1. Intro to Democratic Dissent Unit
Focus on Arab Spring Revolutions of 2011

2. Where We are in Semester-Rationale
Never understood the sharp turn from Government into Economics from one semester to next-Don’t Like it
So we ease into Econ in two steps:
Step 1: Study the Arab Spring Revolutions of to understand the power of revolutions
Step 2: Study Occupy Wall Street-American led movement reacting to economic crisis of 2008

3. Overview
In 2011, 5 nations in the Arab world erupted in to massive political and social revolutions like never before seen- each country removing the leaders in government
The Nations involved:
Tunisia
Egypt
Yemen
Libya
Syria
The people of these nations were asking for a more democratic society… well what is Democracy?

4. Map of the Region We Are Studying

5. Democracy: A Poem by Charles Bukowski
We are going to read a poem by Los Angeles poet and author Charles Bukowski
Pay attention to the literal and figurative language being used
What does this poem tell us about what Democracy is?

6. Democratic Values

7. Democratic Processes

8. Democratic Structures

9. What are the obstacles to Democracy?
What does government need to do in order to maintain democracy?
How can government actually become an obstacle to democracy?
Take 2 mins to write and reflect
Out to the floor

10. Scenarios to consider:
What happens to democracy if…?
Elections are not free and fair- (corruption)
The press is not allowed to report the actual events but only what the state wants it to report (censorship)
The military and police abuse their powers on the population

11. The Crisis in Syria
Let’s first examine the current crisis in Syrian so you can see what this looks like:
As you watch:
What are the main issues in Syria?
What is the impact on the people?
How is this crisis affecting Democracy?
The Syrian Crisis Explained

12. Dictatorships
To understand next few sessions, let’s take a look at what exactly are people going against:
As you watch:
What are the actions by these dictatorships?
How can this be harmful to a democracy?
Top 10 Ruthless Dictators
Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

13. Your First Blog Assignment…
To get you thinking about the concept we are studying this week- below is an explanation of this very special and unique assignment
Creative Dissent Blog Assignment