Lesson examining the role and powers of the congressional leadership - may need to be updated for 114th congress

Learning Objectives To explain the workings of the Electoral College To analyse the Electoral College results of recent elections To explore the debate over the Electoral College and potential reform and replacement of this mechanism

Learning Objectives To understand the history of the American revolution and its impact on American government To explain the purpose of the Articles of Confederation and why they failed To analyse the significance of the Constitution

Learning Objectives To analyse the US Constitution to discover the framework of the government it established To identify and exemplify the fundamental concepts the constitution is based on To explore the areas of debate surrounding these fundamental concepts

Learning Objectives To explain the bicameral structure of Congress To analyse the roles of Congress

Learning Objectives To describe the enumerated powers of Congress in the constitution To analyse the extent to which Congress has increased the reach of its power through expansive reading of the constitution To evaluate the impact of these constitutional clauses on the extent of congressional power

Learning Objectives To explain the amendment processes To analyse the advantages and disadvantages of these processes To evaluate the extent to which interpretative and practical amendments can also change the constitution

Learning Objective To evaluate the significance of the role of national party conventions

Learning Objectives To describe the legislative process To explain the complexities of the legislative process and the factors that can affect it, including partisanship and bipartisanship To evaluate the extent to which the filibuster is still a useful legislative tool

Learning Objectives To evaluate the extent to which Congress is a powerful body

A scheme of work to accompany lessons and resources exploring elections in the USA.

Learning Objectives To understand the constitutional basis of federalism and the powers of the federal and state governments To explain the relationship between the federal government and the states To examine examples of the impact of federalism

Learning Objectives To explain the key features of the US Constitution To analyse the principles of: * Separation of powers * Checks and balances * Federalism

Learning Objectives To understand the context of congressional election campaigns To explain the principal factors influencing the outcomes in congressional elections To evaluate the significance of these factors in affecting the outcome of congressional elections

Learning Objectives To understand the reasons why and how the Bill of Rights was added to the constitution To explain the rights and restrictions that are defined in the Bill of Rights To analyse the extent to which there is debate over the nature of free speech

Learning Objectives To identify the shared and exclusive powers of the Senate and the House of Representatives To analyse the examples of these To evaluate the extent to which the chambers of Congress are equal

A scheme of work to accompany lessons and resources for a SOW exploring the roles and powers of Congress.

Learning Objectives To describe the different models of representation To explain what influences the voting of members of congress

Learning Objective To analyse the constitutional and extra-constitutional requirements for a presidential candidate

A scheme of work to accompany lessons and resources exploring the US Constitution.