Lessons from Antiquity Activities US Government

Lessons from Antiquity Name: A. Word Parts. Etymology is the study of where words come from and how they get their meaning. Match each word pair to the correct definition, then write the name of the type of government described. oligrachy dēmos “common people or district” oligos “few, small, little”   kratos “rule or strength” arkhein “to rule” A. ___________________________ : A government where a few people share political control and make governing decisions. representitive democracy A government B. ___________________________: where people elect representatives, including a head executive, to make decisions on behalf of the public. autocracy resp “affair, matter thing”  autos  “self” publica “public, of the people” arkhein “to rule” C. ___________________________: A government where one person rules by his or herself. direct democracy D. ___________________________: A government where people are in control and participate in decision making. * Challenge: Can you spot the origin of the word “archon” here? What does it mean? B. School Democracy. Use your knowledge of direct and representative democracy to identify each as (D) for direct or (R) for representative. Write your answers on the lines below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. r____ r____ r____ r ____ d ____ d ____ r____ d ____ Your third-period teacher asks students to come up with the list of classroom rules together. Elections for Student Council president happen in your first-period class. A student in your class campaigns to serve as your School Board’s voice and advocate for student concerns. Your principal invites all students to attend a meeting to discuss and vote on this year’s homecoming theme. You and the members of your graduating class vote for prom king and queen. Your parents vote on whether your school’s district boundaries should be changed. You participate in an election to select the new School Board. Your school asks parents and students to volunteer ideas for this year’s budget and vote on the best way to spend school funds. r ____ Your class nominates one student to attend Student Government Association meetings on behalf of the class and report back on what was discussed. r 10. ____ The assistant principal is in charge of selecting and training student judges to hear minor discipline cases and determine appropriate punishments in student court. Activity  Side A Lessons from Antiquity Name: C. Debating Democracy. Read James Madison’s notes from the Constitutional Convention, then complete the summary and answer the questions that follow. On May 31, 1787, delegates at the Constitutional Convention discussed how we should elect representatives for the National Legislature (Congress). They eventually settled on a compromise. The people would elect representatives to the first branch (the House of Representatives) and the state legislatures would elect representatives for the second branch (the Senate). From Madison’s notes on the debates in the Constitutional Convention May 31, 1787 [Regarding resolution]: 4. first clause “that the members of the first branch of the National Legislature ought to be elected by the people of the several States” being taken up, Mr. SHERMAN opposed the election by the people, insisting that it ought to be by the State Legislatures. The people he said, immediately should have as little to do as may be about the Government. They want information and are constantly liable to be misled. Mr. GERRY. The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but are the dupes of pretended patriots. In [Massachusetts] it had been fully confirmed by experience that they are daily misled into the most baneful measures and opinions by the false reports circulated by designing men, and which no one on the spot can refute. [...] Mr. MASON, argued strongly for an election of the larger branch by the people. It was to be the grand depository of the democratic principle of the Govtt. It was, so to speak, to be our House of CommonsIt ought to know & sympathise with every part of the community; and ought therefore to be taken not only from different parts of the whole republic, but also from different districts of the larger members of it [...] Complete the summary: election by the state legislatures Mr. Sherman wants ___________________________________________________________________ the people should have as little to do with the government as possible because info can be misled because he believes __________________________________________________________________. agrees Mr. Gerry ________________________ (agrees/disagrees) with Mr. Sherman. He says that an “excess of problem [or having too much] democracy” is a _____________________ (problem/benefit). Gerry says that people misled disagrees larger says that the _________________________ branch should _______________________ (should/should not) be are _________________ by false reports. Mr. Mason _______________________ (agrees/disagrees). He elected by the people because it should “know and sympathise with every part of the community”. Discuss: Who’s argument do you agree with most? Why? With your partner, brainstorm what might change Mr. Sherman and Mr. Gerry’s minds. Activity  Side B Lessons from Antiquity Name: D. Now Represent. These statements from the Constitution explain how we select people to serve in national government. Identify the official described. Then determine how democratic his or her selection is. Underline evidence from the statement that supports your answer. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States [...] -- Article 1, Section 2 house of representatives Official: __________________________ 2. senate electors  Less Democratic More Democratic Less Democratic [The president] shall have Power, [...] by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law [...] -- Article 2, Section 2 president Official: __________________________ 5. More Democratic Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors [...] The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President [...] -- Article 2, Section 1 Official: __________________________ 4. Less Democratic The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof [...] -- Article 1, Section 3 Official: __________________________ 3. More Democratic More Democratic Less Democratic The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof [...] -- Amendment 17 senate Official: __________________________ More Democratic Less Democratic * Bonus: For which official did the process of selection change? Did the process become more or less democratic? Activity  Side C Lessons from Antiquity Name: E. Something to Fear. Philosophers and politicians from all time periods have feared democracy. Why? Read the quotes below to find out. Draw a line to match the quote to each fear it describes. Some may match more than one. Then answer the question that follows. “We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of a dictatorship.” -Alexander Hamilton “Governments appear powerless in the face of such challenges as the Euro crisis, the migration crisis, or the debt crisis. This has set the scene for the resurgence of populism – charismatic individuals or fake prophets promising simplistic solutions to people’s grievances through radical policies that dismiss institutions and laws as either irrelevant or inconvenient.” “[Pure democracies] have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” -James Madison Common Fears: a. DemoCraCy ChaotiC is B. PeoPle Can’t maintain it C. tyrants take over “If there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men.” -Rousseau will -Kofi Annan D. PeoPle will Fall For anything Are these fears still relevant today? Why or why not? “And as long as any survive who have had experience of oligarchical supremacy and domination, they regard their present constitution as a blessing, and hold equality and freedom as of the utmost value. But as soon as a new generation has arisen, and the democracy has descended to their children’s children, long association weakens their value for equality and freedom, and some seek to become more powerful than the ordinary citizens.” -Plutarch Activity  Side D