Wednesday 2/12 & Thursday 2/13: 4.1 - 4.4 American Attitudes, Ideology, and Political Socialization

Enduring Understanding:

Citizen beliefs about government are shaped by the intersection of demographics, political culture, and dynamic social change.

Learning Objectives:

Explain the relationship between core beliefs of U.S. citizens and attitudes about the role of government.

Explain how cultural factors influence political attitudes and socialization.

Essential Knowledge:

Different interpretations of core values, including individualism, equality of opportunity, free enterprise, rule of law, and limited government, affect the relationship between citizens and the federal government and the relationships citizens have with one another.

Family, schools, peers, media, and social environments (including civic and religious organizations) contribute to the development of an individual’s political attitudes and values through the process of political socialization.

As a result of globalization, U.S. political culture has both influenced and been influenced by the values of other countries.

Generational and lifecycle effects also contribute to the political socialization that influences an individual’s political attitudes.

The relative importance of major political events to the development of individual political attitudes is an example of political socialization.

Debrief 4.2: Unit One Review

First, give a ten word gist of the Articles of Confederation.  Then, for each of the following characteristics, explain how the new Constitution of the United States (written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia) provided a remedy to that weakness...

1. Lacked the power to tax: 
2. Lacked a National Court:
3. Lacked an Executive Branch:
4. No National Military:
5. No ability to regulate trade between states:

Activity #1: Notes over Political Socialization

Click here for Notes

Activity #2: Political Ideology Interview

Using the following document, interview the people at your table (I will explain this process) in class.  Make sure to record the name of the person in your interview and their responses in your notebook.