Lesson Plan: What Are My Political Views?

SUBJECTS

U.S. Government, Civics, U.S. History

GRADE LEVEL

9-12

OBJECTIVES

Students will analyze their political beliefs by responding to questions about public policy issues. The results will place them on a political spectrum.

LESSON PLAN

1. Introduce students to these terms generally used to describe political beliefs: left, right, liberal, conservative. Explain that “political spectrum” is a phrase used to refer to the differences in ideology between the major parties in the United States. Ideas normally associated with the Democratic Party are referred to as being to the "left" of the center of the political spectrum. Ideas associated with the Republican Party are often referred to as being to the "right" of the center of the political spectrum. Many individuals have ideas on both sides, but they generally gravitate to one side more than the other. References to people being "to the left" or "to the right" can be traced to the French Revolution where those deemed "conservative" sat to the right of the legislative assemble and those labeled "liberal" sat to the left.

2. Students will require access to the Internet. Have them take two tests which connect their beliefs to the spectrum. Links to two useful sites follow: http://www.gotoquiz.com/politics/political-spectrum-quiz.html and http://www.people-press.org/typology/quiz/. A more humorous approach to determining political beliefs is located at http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blpoliticalspectrumquiz.htm.

3. Students will compare their beliefs to the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties and determine which platform more nearly matches their political beliefs. An excellent summary of the respective 2008 platforms is located at http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/issues/party-platforms/index.html.

4. To complete the lesson, students will draw a political spectrum, locate themselves on the spectrum, and place five of their specific public policy beliefs on the spectrum.

RESOURCES

The Web sites listed above.

CREDIT

Dirksen Congressional staff

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