1. Sept 3 – 1st Day! Agenda: You will need: Welcome, Attendance and Intro
Student Video: America For Dummies
American Political Culture
Political beliefs and behaviors
You will need:
Pen/Pencil
Notebook/loose leaf paper
Homework:
Enroll in our class on
Read page (beginning of ch. 6) in textbook
Begin Ch 6 Study Guide

2. Comparative Government
Welcome to the year-long US Government and Comparative government course!
1st semester: US
2nd semester: Comp
We will discuss the syllabus and the class expectation tomorrow – let’s jump right into it!

3. America for Dummies
As you watch, write answers to the following questions:
What do Americans value?
Who are Americans?
r_dummies

4. America for Dummies Who are the men shown in the video?
What do Americans value?
Who are Americans?
How does the video portray Americans? Do you think this is accurate?

5. Political Culture
Shared beliefs, norms, and values that define our approach to government

6. Characteristics Liberty Individualism Equality American Dream
Individual has the right to act according to his/her own will
Individualism
As opposed to collectivism
Equality
Equality of opportunity rather than equality of result
Political equality more than economic equality
American Dream
As if we can easily define that. . .

7. Characteristics, cont. Democracy Distrust of government
Especially since Vietnam and Watergate
Yet we expect government to solve our problems
Political tolerance
More in the abstract than in the concrete
Pragmatism
of or concerned with the affairs of a state or community
Justice
Belief in the rule of law

8. Connecting back… From the Video:
What do Americans think about politics?
How does that affect political participation?

9. Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Culture affects belief and behavior
Video: “students only do enough to get a good grade”
I expect you to be ACTIVE, not passive
I want you to want to be here because you’re interested in what’s going on in the world

10. Political Beliefs and Behaviors
Our first unit is about Political Beliefs and Behaviors (Chapters 6, 7 and 10 of the textbook)
Americans not only have opinions ABOUT politics, but they hold different views over what the government should be doing. That is how many Americans identify themselves in our political system (political ideology)
We will study WHAT Americans believe about government, what has shaped that, and then how that impacts their participation in the system

11. Homework
Tonight in your homework you will start by looking at what we know about ourselves as Americans and consider the difficulty of pinning down “What America Thinks.”
Navigate to:
Download/print the reading (Page )
Begin your chapter 6 study guide
Each study guide will be submitted to turnitin.com