from Annenberg Learning ^[1]

This session covers the basic elements of government, politics, and democracy. A grounding in these issues will give you a solid foundation to enhance your teaching of civics. More important, approaching civic education by emphasizing this balance illustrates why civic education is important. The emphasis on balancing rights and responsibilities demonstrates that government is important to all of us. Since all of us will be governed, what matters is how this balance is struck and how those of us in a democratic society can assure the proper balance.

Learning Objectives 

After completing this session, you will be able to:

• Explain why learning about government is important.
• Define the basic elements of government, politics, and democracy for your students.
• Describe the difficult and ongoing problem of balancing freedom and public order.
• Introduce the idea of public influence on policy decisions.
• Discuss what it means to be a citizen of the United States, including a discussion of the responsibilities of citizenship.