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California History/Social Science Framework
Standards-based Instructional Content for Grade 12

Grade 12
Strand: American Democracy
12.1.1   Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. Analyze the influence of ancient Greek, Roman, English, and leading European political thinkers such as John Locke, Charles-Louis Montesquieu, Niccolò Machiavelli, and William Blackstone on the development of American government. Greece
The Roman Empire
England
John Locke
Charles-Louis Montesquieu
Nicolo Machiavelli  
12.1.2   Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. Discuss the character of American democracy and its promise and perils as articulated by Alexis de Tocqueville. The Declaration of Independence
The U.S. Constitution  
12.1.3   Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. Explain how the U.S. Constitution reflects a balance between the classical republican concern with promotion of the public good and the classical liberal concern with protecting individual rights; and discuss how the basic premises of liberal constitutionalism and democracy are joined in the Declaration of Independence as "self-evident truths." The U.S. Constitution  
12.1.4   Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. Explain how the Founding Fathers' realistic view of human nature led directly to the establishment of a constitutional system that limited the power of the governors and the governed as articulated in the Federalist Papers. The U.S. Constitution  
12.1.5   Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. Describe the systems of separated and shared powers, the role of organized interests (Federalist Paper Number 10), checks and balances (Federalist Paper Number 51), the importance of an independent judiciary (Federalist Paper Number 78), enumerated powers, rule of law, federalism, and civilian control of the military. The U.S. Constitution  
12.1.6   Students explain the fundamental principles and moral values of American democracy as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and other essential documents of American democracy. Understand that the Bill of Rights limits the powers of the federal government and state governments. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights  
12.2.1   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. Discuss the meaning and importance of each of the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, privacy). The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights  
12.2.2   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. Explain how economic rights are secured and their importance to the individual and to society (e.g., the right to acquire, use, transfer, and dispose of property; right to choose one's work; right to join or not join labor unions; copyright and patent). The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Labor
Patents & Trademarks
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Problem Solving  
12.2.3   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. Discuss the individual's legal obligations to obey the law, serve as a juror, and pay taxes. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Taxes
12.2.4   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. Understand the obligations of civic-mindedness, including voting, being informed on civic issues, volunteering and performing public service, and serving in the military or alternative service. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Voting/Voting Rights
12.2.5   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. Describe the reciprocity between rights and obligations; that is, why enjoyment of one's rights entails respect for the rights of others. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights  
12.2.6   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the scope and limits of rights and obligations as democratic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they are secured. Explain how one becomes a citizen of the United States, including the process of naturalization (e.g., literacy, language, and other requirements). The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Immigration  
12.3.1   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society. Explain how civil society provides opportunities for individuals to associate for social, cultural, religious, economic, and political purposes. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Economics & Business
Politics
Religion & Theology  
12.3.2   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society. Explain how civil society makes it possible for people, individually or in association with others, to bring their influence to bear on government in ways other than voting and elections. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Economics & Business
Politics
Religion & Theology  
12.3.3   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society. Discuss the historical role of religion and religious diversity. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Economics & Business
Politics
Religion & Theology  
12.3.4   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on what the fundamental values and principles of civil society are (i.e., the autonomous sphere of voluntary personal, social, and economic relations that are not part of government), their interdependence, and the meaning and importance of those values and principles for a free society. Compare the relationship of government and civil society in constitutional democracies to the relationship of government and civil society in authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. The U.S. Constitution
The Bill of Rights
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Economics & Business
Politics
Religion & Theology
The Soviet Union
Russia
Nazi Germany  
12.4.1   Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution. Discuss Article I of the Constitution as it relates to the legislative branch, including eligibility for office and lengths of terms of representatives and senators; election to office; the roles of the House and Senate in impeachment proceedings; the role of the vice president; the enumerated legislative powers; and the process by which a bill becomes a law. The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Congress
Law & Legal Resources  
12.4.2   Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution. Explain the process through which the Constitution can be amended. The U.S. Constitution  
12.4.3   Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution. Identify their current representatives in the legislative branch of the national government. The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Congress
The American Presidency
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.4.4   Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution. Discuss Article II of the Constitution as it relates to the executive branch, including eligibility for office and length of term, election to and removal from office, the oath of office, and the enumerated executive powers. The U.S. Constitution
The American Presidency  
12.4.5   Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution. Discuss Article III of the Constitution as it relates to judicial power, including the length of terms of judges and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.4.6   Students analyze the unique roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government as established by the U.S. Constitution. Explain the processes of selection and confirmation of Supreme Court justices. The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.5.1   Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. Understand the changing interpretations of the Bill of Rights over time, including interpretations of the basic freedoms (religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly) articulated in the First Amendment and the due process and equal-protection-of-the-law clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.5.2   Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. Analyze judicial activism and judicial restraint and the effects of each policy over the decades (e.g., the Warren and Rehnquist courts). The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.5.3   Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. Evaluate the effects of the Court's interpretations of the Constitution in Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and United States v. Nixon, with emphasis on the arguments espoused by each side in these cases. The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.5.4   Students summarize landmark U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its amendments. Explain the controversies that have resulted over changing interpretations of civil rights, including those in Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, and United States v. Virginia (VMI). The U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court  
12.6.1   Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. Analyze the origin, development, and role of political parties, noting those occasional periods in which there was only one major party or were more than two major parties. Politics
 
12.6.2   Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. Discuss the history of the nomination process for presidential candidates and the increasing importance of primaries in general elections. Politics
The American Presidency  
12.6.3   Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. Evaluate the roles of polls, campaign advertising, and the controversies over campaign funding. Politics
Propaganda  
12.6.4   Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. Describe the means that citizens use to participate in the political process (e.g., voting, campaigning, lobbying, filing a legal challenge, demonstrating, petitioning, picketing, running for political office). Politics
 
12.6.5   Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. Discuss the features of direct democracy in numerous states (e.g., the process of referendums, recall elections). Politics
 
12.6.6   Students evaluate issues regarding campaigns for national, state, and local elective offices. Analyze trends in voter turnout; the causes and effects of reapportionment and redistricting, with special attention to spatial districting and the rights of minorities; and the function of the Electoral College. Politics
The Electoral College
12.7.1   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Explain how conflicts between levels of government and branches of government are resolved. U.S. Government
State & Local Government  
12.7.2   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Identify the major responsibilities and sources of revenue for state and local governments. U.S. Government
State & Local Government  
12.7.3   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Discuss reserved powers and concurrent powers of state governments. U.S. Government
State & Local Government  
12.7.4   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Discuss the Ninth and Tenth Amendments and interpretations of the extent of the federal government's power. U.S. Government
State & Local Government
The U.S. Constitution  
12.7.5   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Explain how public policy is formed, including the setting of the public agenda and implementation of it through regulations and executive orders. U.S. Government
State & Local Government  
12.7.6   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Compare the processes of lawmaking at each of the three levels of government, including the role of lobbying and the media. U.S. Government
State & Local Government  
12.7.7   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Identify the organization and jurisdiction of federal, state, and local (e.g., California) courts and the interrelationships among them. U.S. Government
State & Local Government
Law & Legal Resources  
12.7.8   Students analyze and compare the powers and procedures of the national, state, tribal, and local governments. Understand the scope of presidential power and decision making through examination of case studies such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, passage of Great Society legislation, War Powers Act, Gulf War, and Bosnia. U.S. Government
The American Presidency
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
The 1991 Gulf War  
12.8.1   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life. Discuss the meaning and importance of a free and responsible press. U.S. Government
The U.S. Constitution
Journalism  
12.8.2   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life. Describe the roles of broadcast, print, and electronic media, including the Internet, as means of communication in American politics. U.S. Government
The U.S. Constitution
Journalism  
12.8.3   Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life. Explain how public officials use the media to communicate with the citizenry and to shape public opinion. U.S. Government
The U.S. Constitution
Journalism  
12.9.1   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Explain how the different philosophies and structures of feudalism, mercantilism, socialism, fascism, communism, monarchies, parliamentary systems, and constitutional liberal democracies influence economic policies, social welfare policies, and human rights practices. U.S. Government
World Government
The Soviet Union
Nazi Germany
Italy  
12.9.2   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Compare the various ways in which power is distributed, shared, and limited in systems of shared powers and in parliamentary systems, including the influence and role of parliamentary leaders (e.g., William Gladstone, Margaret Thatcher). U.S. Government
World Government
England  
12.9.3   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of federal, confederal, and unitary systems of government. U.S. Government
World Government  
12.9.4   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Describe for at least two countries the consequences of conditions that gave rise to tyrannies during certain periods (e.g., Italy, Japan, Haiti, Nigeria, Cambodia). U.S. Government
World Government
Japan
Nigeria
Italy
Haiti
Cambodia  
12.9.5   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Identify the forms of illegitimate power that twentieth-century African, Asian, and Latin American dictators used to gain and hold office and the conditions and interests that supported them. U.S. Government
World Government
Places  
12.9.6   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Identify the ideologies, causes, stages, and outcomes of major Mexican, Central American, and South American revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. U.S. Government
World Government
Mexico
Central/Latin America & the Caribbean
South America  
12.9.7   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Describe the ideologies that give rise to Communism, methods of maintaining control, and the movements to overthrow such governments in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland, including the roles of individuals (e.g., Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Pope John Paul II, Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel). U.S. Government
World Government
Revolutions & Revolutionaries
The Soviet Union
Poland
The Czech Republic
Slovakia  
12.9.8   Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles. Identify the successes of relatively new democracies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the ideas, leaders, and general societal conditions that have launched and sustained, or failed to sustain, them. U.S. Government
World Government
Africa
Central/Latin America & the Caribbean
South America  
12.10   Students formulate questions about and defend their analyses of tensions within our constitutional democracy and the importance of maintaining a balance between the following concepts: majority rule and individual rights; liberty and equality; state and national authority in a federal system; civil disobedience and the rule of law; freedom of the press and the right to a fair trial; the relationship of religion and government. U.S. Government
Civil Rights/Human Rights
Law & Legal Resources
The U.S. Constitution
Religion & Theology  
Strand: Economics
12.1.1   Students understand common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning. Examine the causal relationship between scarcity and the need for choices. Economics & Business  
12.1.2   Students understand common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning. Explain opportunity cost and marginal benefit and marginal cost. Economics & Business  
12.1.3   Students understand common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning. Identify the difference between monetary and nonmonetary incentives and how changes in incentives cause changes in behavior. Economics & Business  
12.1.4   Students understand common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning. Evaluate the role of private property as an incentive in conserving and improving scarce resources, including renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. Economics & Business
Earth & Environmental Science
Endangered Species  
12.1.5   Students understand common economic terms and concepts and economic reasoning. Analyze the role of a market economy in establishing and preserving political and personal liberty (e.g., through the works of Adam Smith). Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.1   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Understand the relationship of the concept of incentives to the law of supply and the relationship of the concept of incentives and substitutes to the law of demand. Economics & Business  
12.2.2   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Discuss the effects of changes in supply and/or demand on the relative scarcity, price, and quantity of particular products. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.3   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Explain the roles of property rights, competition, and profit in a market economy. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.4   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Explain how prices reflect the relative scarcity of goods and services and perform the allocative function in a market economy. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.5   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Understand the process by which competition among buyers and sellers determines a market price. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.6   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Describe the effect of price controls on buyers and sellers. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.7   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Analyze how domestic and international competition in a market economy affects goods and services produced and the quality, quantity, and price of those products. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.8   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Explain the role of profit as the incentive to entrepreneurs in a market economy. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.9   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Describe the functions of the financial markets. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.2.10   Students analyze the elements of America's market economy in a global setting. Discuss the economic principles that guide the location of agricultural production and industry and the spatial distribution of transportation and retail facilities. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments  
12.3.1   Students analyze the influence of the federal government on the American economy. Understand how the role of government in a market economy often includes providing for national defense, addressing environmental concerns, defining and enforcing property rights, attempting to make markets more competitive, and protecting consumers' rights. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments
U.S. Government  
12.3.2   Students analyze the influence of the federal government on the American economy. Identify the factors that may cause the costs of government actions to outweigh the benefits. Economics & Business
Markets & Investments
U.S. Government  
12.3.3   Students analyze the influence of the federal government on the American economy. Describe the aims of government fiscal policies (taxation, borrowing, spending) and their influence on production, employment, and price levels. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Taxes
12.3.4   Students analyze the influence of the federal government on the American economy. Understand the aims and tools of monetary policy and their influence on economic activity (e.g., the Federal Reserve). Economics & Business
U.S. Government  
12.4.1   Students analyze the elements of the U.S. labor market in a global setting. Understand the operations of the labor market, including the circumstances surrounding the establishment of principal American labor unions, procedures that unions use to gain benefits for their members, the effects of unionization, the minimum wage, and unemployment insurance. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.4.2   Students analyze the elements of the U.S. labor market in a global setting. Describe the current economy and labor market, including the types of goods and services produced, the types of skills workers need, the effects of rapid technological change, and the impact of international competition. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.4.3   Students analyze the elements of the U.S. labor market in a global setting. Discuss wage differences among jobs and professions, using the laws of demand and supply and the concept of productivity. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.4.4   Students analyze the elements of the U.S. labor market in a global setting. Explain the effects of international mobility of capital and labor on the U.S. economy. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.5.1   Students analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. Distinguish between nominal and real data. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.5.2   Students analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. Define, calculate, and explain the significance of an unemployment rate, the number of new jobs created monthly, an inflation or deflation rate, and a rate of economic growth. Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.5.3   Students analyze the aggregate economic behavior of the U.S. economy. Distinguish between short-term and long-term interest rates and explain their relative significance. Economics & Business  
12.6.1   Students analyze issues of international trade and explain how the U.S. economy affects, and is affected by, economic forces beyond the United States's borders. Identify the gains in consumption and production efficiency from trade, with emphasis on the main products and changing geographic patterns of twentieth-century trade among countries in the Western Hemisphere. International Trade
Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.6.2   Students analyze issues of international trade and explain how the U.S. economy affects, and is affected by, economic forces beyond the United States's borders. Compare the reasons for and the effects of trade restrictions during the Great Depression compared with present-day arguments among labor, business, and political leaders over the effects of free trade on the economic and social interests of various groups of Americans. International Trade
Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.6.3   Students analyze issues of international trade and explain how the U.S. economy affects, and is affected by, economic forces beyond the United States's borders. Understand the changing role of international political borders and territorial sovereignty in a global economy. International Trade
Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  
12.6.4   Students analyze issues of international trade and explain how the U.S. economy affects, and is affected by, economic forces beyond the United States's borders. Explain foreign exchange, the manner in which exchange rates are determined, and the effects of the dollar's gaining (or losing) value relative to other currencies. International Trade
Economics & Business
U.S. Government
Labor  


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This guide last edited 08/07/2004
This guide last revised 08/07/2004
This guide created 08/07/2004