Week #1 Task List:

Watch Videos (optional)
Read Chapters One and Two of Struggle for Democracy textbook
Complete Chapter One Worksheet
Complete Quiz #2 on Chapters One and Two (two attempts)
View Chapter One Presentation (pdf/optional)
View Chapter Two Presentation (pdf/optional)
Compose two posts for discussion on Interactive Constitution Webpage
Find a political news article from the internet and write an internet article review (IAR) and respond to another student's IAR.

Objectives List for Chapter One:

After reading Chapter One, you should be able to:

Understand how democracy can be used as a standard to evaluate the American government and politics.

Develop both supporting and opposing views of the concept of majority rule as the key component of a democratic process.
Explain the contrasting theories of direct democracy and representative democracy, and determine the types of circumstances in which they could operate.
Describe the fundamental principles of representative democracy, including popular sovereignty, political equality, political liberty, and majority rule.

Objectives List for Chapter Two:

After reading Chapter Two, you should be able to:

Recognize the legacies of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence.
Explain why the Articles of Confederation failed as a governing document.
Describe the political environment that led to the Constitutional Convention and explain what the Founders intended to accomplish.
Understand the significance of Shays's Rebellion within the climate of crisis that led to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
Identify democratic and undemocratic aspects of the Constitutional Convention.
Identify the fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Describe the major compromises that were adopted at the Constitutional Convention.
Explain why the framers of the Constitution feared certain democratizing and egalitarian tendencies.
Explain how some democratic practices such as majority rule can lead to majority tyranny.