we will discuss and

study in class:
1. Foundations of
government
a. Ideas of
democracy and
republicanism
b. Different types
of government
c. Origins of US
government
d. The
Constitution
e. Federalism
2. Political behavior
a. Political parties
b. Voters and
voting behavior
c. The electoral
process
d. Influence of
media on public
opinion
e. Interest groups

3. The legislative branch

a. What is
Congress?
b. Powers of
Congress
c. How a bill
becomes a law
4. The executive branch
a. What are the
presidents
powers?
5. The judicial branch
a. The powers of
the Supreme
Court
b. Lower courts
c. Civil liberties vs.
civil rights
6. State and local
government
Teacher Name:
Ms. Garac

Interest in which topics?

Number of persons*

6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Yes

No

* This is a sample size (only 6

participants were polled) and
is not a wholly accurate
depiction of the 12th grade
student population. Ideally,
when I conduct this poll, Id
ask my students on the first
day of class.