Discussion Questions and Ideas

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Both war and politics are means of resolving human conflict. Both create winners and losers and decide, in some sense, who gets what, when, and how. What is the key difference between war and politics? What keeps politics nonviolent while war turns to violence?

What is the relationship between government and economics? What is the relationship between types of guarantees a government provides and the type of economic system in the society? Is this a necessary relationship? Does the U.S. government provide any substantive guarantees? Should it?

Hobbes said that anarchy would result in a situation in which life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Do you agree? Is it realistic, at all, to envision having no government? Why would life with no government, no obligations, and unlimited freedom be so negative?

Given technology today, would it be more feasible than in the past for the United States to become more of a direct democracy than a republic? What would be the benefits? The drawbacks? What did we learn from Athenian democracy, the Enlightenment, and our founders that would argue against making democracy more direct?

What does the term Arab Spring mean? How many countries have been affected by it, and what factors caused this movement to start?

Have you voted? Why or why not? Do you think that your vote matters? If not, what would have to happen to change this perception?

Benjamin Franklin’s famous phrase that the United States was “a Republic, Madam, if you can keep it” suggests that citizens have a key role in sustaining American democracy. Have American citizens “kept the republic”? Why or why not?

Keeping in mind the definition of politics from Chapter 1 and the importance of power, resources, compromise, and cooperation to American politics, consider the significant projected changes in population presented in the Who Are We?features in Chapter 2.How will “who gets what, when, and how” change compared to American society today?

Currently refugees from Cuba are provided special status because they flee a repressive communist country, whereas others fleeing Caribbean, Central American, and South American countries and Mexico are not provided the same possibilities of receiving asylum from the United States. Why is this justified? Is it justified? What do students think of recent controversial immigration laws discussed in the text, such as the ones in Arizona, Alabama, and North Carolina? What are the possible negative effects of such laws?

Chapter 1 states that American political culture exemplifies a “faith in rules and individuals.” How does this faith in rules and individuals work to decide who gets what, and how, in society?

A major example of using a procedural definition of equality is the concept of equality of opportunity when applied to the economy. What does this concept mean? Is the United States really a land of equal opportunity? What are the obstacles to equality of opportunity in the United States? Should the government do more or less, or is it doing the right amount to reduce these obstacles?

Consider what you have learned about how people become Americans, the many demographic differences within the United States, our political culture, and our political ideologies. Who are we as a country? With all the demographic changes currently under way, and given how political ideology divides us, can our political culture truly continue to bring us together?

The textbook’s authors presented three different characterizations of the U.S. citizenry. One is that U.S. citizens are apolitical, apathetic, self-interested, uninformed, lazy beings. The second is that most Americans are politically aware, at least enough to get by and promote their own best interests; your text called them “the rational electorate” and compared them to those who watch a football game and know enough to tell who is winning, even though they don’t understand all the rules. A third point of view insists that a significant number of individuals are even “ideal citizens” who are extremely knowledgeable about both current events and the workings of our political system. Which point of view do you agree with (if any) and why? If you agree with none, how would you characterize the U.S. citizenry, and why?

DISCUSSION IDEAS

Ask students to write as many words as possible that come to mind when they hear the word politics. Ask for volunteers for a word to put on the board. Collect several evaluative terms. Repeat the exercise for the term politician. Be sure to keep students going long enough to get past the first few neutral terms to the ones that reflect the commonly held view of politics and politicians described in the text. Ask students why we hold these views. Explore the ways in which people experience politics and how the way the media present politics might change how they understand the subject. This gives you the opportunity to get students to begin to critically analyze beliefs about politics that they take for granted.

Write the following question on the board in large letters: “Why do we have to take this course?” Tell students that they should answer honestly, that their answers won’t hurt your feelings. Jot down on the board the answers that students give. You will likely get answers such as, “Because I have to take one government course to get my degree,” and/or, “Because it was the only one that fit into my schedule.” The answers will most likely be versions of, “Because I have to.” Very few students will say the class was taken as an elective. Then ask the students the question asked in the text, “How many of you have run out of gas?” Not everyone will raise a hand. Call on someone who didn’t and ask that person if he or she still gets gas when the car is low on gas. When he or she answers yes, ask why. Then make the analogy that just because they have never lived in a country that has had a political breakdown doesn’t mean they shouldn’t understand how the country works. Also point out that we as a nation have made great strides in science, mathematics, and literacy, but we have taken huge steps back when it comes to civic literacy. Call on students to wrap up the discussion and give additional reasons to close out this lecture starter.

Discuss the core aspect of power: the ability to get other people to do what you want. Discuss famous examples of power the students may be familiar with in other contexts, perhaps Tom Sawyer’s ability to convince his friends that whitewashing a fence was fun. That is real power! What other forms of power do students see in everyday life? Then discuss how the government’s power makes citizens do things they may not wish to do, like waiting at a red light at 3 a.m. when no traffic exists. Is this the same power that Tom Sawyer used? Provide other examples of our government convincing us to do something, like paying taxes or, for males in the class, registering with the Selective Service. Is this political power the same thing as power in other contexts? Or is political or governmental power somehow different? Why or why not?

Have students come up with examples of politics in a particular setting, such as on campus. Possible answers might include politics = distribution of financial aid, organization of departments, student life issues, student government, and so on, and power = hierarchy of administration, professors’ authority over students, and so on.

Have students identify examples of anarchy and social breakdown in pop culture (e.g., the recent string of post-apocalyptic TV shows and movies, such as the Walking Dead, Zombies, I Am Legend, etc.) and ask them to discuss our fascination with the topic.

Google “Obama is socialist” and allow results to come up. Have students discuss why he has been called this and the extent to which it is realistic given our political system. It is important to keep the discussion focused on institutional structure and American political development rather than ideology and partisanship, so perhaps having the class give both indicators of his presidency that might be accused of being “socialist” (e.g., Obamacare) and those that might not be (e.g., expansion of offshore drilling) would keep the conversation in line. A report that purports to fact check this can be found here:

Tie in Chapter 1’s discussion of the responsibilities of citizens with the earlier discussion of how advanced industrial democracies have less government control over the economy and less government control over individuals’ lives and the social order. Ask students why citizens have responsibilities if subjects do not. This may help students to understand that when government does not own the means of production, someone must take the initiative to start companies, invest in economic life, and hustle to make it in the corporate world. Furthermore, if government does not make all political and judicial decisions, it requires citizens to run for office, make demands on government, and serve on juries.

Ask students which of the three theories of democracy—elite, pluralist, and participatory—they think best describes what American democracy ideally should be like. Break down the different elements of the theories, and ask students to see how the American system matches the model. Do students think American democracy works like this in practice? Does one of the other theories better explain how American democracy operates? Is it a problem if the practice of democracy does not fit with the students’ ideal?

Ask students what they think about the two competing views of citizenship: Madison’s view that human nature is self-interested and therefore individual participation needs to be limited in government, versus the civic republican view that citizens can put the interests of the community ahead of their own interests when participating in democracy. Take them through U.S. history and highlight which view is a better match to different eras. Examine why one viewpoint might appear more often and what major events might account for certain trends. Take them through the history of civil rights in the United States, highlighting how early civil rights battles took place in the courts because there was little public support for the plight of other citizens’ lack of rights. Citizens then took a more active role in pursuing community interests rather than their own self-interests, and public pressure eventually led to enactment of civil rights legislation. (Use the book’s discussion of the civil rights movement and the NAACP strategy in Chapter 6 if background is needed.) Which view better reflects the realities of American democracy today? Are we moving more in one direction or another?

Ask students what they think about the tone of today’s political climate. Put two columns on the board labeled “positive” and “negative.” Have students give you adjectives to write on the board and ask them in which column the adjective belongs. After you get ten words, put the following site on the LCD projector: Click on the option in the upper-left hand corner that says “Latest USA Cartoons.” Do the current political cartoons support the opinions of the class? Why or why not? What are the factors contributing to our current political climate?

Explain what Arab Spring means to the students. A brief overview can be found at and Ask students to list factors they think contributed to this movement. Do they think young people involved in the protests are more like them or unlike them? If students in the class lived in one of these countries, would they be involved in these movements?

Ask students, “What is your dream job?” Write down the answers on the board. Try to call on as many students as you can so that a variety of careers are represented on the board. Most government classes will have at least a few criminal justice majors or students taking paralegal classes. No doubt you will have a variety of students, such as would-be entrepreneurs. Once you have written at least a dozen different jobs on the board, and it appears that all interested students have had a chance to speak, start with the first job you wrote on the board and ask, “Can anyone tell me how what you learn in this class will help with this type of job?” The more eager students may be able to give you the correct answers, but if not, provide the answers for them. For example, a would-be police officer or paralegal needs to know about the Constitution, civil rights, civil liberties, and constitutional law. This course lays the foundation for such learning since it explains how our government works and the basics of our legal system. You can point out how the knowledge from this course connects with any other type of job, too. If someone is going to be a nurse, he or she needs to know all about the ever-changing privacy laws regarding medical records, malpractice insurance, and how to get certified in different states. A self-employed businessperson will have to know more about our government than any of the other students since he or she will most likely be taxed and regulated more than others. To close out the discussion, ask students to raise their hands if they have ever looked at their pay stub and wondered why there is such a difference between the “gross” and “net” amounts. Then ask them to raise their hands if they think they should have a say in how that money is being spent. The point of the discussion is to let the students know that this course is not about ideas that are disconnected from them. It is about topics that relate directly to them.

Show the class the cartoon of the Native American responding to the man in the suit’s anti-immigration statement from Chapter 2. Discuss the difficulty Americans have dealing with the romantic ideal of being a country built by immigrants versus the practical security realities of illegal immigration. Where should we draw the line between the ideal and the reality? Then further the discussion by bringing in the practical considerations to the economy. Do the social welfare costs offset the net gains in a low-wage workforce in many labor-intensive, difficult, and undesirable jobs, such as picking crops, housecleaning, and working construction? For example, would students be willing to pay substantially more for food if illegal immigrants were barred from picking crops and if much higher wages and more benefits were required to attract a workforce? Distribute (or project using LCD projector) copies of the article “Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration” ( How do students feel about this new law? Finally, discuss how these issues help students to understand why Congress has had such a difficult time agreeing on immigration reform.

To begin a class discussion on recent state attempts to craft their own strict immigration policies, see CBS News’s report on the case, “Special Report: Ruling on Arizona Immigration Law” and PBS’s report, “Alabama: the Immigration Battle.” You can have the class react to the coverage and debate pros and cons.

Another excellent discussion topic is the rise of undocumented activism in recent years. This American Life has a thought-provoking story on undocumented youth activists, who intentionally get themselves detained, here: You can also show the trailer for the new documentary by Jose Antonio Vargas, which covers this issue in detail:

As a way of introducing core American political ideas such as procedural guarantees and individualism, open the lecture with a discussion of the American frontier mentality—if life was tough, “Go West Young Man.” Show the image found at Obviously students are familiar with this aspect of our history, even if it is overly romanticized. Transition into a discussion of how Europe has more class-based distinctions and limited frontier space for land speculation and ownership, so that European working classes often banded together to demand fair outcomes, not just fair political processes. This helps to explain why individualism plays a larger role in American political culture, whereas collectivist political cultures exist in much of Europe. Ask students to speculate on whether the current trends of a growing American population and the loss of the frontier might lead American workers to behave more like their European counterparts in the future. Or are new laws like the ones in Arizona and Alabama pulling us away from such ideas?

To start a discussion of ideology, you may first want to clarify the definition of the term ideology itself.