Lesson Plan: Fights Over American Democracy Reach Back to the Founding Era

Subjects:

U.S. History, Government/Civics

Lesson Duration:

• One to two class periods (45-90 minutes total)
• Select “File>Make a Copy” to eliminate, edit or reorder any of the modular sections on the activity handout.

Essential Questions:

• Why is democracy considered a fragile form of government?
• Why did the founders fear too much democracy?
• What political issues have been associated with challenges to democratic institutions? How have these challenges been approached?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Explain current problems with American democracy and describe the threat those problems pose to the health of our democracy.
• Assess historical threats to American democracy and evaluate the governmental response.
• Develop and design solutions to current threats to American democracy.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “Fights Over American Democracy Reach Back to the Founding Era” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout with links
• Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics | Pew Research Center

Procedure:

1. Begin the activity by having students define the term “democracy.” The question asks students not only for a definition of the term, but for a description of essential characteristics of this form of government. The goal of this exercise is to begin this activity with a common understanding of the term. The teacher should feel free to have students discuss, and to create a common definition for the class. Consider using some of the resources below:
   1. Merriam-Webster Definition
   2. Wikipedia Definition
   3. United Nations Definition
   4. U.S. State Department Democracy Programming Framework
2. Have the students brainstorm a list of problems with democracy and reasons why they think what they listed are problematic. Have students share their answers with the class.
   1. Students may consult the Pew Research Report Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics to generate ideas.
3. Have students watch the Retro Report film “Fights Over American Democracy Reach Back to the Founding Era” (Transcript) and answer the questions on the activity handout.
4. Next, have students (individually or in small groups) identify historical events since 2000 that have led to challenges to the stability of American democracy.
   1. Students should compose explanations for how events since 2000 have weakened American democracy.
5. After identifying events since 2000 that have challenged the stability of American democracy, have students propose at least one solution that would stabilize or improve the health of American democracy.

Extension Activity:

1. In A.P. United States History courses, complete the Document-Based Question (DBQ) activity.
2. In A.P. United States Government and Politics courses, complete the Concept Application Question.

About the Author:

Ryan Werenka teaches Social Studies at Troy High School in Troy, Mich., and was named the 2021 Michigan History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Ryan teaches AP US Government and Politics and AP Comparative Government and Politics.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.Civ.7.9-12. Apply civic virtues and democratic principles when working with others.
• D2.Civ.9.9-12. Use appropriate deliberative processes in multiple settings.
• D2.Civ.10.9-12. Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
• D2.Civ.11.9-12. Evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
• D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
• D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences. 
• D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
• D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.
• D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
• D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
• D2.His.7.9-12. Explain how the perspectives of people in the present shape interpretations of the past.
• D2.His.11.9-12. Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
• D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.
• D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
• D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.
• D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
• D4.1.9-12. Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses. 
• D4.2.9-12. Construct explanations using sound reasoning, correct sequence (linear or nonlinear), examples, and details with significant and pertinent information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanation given its purpose (e.g., cause and effect, chronological, procedural, technical).
• D4.3.9-12. Present adaptations of arguments and explanations that feature evocative ideas and perspectives on issues and topics to reach a range of audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary). 
• D4.4.9-12. Critique the use of claims and evidence in arguments for credibility. 
• D4.6.9-12. Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time. 

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).