Call to Order

1. Call to Order Read through the scenarios on the worksheet that you have just been given. Write the purpose of government that most directly applies to the scenario. Each will only be used one time.

2. Protecting Individual Rights A lawsuit comes about after a group of women were denied an opportunity to apply to become physical education teachers by a local school district. A district judge rules that the women should be allowed to apply for the job and should be compensated for their lack of income.

3. Maintaining Order After a high school football game, a fight breaks out. The police are immediately called to quell the violence. The police arrest three students and question ten witnesses.

4. Making Economic Decisions During the economic collapse of 2008, the government decides to lower taxes so that people have more disposable income to spend on things that they need for their families.

5. Protecting National Security At airports, passengers must go through an elaborate safety check to make sure that they are not carrying explosives or weapons onto the flight. This includes going through a metal detector and a full body scan, which can detect any illegal materials.

6. Increasing Safety of All Americans The town of Sea Cliff – which Ms. Zeins is from – has created a 10pm curfew on the night of Halloween. This will keep youngsters from being involved (or becoming the victims of) violent crimes or other mischief.

7. Protecting the Welfare of All Citizens Job training programs, like computer skills training, are now being offered by several high schools. These will help people obtain the skills they need to find employment and generate an income for their families.

8. Fixing Past Violations of the Government In 1942, the United States government arrested and detained 100,000 Japanese-Americans in special camps. The Japanese-Americans were not accused of any crime, nor were they ever put on trial. In 1988, President Reagan signed legislation that apologized for the internment and distributed $1.6 billion to Japanese Americans and their heirs.

9. Principles of Government These are the characteristics of a Democratic type of government. Each principle gives citizens more influence over their government. Authoritarian governments (like a Monarchy) don’t follow these principles.

10. Rule of Law The Idea : Everyone in the nation must follow the same laws. Example: Senator Tom Delay stole and was convicted of breaking the law… even though he helps write laws in the legislative branch! Woops! I guess that was a bad idea… maybe 3 years in prison isn’t so bad… I’m a U.S. Senator who was stealing money from people who donated to the Republic Party ...

11. Consent of the Governed The Idea: The citizens of a nation decide who gets the power to run the government. Consent = Permission Example: Egyptian citizens were being abused by their president, so they protested and overthrew the government.

12. Limited Government The Idea: The government can’t do whatever it wants. Citizens have rights that the gov’t cannot take away. Example: The police have to follow due process in order to take away someone’s freedom

13. Separation of Powers The Idea: The authority of government is divided so that no one person (or group) can be too powerful. Enforces Laws Makes laws Interprets Laws