Competency One:

Understanding of the basic principles and practices of American democracy and how they are applied in our republican form of government

Students should be able to identify, explain, interpret, and apply the principles and practices of American democracy and the republican form of government. Click the hyperlinks for relevant CPALMS references where applicable.

Which basic principles and practices should students be familiar with?

1. The Social Contract
   1. Locke and Consent of the Governed
2. Checks and Balances/Separation of Powers
   1. Montesquieu and limited government
   2. motivations, purpose, and practice, with a demonstrated understanding of constitutional implications and role
3. Rule of Law
   1. essential component of democratic government
      1. limits on the use of power by government
4. Due Process
   1. Fair procedures within the boundaries of the law
   2. the justice system and how the justice system works
5. Equality under the Law
   1. equal treatment and equal protection without the guarantee of equal outcomes
6. Popular Sovereignty
   1. government is created by and subject to the will of the people
      1. connect these ideas to the founding documents
         1. the concept of “We the People”, etc.
7. Natural Rights and Natural Law
   1. as understood by the Founders and seen in our founding documents
8. Federalism
   1. what does federalism look like in theory and in practice
   2. how federalism has influenced the development of the United States government
9. Individual Liberty
   1. the importance of political and religious liberty to the Founders
   2. what religious liberty looks like over time and in contemporary practice
10.  Republicanism and Representative Democratic Government
    1. the constitutional guarantee of a republican (representative) form of government for each state
    2. origins of the ideas of democracy and the republic
    3. differences between republican and democratic (small “r”, small “d”) forms of government
    4. how the United States functions as a constitutional republic
       1. why the Founders did not favor a purely democratic form of government
11.  Constitutionalism
    1. adherence to a constitutional form of government
    2. philosophical and practical foundations
12.  Majority Rule and Minority Rights
    1. constitutional and practical applications
13.  Equal Protection
    1. its meaning and practice under the Constitution and associated amendments
14.  Bill of Rights and the Protections of Civil Rights and Liberties
    1. what the Bill of Rights looks like in historical and contemporary practice
    2. reasons for and ways in which rights and liberties guaranteed under the Bill of Rights may be limited
15.  Elections
    1. the importance of free, fair, and secure elections
    2. how elections work at the state and federal levels