Session: Democratic Theory, Values & Processes

What We are Exploring Concepts we are examining and exploring: Freedom & Rule of Law Locke’s Ideas on government Hobbe’s Ideas on Government Democratic Values & Processes You will be analyzing and evaluating how to best set up a system that helps individuals and society exist peacefully

Preamble-Reviewing View on Humanity Take 2 mins to review with your partner your responses to Question #2 from last session’s closing thinking log: What are your initial “conclusions” on what we need to deal with the duality/dichotomy of humanity given the realities we saw today in photographs? Bringing out ideas to floor for review…

What is Missing in the Equation Below?

Enlightenment Thinkers… A reminder on the Enlightenment… What was the enlightenment? Thinkers began to ask questions about the world and how it worked They were concerned about how society was structured and the impact on people and the human experience They began to use rational thought and science to come up with answers…

Two Influential Thinkers on The U.S. John Locke Thomas Hobbes Had a particular view on humanity Wrote several books on topics of the day Here is what they are: Your job is to be able to summarize his main ideas John Locke Ideas Had a very different view of humanity than Locke Also wrote a competing book to Locke’s Here is what he says: Same goal as Locke Thomas Hobbes Ideas

Thinking Time… You just got a lot of information on two different sets of sources from two very different ideas Now, with your partner help each other assure comprehension of those ideas…summarizing here is the goal You will have 10 minutes total to do the following: Review each of the two thinker’s main ideas Fill in any gaps in comprehension of those ideas Help to make sure BOTH of you have the best account or description of concepts in your Thinking Log I will come around each partner team to check in

Analysis and Conclusions Freedom…How would you define freedom? Take 1 min with your partner to define it Bring it out to the floor… Which of the two thinkers allows freedom to exist more easily? Why is Freedom important to have in a democracy? So freedom becomes something we value in society

Societal Consensus If humans begin to come together and have similar goals and ideals, then we can begin to put value on certain elements of life that are important correct? What are elements of American Democracy that we value as a society?

Elements of American Democracy There are elements of democracy that need to be present in order for it to work in the purest of its form Next slides will highlight some of these elements in parts…

Democratic Values

Democratic Processes

Democratic Structures

Conceptual Flow Graphs Part of the challenge of this course is how to make sense of the multiple concepts being examined and analyzed every week So…to help with this issue…We will be using a Conceptual Flow Graph = way to make connections between different concepts – they can look like so:

What you are connecting? To help you figure this out- this is what you are trying to do: Figure out the following connections: Humans & Power  Democratic Values, Processes & Structures What’s in between? How did we go from the start to the finish so far… This is where struggling perfectly fine means you’re learning and actually thinking

From Log to Blog This week is your first blog You are now going to demonstrate in writing your understanding and comprehension of the concepts from this week This is where YOU are now putting all the elements together and demonstrating how you understand it Lets take a look at the blog