assignment on government

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Interactive Teaching Unit: How to Use the 3 Branches of Government Materials

There are 5 main focal areas to these teaching materials:

Our Three Branches of Government and Balance of Power

Legislative Branch

Executive Branch

Judicial Branch

Each area has background information, activities and projects. Each area provides Internet links to other sites where information may be obtained for student research. We have provided two formats for teaching using these materials. The first is a DAILY SCHEDULE FORMAT and the second is PROJECT FOCUS FORMAT.

DAILY SCHEDULE FORMAT:

The entire unit could be taught as a 3 week (15 days) government focus, or separated into sections that fit areas of your curriculum as needed. A suggested schedule is listed below for the 3 week course including the Cabinet project. Suggest having students do the  How a Bill Becomes a Law  file folder game as an ongoing review activity.

DAY 1:  Students use the computer lab and access the site. Read  3 Branches of Our Government . Print off the accompanying worksheet and fill in the blanks as individuals or partners. Discuss in class together the main points and have students check their own worksheets and correct them. Keep these for review.

DAY 2 : Students use the computer lab and access the site. Read  The Legislative Branch  and  The House of Representatives  and complete the tasks as individuals or partners using the suggested web sites. Print off the  The Legislative Branch  worksheet and have students fill in the blanks.

DAY 3 : Review the Legislative Branch worksheet. Students check and correct their own work. Save this sheet for review. Review responses to House of Representatives tasks. Students use the computer lab and access the site. Students work in partners to read and complete tasks on  The Senate--Voice of the States . Print off  Questions for the Senate--Voice of the States . Students complete activities together. However, each student writes a report in his/her own words on one of the five famous senators listed.

DAY 4:  Review work from Day 3. Students keep corrected pages for review and read their senator report to a partner. Students spend time in the computer lab reviewing the sites suggested on  United States Capitol . Students then access the site  How A Bill Becomes a Law  and complete activities. Play in partners the folder game How a Bill Becomes a Law ( see games and puzzles section)  Print off the following as homework assignments:  Congress - Courts--Keeping the Balance ;  Congress - President--Keeping the Balance .

DAY 5:  Check homework. Print off  The Executive Branch  and run off copies for class. Print  What a President Can and Cannot Do  and make this a transparency.

Brainstorm with students about what they think a President's powers are. List these on board or overhead. Pass out the  The Executive Branch . Read together and discuss. Use the transparency you have made and have students compare this list with what is on the chart. Students come to the front to mark off the chart duties listed there that are not correct. Print off both the information sheet and worksheet  The Judicial Branch  and use as a homework assignment. Print off  Government Crossword Puzzle  and have students complete this at home.

DAY 6:  Check homework. Print off both the information sheet and worksheet  The Balance of Government  and do this in class. Review together in groups the worksheets they have saved and quiz each other over the material. Homework assignment: Each student writes a fill in the blank test of fifteen questions and a separate answer sheet. Answers -  https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/three-branches/balance-of-government-answers

DAY 7:  Students trade quizzes and answer them. Return to author and have them graded. Collect. Students get points for level of test questions submitted and their answers on the other test.

Give essay quiz over material presented. (Allow students to use their notes.) Essay possibilities are suggested below:

• Describe how a Congress can check a President.
• Describe why the job of a Supreme Court Justice is so important and powerful.
• Describe in detail which job you would prefer and why: President, Senator, Representative, or Supreme Court Justice. Use facts from your information sheets.
• Draw a diagram or picture showing the three branches of government and the main focus of what each one does.

DAY 8:  Cabinet Focus: Students use the computer lab. Access site and go to part called  Why Does the President Need a Cabinet? . Students read and complete activities. Then have students go to:  The President's Cabinet-Who are the Secretaries? . Have them read the list and access the listed web site to complete activity. Compare and report on answers.

DAY 9:  Cabinet Focus: Student use the computer lab. Go to web site and access  Cabinet Web Sites  information page. Divide into partners. Each partner group will prepare a report on one Cabinet department. See guidelines under  Cabinet Department Presentation . Suggest giving 2 days to complete.

DAY 10 & 11:  Students work on project.

DAY 12 & 13:  Project presentations. Students watching take notes on fellow classmates' presentations. Homework assignment: Study notes.

DAY 14:  Quick quiz over departments. Suggest writing role or area of focus and having student write the name of the department next to it. Do twenty questions so some departments have more than one blank.

DAY 15:  May do  "A Cabinet Meeting"  activity.

PROJECT FOCUS FORMAT: (15 days)

Students are given 4 days to complete all the activity pages and on-line tasks for each of the three branches and balance of power plus Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branch activity pages. Students may work in partners or individually. Students are given lab time and the teacher serves as the advisor and facilitator. However, students are expected to do some sections as homework. Students keep all work in an electronic or paper copy portfolio for future checking and presentation.

On the fifth day, questions and activities are checked in groups of four. Teacher roams around meeting with each group discussing their questions and which answers were being debated. Students make corrections so that they will have accurate information for the upcoming project. Introduce the "Teach Another Class Project" and decide on scoring guide.

Projects and Presentations:

Teach Another Class About What They Have Learned: (3 days preparation + 1 day presentation)

Students are divided into six groups (four each), two groups are assigned the Legislative Branch, two groups are assigned the Executive Branch, and two groups are assigned the Judicial Branch. Each group summarizes materials studied the first 5 days and conducts additional research on-line. Then each group designs a chart, backboard, PowerPoint presentation, a series of colorful overheads, or other format to teach another class about their subject. Arrange for students to make presentations to two classes. One set of three groups (Legislative, Executive, Judicial) presents to each class. Each group must time their presentation and keep it to ten minutes. Develop a scoring guide as a class to determine criteria for presentation. Students do a trial run for teacher before going "on the road" with their presentation.

Cabinet Project: (3 days preparation = 2 days presentation)

Students divide into partners for the Cabinet Project (see above). They are given 3 days to complete the project and 2 days are provided for presentations.

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Classroom Activities and Project Ideas for American Government, Forming a New Nation

These are classroom activities and project ideas for kids and teachers to use in your American History Unit Study of Forming a New Nation, the creation of a new government - Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and 3 Branches of Government. These activities and projects can be adjusted for any grade. We hope you'll find some ideas you can use.

Inquiry Project : Why did the new nation want a different form of government from British rule?

Inquiry Project: What are some of the challenges that faced the new nation and what did they do about it?

Donn, Group Activity: Building the Constitution (middle school and high school): Prepare a handout prior to class that is a list of things not found in the Constitution, but do not tell your students that these things are not in the Constitution.  http://www.usconstitution.net/constnot.html . Pass out the list. As a class activity, ask students what is and what is not, in the Constitution from this list. Take a class vote (by show of hands) on each item on the list and post the yes or no vote (majority rules) on your blackboard, whiteboard, or overhead next to the item on the list. THEN, hand out copies of the Constitution. Move students into groups. Assign each group 5 or 6 items to find in the Constitution from your list. Allow 20 - 30 minutes for search. Have each group report their findings. Some groups may think they have found reference to the list item(s) you assigned them. But actually, none of the items on the list can be found in the Constitution. It's amazing what is not there. Conclude activity by having each group come up with one or two things that they believe should have been included in the constitution that were not. Give them a few minutes. Then have each group share their ideas. Prior to lesson 2, list all or some of the items the groups believed should have been included on the original constitution. Have that list ready as a handout prior to lesson 2. Lesson 2: Building the Constitution: Activity: Amendments, the Bill of Rights

Donn, Mock Trial Activity: The Big Bad Wolf on Trial (middle and high school):  Explain to the kids that a mock trial is a pretend trial. In our classroom, we put the big bad wolf on trial every year for the murder of little red riding hood, with one trial per class. Start with: The Story of Little Red Riding Hood from the Kids Academy  because it has a happy ending. Or adjust for any story you chose about Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. Next, I share with the kids this true story: In one class (not ours unfortunately) the key witness for the prosecution stated that he saw the big bad wolf slip a bloody knife into his jacket pocket and then saw the big bad wolf run away from little red riding hood's house. The student who was acting the part of the defense attorney looked up quickly. She grabbed the "wolf's" jacket that had been introduced as evidence by the prosecuting attorney a little earlier in the trial, and asked the witness: "Is this the jacket?" The witness said yes. She handed the jacket to the witness and said: "Could you show me which pocket please?" The witness hunted but could find NO pocket in the jacket! Without evidence, the jury had no choice but to find the wolf innocent of all wrong doing! At the conclusion of the trial, this class gave the defense attorney a standing ovation! It's important to include this story because the kids are more aware of the importance of witness testimony, of evidence, and how you might discredit a witness and/or evidence. After you share this story, organize your class in prep for your own mock trial activity. If they need help in their small group, remind them to ask themselves - what if the witness says .... and prep from there. Assign roles, but that's it. The kids will run with it. It takes some prep, but this lesson is a winner.

Donn, Local Government Simulation:

Simulate a Mid-Atlantic town meeting, called to discuss problems of the diverse backgrounds of townspeople.

Preparation: Create several personalities, one each on a 3×5 card. Include background, occupation, etc., per card.

Put the cards in a hat. Have the kids each draw a card.

Stay in character. 2 day activity.

Inquiry Project: Can the structure of the U.S. government prevent a dictatorship?

Inquiry Project: What happens when a state does not want to follow federal law?

Inquiry Project: Is voting worth the time?

Role Play Activity: Separation of Power, Who's Got the Power?

Simulation: Separation of Power, What's for Lunch? handout and What's for Lunch?

Group Activity: 3 Branches of Government, the Power Grab Game

Group Activity, Class Competition: Claim your powers!

Inquiry Based Project: What makes a good president?

Projects: US Civics and Constitution Projects - an interesting and long of ideas

Americans experiment with types of government in the Articles of Confederation

Choose Your Own Adventure from over 70 different classroom activities and possible assignments

American Government Lesson Plans with Classroom Activities - Declaration, Constitution, Bill of Rights, 3 Branches and more

American Government Free Interactive Games

American Government Powerpoints

American Government for Kids

Guidelines for Conducting a Mock Trial in the Classroom

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AP®︎/College US Government and Politics

Unit 1: foundations of american democracy, unit 2: interactions among branches of government, unit 3: civil liberties and civil rights, unit 4: american political ideologies and beliefs, unit 5: political participation, unit 6: about this ap us government and politics course, unit 7: resources and exam preparation.

25 Essay Topics for American Government Classes

Writing Ideas That Will Make Students Think

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If you are a teacher searching for essay topics to assign to your U.S. government or civics class or looking for ideas, do not fret. It is easy to integrate debates and discussions into the classroom environment. These topic suggestions provide a wealth of ideas for written assignments such as  position papers , compare-and-contrast essays , and  argumentative essays . Scan the following 25 question topics and ideas to find just the right one. You'll soon be reading interesting papers from your students after they grapple with these challenging and important issues.

• Compare and contrast what is a direct democracy versus representative democracy. 
• React to the following statement: Democratic decision-making should be extended to all areas of life including schools, the workplace, and the government. 
• Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans. Explain how these led to the Great Compromise .
• Pick one thing about the U.S. Constitution including its amendments that you think should be changed. What modifications would you make? Explain your reasons for making this change.
• What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants?" Do you think that this statement still applies to today's world? 
• Compare and contrast mandates and conditions of aid regarding the federal government's relationship with states. For example, how has the Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered support to states and commonwealths that have experienced natural disasters?
• Should individual states have more or less power compared to the federal government when implementing laws dealing with topics such as the legalization of marijuana  and abortion ? 
• Outline a program that would get more people to vote in presidential elections or local elections.
• What are the dangers of gerrymandering when it comes to voting and presidential elections?
• Compare and contrast the major political parties in the United States. What policies are they preparing for upcoming elections?
• Why would voters choose to vote for a third party, even though they know that their candidate has virtually no chance of winning? 
• Describe the major sources of money that are donated to political campaigns. Check out the Federal Election Regulatory Commission's website for information.
• Should corporations be treated as individuals regarding being allowed to donate to political campaigns?  Look at the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling on the issue. Defend your answer. 
• Explain the role of social media in connecting interest groups that have grown stronger as the major political parties have grown weaker. 
• Explain why the media has been called the fourth branch of government. Include your opinion on whether this is an accurate portrayal.
• Compare and contrast the campaigns of U.S. Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
• Should term limits be instituted for members of Congress? Explain your answer.
• Should members of Congress vote their conscience or follow the will of the people who elected them into office? Explain your answer.
• Explain how executive orders have been used by presidents throughout the history of the U.S. What is the number of executive orders issued by the current president?
• In your opinion, which of the three branches of the federal government has the most power? Defend your answer.
• Which of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment do you consider the most important? Explain your answer. 
• Should a school be required to get a warrant before searching a student's property? Defend your answer. 
• Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail? What kind of campaign could be run to see it passed?
• Explain how the 14th Amendment has affected civil liberties in the United States from the time of its passage at the end of the Civil War.
• Do you think that the federal government has enough, too much or just the right amount of power? Defend your answer.
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Lesson 1: Starting a Government from Scratch

Statue of John Hanson by Richard E. Brooks in the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building, Washington, D.C.

Architect of the Capitol

At the time the Founders were shaping the future of a new country, John Adams suggested the President should be addressed as “His Excellency.” Happily, others recognized that such a title was inappropriate. Though the proper form of address represents only a small detail, defining everything about the Presidency was central to the idea of America that was a work-in-progress when the nation was young.

Guiding Questions

What actions are necessary in order to start a new government?

What would one of the major concerns be in preserving the new government and country?

What should be the role of the leader or president of the country?

Learning Objectives

Describe the role of the government and the president in establishing a new country.

Describe some of the actions the government bodies would probably take to ensure order and security.

List some of the challenges and problems, as well as accomplishments that might occur in forming a new government.

Lesson Plan Details

NCSS.D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.

NCSS.D2.His.2.6-8. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.

NCSS.D2.His.3.6-8. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.

NCSS.D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.12.6-8. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to identify further areas of inquiry and additional sources.

NCSS.D2.His.15.6-8. Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past. 

NCSS. D2.His.16.6-8. Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past.

Activity 1. Starting a Government From Scratch

Begin the discussion by asking students if anyone in their families ever makes a “to do list.” Talk about such lists.

Ask students to think carefully about what the Founders had to do to start a brand new country, which officially began with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781. Imagine you've just formed a new country. Brainstorm a list of actions the Continental Congress would probably take in starting a new country. Consider the many kinds of things a government does.

"The exceeding narrow limits to which the possessions of the enemy (the British) are confined by a series of the most judicious and fortunate operations, must be the source of infinite discontent and an inconceivable mortification to their unbounded ambition and intolerable pride; at the same time that it affords every Friend to his Country singular Joy and satisfaction. Nothing can be a more convincing proof of their weakness and hopeless situation, than the base unworthy acts they are practicing and the infamous means they have recourse to, in order to support themselves in their diminishing Conquests and distress us. But I hope every practicable measure will be adopted to defeat their wicked designs. The partial failure of their attempt to embody (enlist) the Tories I consider as a favorable Omen; and as to the Negroes, (the British are trying to convert them to) inhuman purposes. ... But with respect to the savages (Native Americans), every precaution within our power should be used to render the plans of our enemy ineffectual."

"… the Battle of Blue Licks, in the Appalachian west, the British and their Indian allies, the Wyandot, Ottawa, Ojibwa, Shawnee, Mingo, and Delaware inflict heavy casualties and force the retreat of Daniel Boone and the Kentucky militia. In response, George Rogers Clark leads Kentucky militia on an expedition against the British into Ohio country. These are often considered the last formal engagements of the Revolutionary War."

• The class should also consider the ways the government helps out with activities Americans do every day, such as going to schools supported and regulated by the government, spending money coined by the government, riding on roads maintained by the government, paying taxes for the government's use, sending and receiving mail, and so on.

"The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority … to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction -- to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years."

Guiding Discussion Questions

• What “rules” applied to the President under the Articles of Confederation? ( The responsibility to preside over Congress's meetings, a one-year term, only one term in any three-year period, and nothing else specific in the way of powers or responsibilities .)
• What does it mean to preside over a meeting?
• What responsibilities does that task entail?
• What power could that give the person who presides?
• If the term of the President was set at one year, and a candidate could only be elected for that one-year term once every three years, how would those requirements most likely affect the power of the President?

More information on the Articles of Confederation, intended specifically for students in grades 6-8, is available on Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids: The Articles of Confederation , a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library.

Write down and save all of students' ideas about what was on the minds of the Founders as they started the new nation. We know what was on some of their "to do lists" because records were kept of what happened in the Continental Congress. In Lesson Two , students will review the Journals of the Continental Congress to find out what was really on the Founders' “to do lists.”

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• John Hanson to Nathanael Greene, January 29, 1782
• Last engagements of the Revolutionary War
• The Articles of Confederation

Related on EDSITEment

Lesson 2: the "to do list" of the continental congress, lesson 3: lost hero: was john hanson actually the first president, before and beyond the constitution: what should a president do.

Chapter 1: American Government and Civic Engagement

Chapter 1 Review

Chapter summary 1.1, what is government ( link to section 1.1 ).

Government provides stability to society, as well as many crucial services such as free public education, police and fire services, and mail delivery. It also regulates access to common goods, such as public land, for the benefit of all. Government creates a structure whereby people can make their needs and opinions known to public officials. This is one of the key factors that makes the United States a representative democracy. A country where people elect representatives to make political decisions for them depends on the ability and willingness of ordinary people to make their voices known, unlike an oligarchy dominated by only a small group of people.

RECALL KEY TERMS

Check your understanding, think critically.

What does government do for people?

CHAPTER SUMMARY 1.2

Who governs elitism, pluralism, and tradeoffs ( link to section 1.2 ).

Many question whether politicians are actually interested in the needs of average citizens and debate how much influence ordinary people have over what government does. Those who support the elite theory of government argue that a small, wealthy, powerful elite controls government and makes policy to benefit its members and perpetuate their power. Others favor the pluralist theory, which maintains that groups representing the people’s interests do attract the attention of politicians and can influence government policy. In reality, government policy usually is the result of a series of tradeoffs as groups and elites fight with one another for influence and politicians attempt to balance the demands of competing interests, including the interests of the constituents who elected them to office.

CHAPTER SUMMARY 1.3

Engagement in a democracy ( link to section 1.3 ).

Civic and political engagement allows politicians to know how the people feel. It also improves people’s lives and helps them to build connections with others. Individuals can educate themselves on important issues and events, write to their senator or representative, file a complaint at city hall, attend a political rally, or vote. People can also work in groups to campaign or raise funds for a candidate, volunteer in the community, or protest a social injustice or an unpopular government policy. Although wealthier, older, more highly educated citizens are the most likely to be engaged with their government, especially if they have intense preferences about an issue, younger, less wealthy people can do much to change their communities and their country.

What kinds of people are most likely to become active in politics or community service?

What political activities can people engage in other than running for office?

American Government (3e - Third Edition) Copyright © by OpenStax and Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Introduction

Chapter outline.

When U.S. citizens think of governmental power, they most likely think of the presidency. The framers of the Constitution, however, clearly intended that Congress would be the cornerstone of the new republic. After years of tyranny under a king, they had little interest in creating another system with an overly powerful single individual at the top. Instead, while recognizing the need for centralization in terms of a stronger national government with an elected executive wielding its own authority, those at the Constitutional Convention wanted a strong representative assembly at the national level that would use careful consideration, deliberate action, and constituent representation to carefully draft legislation to meet the needs of the new republic. Thus, Article I of the Constitution grants several key powers to Congress, which include overseeing the budget and all financial matters, introducing legislation, confirming or rejecting judicial and executive nominations, and even declaring war.

Today, however, Congress is the institution most criticized by the public, and the most misunderstood. How exactly does Capitol Hill operate ( Figure 11.1 )? What are the different structures and powers of the House of Representatives and the Senate? How are members of Congress elected? How do they reach their decisions about legislation, budgets, and military action? This chapter addresses these aspects and more as it explores “the first branch” of government.

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• Authors: Glen Krutz, Sylvie Waskiewicz, PhD
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: American Government 3e
• Publication date: Jul 28, 2021
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/american-government-3e/pages/1-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/american-government-3e/pages/11-introduction

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15 Activities & Websites to Teach Kids About the Branches of Government

Teach the legislative, executive, and judicial branches!

More than ever, our country is examining the laws that were put in place to protect and guide us. It can be overwhelming, however, to explain exactly how that works. To help you give your lesson plans a boost, we’ve put together this list of resources that help teach kids about the branches of government.

Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!

1. Three Branches of Government Lesson Plan

This official guide to the United States government teaches students about the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Use it to identify checks and balances, the groups that make up each group, and more!

2. The 3 Branches of Government at a Glance

This great chart provides a simple overview to teach kids about the branches of government. Discuss it and then use to build an anchor chart!

3. What is Congress?

This site includes a glossary as well as a teacher’s area filled with resources, activities, and lesson plans. 

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4. Three Branches of Government Activity Book

This mini book will transform your social studies block. It breaks down the information your students need to know and makes learning about the three branches of government fun.

5. Branches of Government

How does our government run? In this BrainPOP movie, Tim and Moby introduce kids to the three different branches of the United States government.

6. 3 Branches of Government Activities

This hands-on activity set comes in digital and printable formats to teach students all about the checks and balances of the Three Branches of the U.S. Government

7. Kids Academy — 3 Branches of Government

This short video teaches kids about the branches of government in under five minutes!

8. Federal Government of the United States Facts for Kids

Quick facts about the federal government of the United States.

9. Our Government: The Three Branches

Students will build literacy skills and social studies content knowledge as they learn about the three branches of government and the purpose of this separation of powers. 

10. 3 Branches of Government Activity & US History Research

These pennant posters are perfect for a quick interactive activity to study the US Branches. Your students will love researching and studying.

11. . Fast Fact: Branches of Government

This brief overview includes a helpful graphic to give kids a visual representation of how the branches of government work together. 

12. Three Branches of Government Activity Pack & Flip Book

This no-prep activity pack about the Three Branches of Government has it all with leveled reading passages, vocabulary posters, and a flipbook!

13. What Are the Branches of Government?

Kids can easily navigate this simplified site to learn more about the three branches of government.

14. Three Branches of Government Activities

This resource contains an activity for distance learning for students to input their responses in answer boxes and to use other tools to draw and highlight. 

15. Branches Of Government Poster Set

Teach kids all about how the U.S. Government operates with this Branches of Government Poster Set featuring live photography and the main duties of each branch. 

Plus check out 18 Books About Elections for Kids of Every Age (& Lesson Ideas!) .

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Legislative Branch

Understanding Federalism

Each of the five activities in this lesson introduces a different aspect of federalism. Introducing Federalism explores everyday situations that demonstrate the influence of federalism. The Historic Roots of Federalism shows students how the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution are grounded in federalism. Federalism in the Constitution explores federalism as described in Article I of the Constitution. Federalism in History uses historic legislation to illustrate how the relationship between the Federal government and the states has changed over time. Federalism in Everyday Life uses everyday experience to show the overlap among the different levels of government. The activities can be completed separately over the course of several classes.

Students will learn about federalism and its role in civic life by completing one or more of the activities.

Guiding Question

What is federalism, and how does this constitutional principle influence government and civic life in the United States?

6 Worksheets

Answer Keys

Recommended Grade Levels

Civics; U.S. Government

Time Required

Each activity requires approximately 30 minutes to complete. Activity 5 has two optional parts which can be done in class or as homework assignments.

Learning Activities

Activity 1: Introducing Federalism

• What is the definition of federalism? A system of government divided among local, state, and national responsibilities.
• Why is federalism an important civic concept to understand? People encounter and interact with different levels of government—local, state, and Federal—every day.
• Distribute Worksheet 1. Instruct each student to use the definitions for each term to fill out the remaining two columns. The column for "Visual Representation" should be completed with an illustration showing the level of government and what it presides over. (E.g., a representation of the Federal government presiding over the states.) Check the students' work using the Worksheet 1 Answer Key.
• Distribute Worksheet 2. Instruct each student to answer the questions, write the explanation called for, and fill out the diagram following the directions on the worksheet. Check the students' work using the Worksheet 2 Answer Key.

Activity 2: The Historic Roots of Federalism

• Federalism has not had one set definition throughout history, because the idea of the appropriate balance of authority among the local, state, and Federal governments has changed over time.
• Federalism is not specifically defined in the Constitution, but its meaning is suggested in how the national government is described.
• How is the role of the states different in the two preambles? Under the Articles of Confederation the states were partners in the union and had power over the action of the Federal government. The relationship of the states to the Federal government was not mentioned in the Preamble of the Constitution.
• Does the difference in the role of the states suggest a change in the meaning of federalism? Federalism under the Articles of Confederation meant that all states had to agree to each action of the Federal government in order for the Federal government to act. The role of the states and their relationship is not spelled out in the Preamble of the Constitution.

Activity 3: Federalism in the Constitution

• Discuss the concept of enumerated powers (powers granted to the Federal government), denied powers, and reserved power in the Constitution.
• Distribute Worksheet 4. Instruct the students to read the excerpt from the Constitution, and label each power as either E for enumerated power, D for denied power, or R for reserved power. Check the students' work using the Worksheet 4 Answer Key.
• Conduct a class discussion on the following question to check the students' understanding: (A suggested answer is italicized following the question.)
• Which clause of Article I, Section 8 do you think has the greatest influence on the discussion of Federalism? The answers can vary, but the most solid case might be made for Article I, Section 8 "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."
• The Tenth Amendment does not list any specific powers. What does that mean? The Tenth Amendment broadly says that all powers not given to the national government are reserved for the states and the people. This leaves the meaning of reserved powers open to interpretation.
• In what ways might the Tenth Amendment influence the interpretation of the Enumerated Powers? The Tenth Amendment suggests that the states have undefined powers reserved to them. Determining the extent of the authority reserved to the states by this amendment has been a long-running debate in U.S. history.

Activity 4: Federalism in History

• Introduce the students to the idea that the balance of authority between the Federal government and the states has shifted at different times in American history.
• Explain how legislation can grant new authority or responsibility to Federal, state, or local government.
• Distribute Worksheets 5. This worksheet presents two famous acts of legislation that changed the balance of authority between the Federal government and the states during the 20th century. Each example invites an assessment of the balance of authority over a topic. Check the students' work using the Worksheet 5 Answer Key.

Activity 5: Federalism in Everyday Life

• Remind the students of how Worksheet 2 illustrated the overlap among the levels of government. Explain that, as a consequence, we often see examples in everyday life that demonstrate the overlapping authority of different levels of government.
• Distribute Worksheet 6 to the students. Completing this worksheet will illustrate how federalism is encountered every day, and how the responsibilities of the three levels of government are interconnected.

Optional Activity

• The optional activity printed on page two of Worksheet 6 invites the students to identify how they experience the constitutional concept of federalism in everyday life.
• Ask the students to present their experience of federalism to the class by making a PowerPoint, poster, or video.

Additional Resources

Did you like this lesson? Educators who used this lesson also viewed:

• Teaching Six Big Ideas in the Constitution - Students engage in a study of the U.S. Constitution and the significance of six big ideas contained in it: limited government; republicanism; checks and balances; federalism; separation of powers; and popular sovereignty.

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Lesson Plan

July 29, 2020, 8:54 a.m.

Lesson plan: Civic engagement and how students can get involved

What rights and abilities do you have as a U.S. citizen when it comes to advocating for issues you believe in? Use the lesson plan below to discuss civic engagement and the role citizens play in making our voices heard.

U.S. government, civics, social studies

Estimated Time

Grade level.

Middle and High School

To understand the importance of civic participation and the tools which allow individuals to engage in the political process.

Essential Questions

What forms does civic participation come in? Why does civic engagement matter?

• Ask students how many historical political movements they can name that accomplished significant and transformative change in the United States or elsewhere. Make a list as a class.
• Show the We the Voters video below on the rights to free speech, free assembly and petitioning the government and how the U.S. Constitution guarantees them.

• Why have individuals in U.S. history come together in order to protest an issue they care about? It is important to note that not everyone feels comfortable with the idea of participating in a political protest. What are some other ways to get involved in addition to protests? Make a list as a class. ( Examples: Serve the community through charity, run for office in your town or city, attend town hall meetings, contact your state legislature to voice your opinion, organize a community event, etc.)
• Show this We the Voters video, Run Rep Run , on one young person’s run for office on the state level.

• Ask students: Would you ever consider running for office one day? Why or why not? What are some issues in their own community that students feel passionate about? Which issues affect their lives directly? Make a list as a class.
• Have you ever “gotten involved” in an issue you care about? (Examples: attended an inauguration, protest, town hall meeting, or other political event, contacted a politician, signed a petition, etc.)
• What is one issue, local or national, that you care about? Why?
• Who did you interview and why?
• What did you learn about the person you interviewed that you did not know?
• What surprised you?
• Why is it important to talk with others about issues that matter? Why is it important to talk with others on issues that you may not agree on?
• Ask students if they know who the governor of their state is, as well as any names of senators or representatives that represent them at the state and national level.
• Use this website to look up the information as a class.
• How many senators does each state have? How many representatives does each state have? How many governors does each state have?
• What is the difference between federal and state government?
• What are the three branches of the federal government? Which positions are under each branch? Use this diagram to demonstrate.

• Students should pick one of the representatives or senators from their state that they looked up in class.
• Then, look up that person’s vote on any given bill in the state legislature or Congress. Write down what the bill was about and how the lawmaker voted on it. Be prepared to share in class.
• Students should research and record 5 facts about their current state governor. Avoid facts about personal life. Focus on things like what bills they have signed into law, what legislation have they been most vocal about, accomplishments, political affiliation, etc. Be prepared to share in class.
• Possible responses: research news articles online, look at the government ‘bill tracker’ website which states the status of bills-every state has one, write an email or call your representative’s office voicing your opinion on a issue–note: lawmakers have moved with the times when it comes to communicating with their constituents. Writing a letter through the U.S. postal service is no longer the way the majority of constituents communicate with their legislators.

Extension Activities

• Check out these “Seven engaging civics lesson plans” on EXTRA and PBS Learning Media’s Election Collection here.
• Use the website iCivics as a fun, interactive way to learn about government.

By Victoria Pasquantonio, education editor at PBS NewsHour and former social studies teacher, and Laura Rockefeller, a junior at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, Maryland and NewsHour Extra intern.

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State and Local Governments

Students will explore the concept of federalism, from the powers held by the federal government to the powers reserved for the states. They will also learn about state government structures and functions, the state-level lawmaking process, and discover local governments, including county, municipal, and tribal governments. 

State government resources were created with support from the State Government Affairs Council. Local government resources were created with support from the National Association of Counties.

Choose Grade Level:

• Middle School
• High School

Counties Work

Who Represents Me?

States rule, cast your vote, state power: got a reservation.

The Capable County

County basics, the great state, county contributions (infographic).

County Government (HS)

Municipal government (hs), tribal government (hs), state legislatures (hs), state executive branch (hs), see how it all fits together.

Introductory essay

Written by the educators who created Cyber-Influence and Power, a brief look at the key facts, tough questions and big ideas in their field. Begin this TED Study with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material.

Each and every one of us has a vital part to play in building the kind of world in which government and technology serve the world’s people and not the other way around. Rebecca MacKinnon

Over the past 20 years, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have transformed the globe, facilitating the international economic, political, and cultural connections and exchanges that are at the heart of contemporary globalization processes. The term ICT is broad in scope, encompassing both the technological infrastructure and products that facilitate the collection, storage, manipulation, and distribution of information in a variety of formats.

While there are many definitions of globalization, most would agree that the term refers to a variety of complex social processes that facilitate worldwide economic, cultural, and political connections and exchanges. The kinds of global connections ICTs give rise to mark a dramatic departure from the face-to-face, time and place dependent interactions that characterized communication throughout most of human history. ICTs have extended human interaction and increased our interconnectedness, making it possible for geographically dispersed people not only to share information at an ever-faster rate but also to organize and to take action in response to events occurring in places far from where they are physically situated.

While these complex webs of connections can facilitate positive collective action, they can also put us at risk. As TED speaker Ian Goldin observes, the complexity of our global connections creates a built-in fragility: What happens in one part of the world can very quickly affect everyone, everywhere.

The proliferation of ICTs and the new webs of social connections they engender have had profound political implications for governments, citizens, and non-state actors alike. Each of the TEDTalks featured in this course explore some of these implications, highlighting the connections and tensions between technology and politics. Some speakers focus primarily on how anti-authoritarian protesters use technology to convene and organize supporters, while others expose how authoritarian governments use technology to manipulate and control individuals and groups. When viewed together as a unit, the contrasting voices reveal that technology is a contested site through which political power is both exercised and resisted.

Technology as liberator

The liberating potential of technology is a powerful theme taken up by several TED speakers in Cyber-Influence and Power . Journalist and Global Voices co-founder Rebecca MacKinnon, for example, begins her talk by playing the famous Orwell-inspired Apple advertisement from 1984. Apple created the ad to introduce Macintosh computers, but MacKinnon describes Apple's underlying narrative as follows: "technology created by innovative companies will set us all free." While MacKinnon examines this narrative with a critical eye, other TED speakers focus on the ways that ICTs can and do function positively as tools of social change, enabling citizens to challenge oppressive governments.

In a 2011 CNN interview, Egyptian protest leader, Google executive, and TED speaker Wael Ghonim claimed "if you want to free a society, just give them internet access. The young crowds are going to all go out and see and hear the unbiased media, see the truth about other nations and their own nation, and they are going to be able to communicate and collaborate together." (i). In this framework, the opportunities for global information sharing, borderless communication, and collaboration that ICTs make possible encourage the spread of democracy. As Ghonim argues, when citizens go online, they are likely to discover that their particular government's perspective is only one among many. Activists like Ghonim maintain that exposure to this online free exchange of ideas will make people less likely to accept government propaganda and more likely to challenge oppressive regimes.

A case in point is the controversy that erupted around Khaled Said, a young Egyptian man who died after being arrested by Egyptian police. The police claimed that Said suffocated when he attempted to swallow a bag of hashish; witnesses, however, reported that he was beaten to death by the police. Stories about the beating and photos of Said's disfigured body circulated widely in online communities, and Ghonim's Facebook group, titled "We are all Khaled Said," is widely credited with bringing attention to Said's death and fomenting the discontent that ultimately erupted in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, or what Ghonim refers to as "revolution 2.0."

Ghonim's Facebook group also illustrates how ICTs enable citizens to produce and broadcast information themselves. Many people already take for granted the ability to capture images and video via handheld devices and then upload that footage to platforms like YouTube. As TED speaker Clay Shirky points out, our ability to produce and widely distribute information constitutes a revolutionary change in media production and consumption patterns. The production of media has typically been very expensive and thus out of reach for most individuals; the average person was therefore primarily a consumer of media, reading books, listening to the radio, watching TV, going to movies, etc. Very few could independently publish their own books or create and distribute their own radio programs, television shows, or movies. ICTs have disrupted this configuration, putting media production in the hands of individual amateurs on a budget — or what Shirky refers to as members of "the former audience" — alongside the professionals backed by multi-billion dollar corporations. This "democratization of media" allows individuals to create massive amounts of information in a variety of formats and to distribute it almost instantly to a potentially global audience.

Shirky is especially interested in the Internet as "the first medium in history that has native support for groups and conversations at the same time." This shift has important political implications. For example, in 2008 many Obama followers used Obama's own social networking site to express their unhappiness when the presidential candidate changed his position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The outcry of his supporters did not force Obama to revert to his original position, but it did help him realize that he needed to address his supporters directly, acknowledging their disagreement on the issue and explaining his position. Shirky observes that this scenario was also notable because the Obama organization realized that "their role was to convene their supporters but not to control their supporters." This tension between the use of technology in the service of the democratic impulse to convene citizens vs. the authoritarian impulse to control them runs throughout many of the TEDTalks in Cyber-Influence and Power.

A number of TED speakers explicitly examine the ways that ICTs give individual citizens the ability to document governmental abuses they witness and to upload this information to the Internet for a global audience. Thus, ICTs can empower citizens by giving them tools that can help keep their governments accountable. The former head of Al Jazeera and TED speaker Wadah Khanfar provides some very clear examples of the political power of technology in the hands of citizens. He describes how the revolution in Tunisia was delivered to the world via cell phones, cameras, and social media outlets, with the mainstream media relying on "citizen reporters" for details.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown's TEDTalk also highlights some of the ways citizens have used ICTs to keep their governments accountable. For example, Brown recounts how citizens in Zimbabwe used the cameras on their phones at polling places in order to discourage the Mugabe regime from engaging in electoral fraud. Similarly, Clay Shirky begins his TEDTalk with a discussion of how cameras on phones were used to combat voter suppression in the 2008 presidential election in the U.S. ICTs allowed citizens to be protectors of the democratic process, casting their individual votes but also, as Shirky observes, helping to "ensure the sanctity of the vote overall."

Technology as oppressor

While smart phones and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have arguably facilitated the overthrow of dictatorships in places like Tunisia and Egypt, lending credence to Gordon Brown's vision of technology as an engine of liberalism and pluralism, not everyone shares this view. As TED speaker and former religious extremist Maajid Nawaz points out, there is nothing inherently liberating about ICTs, given that they frequently are deployed to great effect by extremist organizations seeking social changes that are often inconsistent with democracy and human rights. Where once individual extremists might have felt isolated and alone, disconnected from like-minded people and thus unable to act in concert with others to pursue their agendas, ICTs allow them to connect with other extremists and to form communities around their ideas, narratives, and symbols.

Ian Goldin shares this concern, warning listeners about what he calls the "two Achilles heels of globalization": growing inequality and the fragility that is inherent in a complex integrated system. He points out that those who do not experience the benefits of globalization, who feel like they've been left out in one way or another, can potentially become incredibly dangerous. In a world where what happens in one place very quickly affects everyone else — and where technologies are getting ever smaller and more powerful — a single angry individual with access to technological resources has the potential to do more damage than ever before. The question becomes then, how do we manage the systemic risk inherent in today's technology-infused globalized world? According to Goldin, our current governance structures are "fossilized" and ill-equipped to deal with these issues.

Other critics of the notion that ICTs are inherently liberating point out that ICTs have been leveraged effectively by oppressive governments to solidify their own power and to manipulate, spy upon, and censor their citizens. Journalist and TED speaker Evgeny Morozov expresses scepticism about what he calls "iPod liberalism," or the belief that technology will necessarily lead to the fall of dictatorships and the emergence of democratic governments. Morozov uses the term "spinternet" to describe authoritarian governments' use of the Internet to provide their own "spin" on issues and events. Russia, China, and Iran, he argues, have all trained and paid bloggers to promote their ideological agendas in the online environment and/or or to attack people writing posts the government doesn't like in an effort to discredit them as spies or criminals who should not be trusted.

Morozov also points out that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are tools not only of revolutionaries but also of authoritarian governments who use them to gather open-source intelligence. "In the past," Morozov maintains, "it would take you weeks, if not months, to identify how Iranian activists connect to each other. Now you know how they connect to each other by looking at their Facebook page. KGB...used to torture in order to get this data." Instead of focusing primarily on bringing Internet access and devices to the people in countries ruled by authoritarian regimes, Morozov argues that we need to abandon our cyber-utopian assumptions and do more to actually empower intellectuals, dissidents, NGOs and other members of society, making sure that the "spinternet" does not prevent their voices from being heard.

The ICT Empowered Individual vs. The Nation State

In her TEDTalk "Let's Take Back the Internet," Rebecca MacKinnon argues that "the only legitimate purpose of government is to serve citizens, and…the only legitimate purpose of technology is to improve our lives, not to manipulate or enslave us." It is clearly not a given, however, that governments, organizations, and individuals will use technology benevolently. Part of the responsibility of citizenship in the globalized information age then is to work to ensure that both governments and technologies "serve the world's peoples." However, there is considerable disagreement about what that might look like.

WikiLeaks spokesperson and TED speaker Julian Assange, for example, argues that government secrecy is inconsistent with democratic values and is ultimately about deceiving and manipulating rather than serving the world's people. Others maintain that governments need to be able to keep secrets about some topics in order to protect their citizens or to act effectively in response to crises, oppressive regimes, terrorist organizations, etc. While some view Assange's use of technology as a way to hold governments accountable and to increase transparency, others see this use of technology as a criminal act with the potential to both undermine stable democracies and put innocent lives in danger.

ICTs and global citizenship

While there are no easy answers to the global political questions raised by the proliferation of ICTs, there are relatively new approaches to the questions that look promising, including the emergence of individuals who see themselves as global citizens — people who participate in a global civil society that transcends national boundaries. Technology facilitates global citizens' ability to learn about global issues, to connect with others who care about similar issues, and to organize and act meaningfully in response. However, global citizens are also aware that technology in and of itself is no panacea, and that it can be used to manipulate and oppress.

Global citizens fight against oppressive uses of technology, often with technology. Technology helps them not only to participate in global conversations that affect us all but also to amplify the voices of those who have been marginalized or altogether missing from such conversations. Moreover, global citizens are those who are willing to grapple with large and complex issues that are truly global in scope and who attempt to chart a course forward that benefits all people, regardless of their locations around the globe.

Gordon Brown implicitly alludes to the importance of global citizenship when he states that we need a global ethic of fairness and responsibility to inform global problem-solving. Human rights, disease, development, security, terrorism, climate change, and poverty are among the issues that cannot be addressed successfully by any one nation alone. Individual actors (nation states, NGOs, etc.) can help, but a collective of actors, both state and non-state, is required. Brown suggests that we must combine the power of a global ethic with the power to communicate and organize globally in order for us to address effectively the world's most pressing issues.

Individuals and groups today are able to exert influence that is disproportionate to their numbers and the size of their arsenals through their use of "soft power" techniques, as TED speakers Joseph Nye and Shashi Tharoor observe. This is consistent with Maajid Nawaz's discussion of the power of symbols and narratives. Small groups can develop powerful narratives that help shape the views and actions of people around the world. While governments are far more accustomed to exerting power through military force, they might achieve their interests more effectively by implementing soft power strategies designed to convince others that they want the same things. According to Nye, replacing a "zero-sum" approach (you must lose in order for me to win) with a "positive-sum" one (we can both win) creates opportunities for collaboration, which is necessary if we are to begin to deal with problems that are global in scope.

Let's get started

Collectively, the TEDTalks in this course explore how ICTs are used by and against governments, citizens, activists, revolutionaries, extremists, and other political actors in efforts both to preserve and disrupt the status quo. They highlight the ways that ICTs have opened up new forms of communication and activism as well as how the much-hailed revolutionary power of ICTs can and has been co-opted by oppressive regimes to reassert their control.

By listening to the contrasting voices of this diverse group of TED speakers, which includes activists, journalists, professors, politicians, and a former member of an extremist organization, we can begin to develop a more nuanced understanding of the ways that technology can be used both to facilitate and contest a wide variety of political movements. Global citizens who champion democracy would do well to explore these intersections among politics and technology, as understanding these connections is a necessary first step toward MacKinnon's laudable goal of building a world in which "government and technology serve the world's people and not the other way around."

Let's begin our exploration of the intersections among politics and technology in today's globalized world with a TEDTalk from Ian Goldin, the first Director of the 21st Century School, Oxford University's think tank/research center. Goldin's talk will set the stage for us, exploring the integrated, complex, and technology rich global landscape upon which the political struggles for power examined by other TED speakers play out.

Navigating our global future

i. "Welcome to Revolution 2.0, Ghonim Says," CNN, February 9, 2011. http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/02/09/wael.ghonim.interview.cnn .

Relevant talks

Gordon Brown

Wiring a web for global good.

Clay Shirky

How social media can make history.

Wael Ghonim

Inside the egyptian revolution.

Wadah Khanfar

A historic moment in the arab world.

Evgeny Morozov

How the net aids dictatorships.

Maajid Nawaz

A global culture to fight extremism.

Rebecca MacKinnon

Let's take back the internet.

Julian Assange

Why the world needs wikileaks.

Global power shifts

Shashi Tharoor

Why nations should pursue soft power.

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18.11: Assignment- Politics and Sociology

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• Lumen Learning

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STEP 1 : Find a current news event article about politics, voting, or political leadership. Look specifically for an article that covers information related to concepts you learned about in this module, including power, authority, political systems, voting, or theoretical perspectives on government. You won’t want to search for these specific terms using Google, but should instead peruse headline news or political sections and read through several articles.

The article you choose should be a minimum of 500 words, recent (within three weeks), and from a reputable news source (many colleges provide free access to national news sources).

STEP 2 : Write a thorough summary of the article.

STEP 3 : Using your sociological imagination, write an analysis of the article that connects the main idea/s of the article to specific key terms and theories from this module on government and politics.

STEP 4 : Include the link to your article, check for any writing errors, and submit your article with your response paper.

• Assignment: Politics and Sociology. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

Web Assignments: Introduction to American Government Government 101

Required Web Assignment #1, Constitutional Scavenger Hunt

This exercise is intended to encourage you to read the Constitution very closely. Answer all the questions, print out your answers, and bring them to class.Make sure you cite the article and section of the Constitution where you found the answer.

• Where must bills for raising revenue originate?
• Of the enumerated powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8, how many would you classify as economic/commercial (think designed to promote or faciliate trade or business), political, military, or other?
• The original Constitution explicitly mentions only 1 “Right”. What is it?
• What is the constitutional criteria for removing a president from office?
• Does the Constitution give the Supreme Court the power of judicial review?
• What do Article I, Section 10, Article VI and Amendment X state about the relationship of the federal government and the states?
• How is the president chosen? How are electors chosen?
• The original Constitution addresses slavery in three specific sections, how they count for purpose of representation, the importation of slaves, and the return of escaped slaves. What did the Constitution say about each of these issues? What are the exact words the Constitution uses to identify slaves in each of these sections (This is trickier than it sounds since the words “slaves” and “slavery” are not mentioned in the constitution.)
• What does the Constitution or any of its amendments say about income taxes?
• Can a person who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States be elected as a Senator or Representative in Congress or hold any office in the federal or state government? How is such a disability removed? Any ideas why Congress passed this amendment?
• Which groups or individuals have gained the right to vote via an amendment to the Constitution? Cite the specific group, amendment, and year it passed.
• The Constitution establishes three supermajority requirements when a vote of more than a simple majority of Congress is required for a particular action to happen. What are they? Where in the Constitution is the Filibuster rule?
• What section of the Constitution states that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness?
• In reading the Constitution, was there anything you came across that you did not know about before?

Web Assignment #2, What Makes Us Americans?

Unlike many other countries, being American is a state of mind than of genetic origins. Is it our common political beliefs or common political awareness of our history? This assignment is designed to see if you can become an American citizen. Here is the official process by which individuals can become American citizens. Individuals who wish to become American citizens have pass an oral test to demonstrate their knowledge of United States History and the structure of our government and an understanding of the English language.

Can you read the sentences aloud ?

Go to the Immigration and Naturalization Service and take a couple versions of their Sample Tests. You can either take the old test here or the new test as of Oct 1, 2008 here . Try to answer the questions without “cheating”- i.e. looking at the answers below the questions.

Web Assignment #3 Congress as a Representative Institution

In “The Electoral Connection”, David Mayhew offers a pretty specific set of guidelines to incumbent members of Congress on how to ensure their reelection (advertising, credit claiming, and position taking).The question is, do representatives actually do these things?

To find out, I want you to go to the House of Representatives web site http://www.house.gov/ and click on members’ office.This will list all the representatives by name.  Clicking on a name takes you to the representatives’ web page.Different representatives will have very different web pages, but look around for instances of advertising, credit claiming, and position taking. Good places to look are the press gallery or press release section, constituents pages, photo gallery, constituent services.  I think you will find it pretty fun and interesting.

In your response paper, 1.  Choose two representatives from different parties and different parts of the country and compare their web pages. 2.  Does each representative engage in advertising, credit claiming, and position taking?  Provide examples of each. 3.  Can you tell what party the representative is from based on their web page? 4.  What is your impression of each representative from the web page?  What comes first, their district or public policy?

Web Assignment #4, The President in Action

How do Presidents Govern?  To answer this question, go to the White House web site ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/ ) and look at the web site, White House news ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/ )

• How does the president’s presentation of self compare with the individual members’ of Congress on their web pages.  What would Greenstein say about W’s presentation of self?
• Next go to the press releases and briefings in the briefing room, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/  What issues is the president or his assistants talking about? What does this page suggest about the importance of the media to the modern day presidency?
• Statements of Administration Policy (on lower right part of web page)
• Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Regulatory Matters .

–what do these two pages suggestion about the imperial presidency? 4.  Email the Administration.

White House Web Mail

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15.1 The Role of Government in a Market Economy

Learning objectives.

• Discuss and illustrate government responses to the market failures of public goods, external costs and benefits, and imperfect competition and how these responses have the potential to reduce deadweight loss.
• Define merit and demerit goods and explain why government may intervene to affect the quantities consumed.
• Discuss ways in which governments redistribute income.

What do we want from our government? One answer is that we want a great deal more than we did several decades ago. The role of government has expanded dramatically in the last 75+ years. In 1929 (the year the Commerce Department began keeping annual data on macroeconomic performance in the United States), government expenditures at all levels (state, local, and federal) were less than 10% of the nation’s total output, which is called gross domestic product (GDP). In the current century, that share has more than tripled. Total government spending per capita, adjusted for inflation, has increased more than six fold since 1929.

Figure 15.1 “Government Expenditures and Revenues as a Percentage of GDP” shows total government expenditures and revenues as a percentage of GDP from 1929 to 2007. All levels of government are included. Government expenditures include all spending by government agencies. Government revenues include all funds received by government agencies. The primary component of government revenues is taxes; revenue also includes miscellaneous receipts from fees, fines, and other sources. We will look at types of government revenues and expenditures later in this chapter.

Figure 15.1 Government Expenditures and Revenues as a Percentage of GDP

Government expenditures and revenues have risen dramatically as a percentage of GDP, the most widely used measure of economic activity.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, NIPA Tables 1.15 and 3.1.

Figure 15.1 “Government Expenditures and Revenues as a Percentage of GDP” also shows government purchases as a percentage of GDP. Government purchases happen when a government agency purchases or produces a good or a service. We measure government purchases to suggest the opportunity cost of government. Whether a government agency purchases a good or service or produces it, factors of production are being used for public sector, rather than private sector, activities. A city police department’s purchase of new cars is an example of a government purchase. Spending for public education is another example.

Government expenditures and purchases are not equal because much government spending is not for the purchase of goods and services. The primary source of the gap is transfer payments , payments made by government agencies to individuals in the form of grants rather than in return for labor or other services. Transfer payments represent government expenditures but not government purchases. Governments engage in transfer payments in order to redistribute income from one group to another. The various welfare programs for low-income people are examples of transfer payments. Social Security is the largest transfer payment program in the United States. This program transfers income from people who are working (by taxing their pay) to people who have retired. Interest payments on government debt, which are also a form of expenditure, are another example of an expenditure that is not counted as a government purchase.

Several points about Figure 15.1 “Government Expenditures and Revenues as a Percentage of GDP” bear special attention. Note first the path of government purchases. Government purchases relative to GDP rose dramatically during World War II, then dropped back to about their prewar level almost immediately afterward. Government purchases rose again, though less sharply, during the Korean War. This time, however, they did not drop back very far after the war. It was during this period that military spending rose to meet the challenge posed by the former Soviet Union and other communist states—the “Cold War.” Government purchases have ranged between 15 and 20% of GDP ever since. The Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq did not have the impact on purchases that characterized World War II or even the Korean War. A second development, the widening gap between expenditures and purchases, has occurred since the 1960s. This reflects the growth of federal transfer programs, principally Social Security, programs to help people pay for health-care costs, and aid to low-income people. We will discuss these programs later in this chapter.

Finally, note the relationship between expenditures and receipts. When a government’s revenues equal its expenditures for a particular period, it has a balanced budget . A budget surplus occurs if a government’s revenues exceed its expenditures, while a budget deficit exists if government expenditures exceed revenues.

Prior to 1980, revenues roughly matched expenditures for the public sector as a whole, except during World War II. But expenditures remained consistently higher than revenues between 1980 and 1996. The federal government generated very large deficits during this period, deficits that exceeded surpluses that typically occur at the state and local levels of government. The largest increases in spending came from Social Security and increased health-care spending at the federal level. Efforts by the federal government to reduce and ultimately eliminate its deficit, together with surpluses among state and local governments, put the combined budget for the public sector in surplus beginning in 1997. As of 1999, the Congressional Budget Office was predicting that increased federal revenues produced by a growing economy would continue to produce budget surpluses well into the twenty-first century.

That rather rosy forecast was set aside after September 11, 2001. Terrorist attacks on the United States and later on several other countries led to sharp and sustained increases in federal spending for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as expenditures for Homeland Security. The administration of George W. Bush proposed, and Congress approved, a tax cut. The combination of increased spending on the abovementioned items and others, as well as tax cuts, produced substantial deficits.

The evidence presented in Figure 15.1 “Government Expenditures and Revenues as a Percentage of GDP” does not fully capture the rise in demand for public sector services. In addition to governments that spend more, people in the United States have clearly chosen governments that do more. The scope of regulatory activity conducted by governments at all levels, for example, has risen sharply in the last several decades. Regulations designed to prevent discrimination, to protect consumers, and to protect the environment are all part of the response to a rising demand for public services, as are federal programs in health care and education.

Figure 15.2 “Government Revenue Sources and Expenditures: 2007” summarizes the main revenue sources and types of expenditures for the U.S. federal government and for the European Union. In the United States, most revenues came from personal income taxes and from payroll taxes. Most expenditures were for transfer payments to individuals. Federal purchases were primarily for national defense; the “other purchases” category includes things such as spending for transportation projects and for the space program. Interest payments on the national debt and grants by the federal government to state and local governments were the other major expenditures. The situation in the European Union differs primarily by the fact that a greater share of revenue comes from taxes on production and imports and substantially less is spent on defense.

Figure 15.2 Government Revenue Sources and Expenditures: 2007

The four panels show the sources of government revenues and the shares of expenditures on various activities for all levels of government in the United States and the European Union in 2007.

Sources: Survey of Current Business , July 2008, Tables 3.2 and 3.10.5; Paternoster, Anne, Wozowczyk, Monika, and Lupi, Alessandro, Statistics in Focus—Economy and Finance , Eurostat 23/2008. For EU revenues, “Taxes on production and imports” refers mainly to value-added tax, import and excise duties, taxes on financial and capital transactions, on land and buildings, on payroll, and other taxes on production. In the category “Current taxes on income, wealth, etc.” are taxes on income and on holding gains of households and corporations, current taxes on capital, taxes on international transactions, and payments for licenses. Capital taxes refer to taxes levied at irregular and infrequent intervals on the value of assets, or net worth owned, or transferred in the form of legacies or gifts. Social contributions cover actual amounts receivable from employers and employees.

To understand the role of government, it will be useful to distinguish four broad types of government involvement in the economy. First, the government attempts to respond to market failures to allocate resources efficiently. In a particular market, efficiency means that the quantity produced is determined by the intersection of a demand curve that reflects all the benefits of consuming a particular good or service and a supply curve that reflects the opportunity costs of producing it. Second, government agencies act to encourage or discourage the consumption of certain goods and services. The prohibition of drugs such as heroin and cocaine is an example of government seeking to discourage consumption of these drugs. Third, the government redistributes income through programs such as welfare and Social Security. Fourth, the government can use its spending and tax policies to influence the level of economic activity and the price level.

We will examine the first three of these aspects of government involvement in the economy in this chapter. The fourth, efforts to influence the level of economic activity and the price level, fall within the province of macroeconomics.

Responding to Market Failure

In an earlier chapter on markets and efficiency, we learned that a market maximizes net benefit by achieving a level of output at which marginal benefit equals marginal cost. That is the efficient solution. In most cases, we expect that markets will come close to achieving this result—that is the important lesson of Adam Smith’s idea of the market as an invisible hand, guiding the economy’s scarce factors of production to their best uses. That is not always the case, however.

We have studied several situations in which markets are unlikely to achieve efficient solutions. In an earlier chapter, we saw that private markets are likely to produce less than the efficient quantities of public goods such as national defense. They may produce too much of goods that generate external costs and too little of goods that generate external benefits. In cases of imperfect competition, we have seen that the market’s output of goods and services is likely to fall short of the efficient level. In all these cases, it is possible that government intervention will move production levels closer to their efficient quantities. In the next three sections, we shall review how a government could improve efficiency in the cases of public goods, external costs and benefits, and imperfect competition.

Public Goods

A public good is a good or service for which exclusion is prohibitively costly and for which the marginal cost of adding another consumer is zero. National defense, law enforcement, and generally available knowledge are examples of public goods.

The difficulty posed by a public good is that, once it is produced, it is freely available to everyone. No consumer can be excluded from consumption of the good on grounds that he or she has not paid for it. Consequently, each consumer has an incentive to be a free rider in consuming the good, and the firms providing a public good do not get a signal from consumers that reflects their benefit of consuming the good.

Certainly we can expect some benefits of a public good to be revealed in the market. If the government did not provide national defense, for example, we would expect some defense to be produced, and some people would contribute to its production. But because free-riding behavior will be common, the market’s production of public goods will fall short of the efficient level.

The theory of public goods is an important argument for government involvement in the economy. Government agencies may either produce public goods themselves, as do local police departments, or pay private firms to produce them, as is the case with many government-sponsored research efforts. An important debate in the provision of public education revolves around the question of whether education should be produced by the government, as is the case with traditional public schools, or purchased by the government, as is done in charter schools.

External Costs and Benefits

External costs are imposed when an action by one person or firm harms another, outside of any market exchange. The social cost of producing a good or service equals the private cost plus the external cost of producing it. In the case of external costs, private costs are less than social costs.

Similarly, external benefits are created when an action by one person or firm benefits another, outside of any market exchange. The social benefit of an activity equals the private benefit revealed in the market plus external benefits. When an activity creates external benefits, its social benefit will be greater than its private benefit.

The lack of a market transaction means that the person or firm responsible for the external cost or benefit does not face the full cost or benefit of the choice involved. We expect markets to produce more than the efficient quantity of goods or services that generate external costs and less than the efficient quantity of goods or services that generate external benefits.

Consider the case of firms that produce memory chips for computers. The production of these chips generates water pollution. The cost of this pollution is an external cost; the firms that generate it do not face it. These firms thus face some, but not all, of the costs of their production choices. We can expect the market price of chips to be lower, and the quantity produced greater, than the efficient level.

Inoculations against infectious diseases create external benefits. A person getting a flu shot, for example, receives private benefits; he or she is less likely to get the flu. But there will be external benefits as well: Other people will also be less likely to get the flu because the person getting the shot is less likely to have the flu. Because this latter benefit is external, the social benefit of flu shots exceeds the private benefit, and the market is likely to produce less than the efficient quantity of flu shots. Public, private, and charter schools often require such inoculations in an effort to get around the problem of external benefits.

Imperfect Competition

In a perfectly competitive market, price equals marginal cost. If competition is imperfect, however, individual firms face downward-sloping demand curves and will charge prices greater than marginal cost. Consumers in such markets will be faced by prices that exceed marginal cost, and the allocation of resources will be inefficient.

An imperfectly competitive private market will produce less of a good than is efficient. As we saw in the chapter on monopoly, government agencies seek to prohibit monopoly in most markets and to regulate the prices charged by those monopolies that are permitted. Government policy toward monopoly is discussed more fully in a later chapter.

Assessing Government Responses to Market Failure

In each of the models of market failure we have reviewed here—public goods, external costs and benefits, and imperfect competition—the market may fail to achieve the efficient result. There is a potential for government intervention to move inefficient markets closer to the efficient solution.

Figure 15.3 “Correcting Market Failure” reviews the potential gain from government intervention in cases of market failure. In each case, the potential gain is the deadweight loss resulting from market failure; government intervention may prevent or limit this deadweight loss. In each panel, the deadweight loss resulting from market failure is shown as a shaded triangle.

Figure 15.3 Correcting Market Failure

In each panel, the potential gain from government intervention to correct market failure is shown by the deadweight loss avoided, as given by the shaded triangle. In Panel (a), we assume that a private market produces Q m units of a public good. The efficient level, Q e , is defined by the intersection of the demand curve D 1 for the public good and the supply curve S 1 . Panel (b) shows that if the production of a good generates an external cost, the supply curve S 1 reflects only the private cost of the good. The market will produce Q m units of the good at price P 1 . If the public sector finds a way to confront producers with the social cost of their production, then the supply curve shifts to S 2 , and production falls to the efficient level Q e . Notice that this intervention results in a higher price, P 2 , which confronts consumers with the real cost of producing the good. Panel (c) shows the case of a good that generates external benefits. Purchasers of the good base their choices on the private benefit, and the market demand curve is D 1 . The market quantity is Q m . This is less than the efficient quantity, Q e , which can be achieved if the activity that generates external benefits is subsidized. That would shift the market demand curve to D 2 , which intersects the market supply curve at the efficient quantity. Finally, Panel (d) shows the case of a monopoly firm that produces Q m units and charges a price P 1 . The efficient level of output, Q e , could be achieved by imposing a price ceiling at P 2 . As is the case in each of the other panels, the potential gain from such a policy is the elimination of the deadweight loss shown as the shaded area in the exhibit.

Panel (a) of Figure 15.3 “Correcting Market Failure” illustrates the case of a public good. The market will produce some of the public good; suppose it produces the quantity Q m . But the demand curve that reflects the social benefits of the public good, D 1 , intersects the supply curve at Q e ; that is the efficient quantity of the good. Public sector provision of a public good may move the quantity closer to the efficient level.

Panel (b) shows a good that generates external costs. Absent government intervention, these costs will not be reflected in the market solution. The supply curve, S 1 , will be based only on the private costs associated with the good. The market will produce Q m units of the good at a price P 1 . If the government were to confront producers with the external cost of the good, perhaps with a tax on the activity that creates the cost, the supply curve would shift to S 2 and reflect the social cost of the good. The quantity would fall to the efficient level, Q e , and the price would rise to P 2 .

Panel (c) gives the case of a good that generates external benefits. The demand curve revealed in the market, D 1 , reflects only the private benefits of the good. Incorporating the external benefits of the good gives us the demand curve D 2 that reflects the social benefit of the good. The market’s output of Q m units of the good falls short of the efficient level Q e . The government may seek to move the market solution toward the efficient level through subsidies or other measures to encourage the activity that creates the external benefit.

Finally, Panel (d) shows the case of imperfect competition. A firm facing a downward-sloping demand curve such as D 1 will select the output Q m at which the marginal cost curve MC 1 intersects the marginal revenue curve MR 1 . The government may seek to move the solution closer to the efficient level, defined by the intersection of the marginal cost and demand curves.

While it is important to recognize the potential gains from government intervention to correct market failure, we must recognize the difficulties inherent in such efforts. Government officials may lack the information they need to select the efficient solution. Even if they have the information, they may have goals other than the efficient allocation of resources. Each instance of government intervention involves an interaction with utility-maximizing consumers and profit-maximizing firms, none of whom can be assumed to be passive participants in the process. So, while the potential exists for improved resource allocation in cases of market failure, government intervention may not always achieve it.

The late George Stigler, winner of the Nobel Prize for economics in 1982, once remarked that people who advocate government intervention to correct every case of market failure reminded him of the judge at an amateur singing contest who, upon hearing the first contestant, awarded first prize to the second. Stigler’s point was that even though the market is often an inefficient allocator of resources, so is the government likely to be. Government may improve on what the market does; it can also make it worse. The choice between the market’s allocation and an allocation with government intervention is always a choice between imperfect alternatives. We will examine the nature of public sector choices later in this chapter and explore an economic explanation of why government intervention may fail to move market solutions closer to their efficient levels.

Merit and Demerit Goods

In some cases, the public sector makes a determination that people should consume more of some goods and services and less of others, even in the absence of market failure. This is a normative judgment, one that presumes that consumers are not always the best judges of what is good, or bad, for them.

Merit goods are goods whose consumption the public sector promotes, based on a presumption that many individuals do not adequately weigh the benefits of the good and should thus be induced to consume more than they otherwise would. Many local governments support symphony concerts, for example, on grounds that the private market would not provide an adequate level of these cultural activities.

Indeed, government provision of some merit goods is difficult to explain. Why, for example, do many local governments provide tennis courts but not bowling alleys, golf courses but not auto racetracks, or symphony halls but not movie theaters? One possible explanation is that some consumers—those with a fondness for tennis, golf, and classical music—have been more successful than others in persuading their fellow citizens to assist in funding their preferred activities.

Demerit goods are goods whose consumption the public sector discourages, based on a presumption that individuals do not adequately weigh all the costs of these goods and thus should be induced to consume less than they otherwise would. The consumption of such goods may be prohibited, as in the case of illegal drugs, or taxed heavily, as in the case of cigarettes and alcohol.

Income Redistribution

The proposition that a private market will allocate resources efficiently if the efficiency condition is met always comes with a qualification: the allocation of resources will be efficient given the initial distribution of income . If 5% of the people receive 95% of the income, it might be efficient to allocate roughly 95% of the goods and services produced to them. But many people (at least 95% of them!) might argue that such a distribution of income is undesirable and that the allocation of resources that emerges from it is undesirable as well.

There are several reasons to believe that the distribution of income generated by a private economy might not be satisfactory. For example, the incomes people earn are in part due to luck. Much income results from inherited wealth and thus depends on the family into which one happens to have been born. Likewise, talent is distributed in unequal measure. Many people suffer handicaps that limit their earning potential. Changes in demand and supply can produce huge changes in the values—and the incomes—the market assigns to particular skills. Given all this, many people argue that incomes should not be determined solely by the marketplace.

A more fundamental reason for concern about income distribution is that people care about the welfare of others. People with higher incomes often have a desire to help people with lower incomes. This preference is demonstrated in voluntary contributions to charity and in support of government programs to redistribute income.

A public goods argument can be made for government programs that redistribute income. Suppose that people of all income levels feel better off knowing that financial assistance is being provided to the poor and that they experience this sense of well-being whether or not they are the ones who provide the assistance. In this case, helping the poor is a public good. When the poor are better off, other people feel better off; this benefit is nonexclusive. One could thus argue that leaving private charity to the marketplace is inefficient and that the government should participate in income redistribution. Whatever the underlying basis for redistribution, it certainly occurs. The governments of every country in the world make some effort to redistribute income.

Programs to redistribute income can be divided into two categories. One transfers income to poor people; the other transfers income based on some other criterion. A means-tested transfer payment is one for which the recipient qualifies on the basis of income; means-tested programs transfer income from people who have more to people who have less. The largest means-tested program in the United States is Medicaid, which provides health care to the poor. Other means-tested programs include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and food stamps. A non-means-tested transfer payment is one for which income is not a qualifying factor. Social Security, a program that taxes workers and their employers and transfers this money to retired workers, is the largest non-means-tested transfer program. Indeed, it is the largest transfer program in the United States. It transfers income from working families to retired families. Given that retired families are, on average, wealthier than working families, Social Security is a somewhat regressive program. Other non-means tested transfer programs include Medicare, unemployment compensation, and programs that aid farmers.

Figure 15.4 “Federal Transfer Payment Spending” shows federal spending on means-tested and non-means-tested programs as a percentage of GDP, the total value of output, since 1962. As the chart suggests, the bulk of income redistribution efforts in the United States are non-means-tested programs.

Figure 15.4 Federal Transfer Payment Spending

The chart shows federal means-tested and non-means-tested transfer payment spending as a percentage of GDP from 1962–2007.

Source: Congressional Budget Office, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2004–2013 (Jan., 2003), Table F-10p. 157; thereafter January, 2008, Table F-10 with means-tested as medicaid plus income security and non-means tested everything else.

The fact that most transfer payments in the United States are not means-tested leads to something of a paradox: some transfer payments involve taxing people whose incomes are relatively low to give to people whose incomes are relatively high. Social Security, for example, transfers income from people who are working to people who have retired. But many retired people enjoy higher incomes than working people in the United States. Aid to farmers, another form of non-means-tested payments, transfers income to farmers, who on average are wealthier than the rest of the population. These situations have come about because of policy decisions, which we discuss later in the chapter.

Key Takeaways

• One role of government is to correct problems of market failure associated with public goods, external costs and benefits, and imperfect competition.
• Government intervention to correct market failure always has the potential to move markets closer to efficient solutions, and thus reduce deadweight losses. There is, however, no guarantee that these gains will be achieved.
• Governments may seek to alter the provision of certain goods and services based on a normative judgment that consumers will consume too much or too little of the goods. Goods for which such judgments are made are called merit or demerit goods.
• Governments redistribute income through transfer payments. Such redistribution often goes from people with higher incomes to people with lower incomes, but other transfer payments go to people who are relatively better off.

Here is a list of actual and proposed government programs. Each is a response to one of the justifications for government activity described in the text: correction of market failure (due to public goods, external costs, external benefits, or imperfect competition), encouragement or discouragement of the consumption of merit or demerit goods, and redistribution of income. In each case, identify the source of demand for the activity described.

• The Justice Department sought to prevent Microsoft Corporation from releasing Windows ’98, arguing that the system’s built-in internet browser represented an attempt by Microsoft to monopolize the market for browsers.
• In 2004, Congress considered a measure that would extend taxation of cigarettes to vendors that sell cigarettes over the Internet.
• The federal government engages in research to locate asteroids that might hit the earth, and studies how impacts from asteroids could be prevented.
• The federal government increases spending for food stamps for people whose incomes fall below a certain level.
• The federal government increases benefits for recipients of Social Security.
• The Environmental Protection Agency sets new standards for limiting the emission of pollutants into the air.
• A state utilities commission regulates the prices charged by utilities that provide natural gas to homes and businesses.

Case in Point: “Fixing” the Gasoline Market

Figure 15.5

Emily – gas prices in san diego – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Moderating the price of gasoline is not an obvious mission for the government in a market economy. But, in an economy in which angry voters wield considerable influence, trying to fix rising gasoline prices can turn into a task from which a wise politician does not shrink.

By the summer of 2008, crude oil was selling for more than $140 per barrel. Gasoline prices in the United States were flirting with the $4 mark. There were perfectly good market reasons for the run-up in prices. World oil demand has been rising each year, with China and India two of the primary sources of increased demand. The world’s ability to produce oil is limited and tensions in the Middle East were also adding doubts about getting those supplies to market. Ability to produce gasoline is limited as well. The United States has not built a new oil refinery in more than 30 years.

But, when oil prices rise, economic explanations seldom carry much political clout. Predictably, the public demands a response from its political leaders—and gets it.

Largely Democratic Congressional proposals in 2008 included such ideas as: a bill to classify the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as an illegal monopoly in violation of U.S. antitrust laws, taxing “excessive” profits of oil companies, investigating possible price gouging, and banning speculative trading in oil futures. With an overwhelming majority on both sides of the aisle, Congress passed a bill to suspend adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—a 727 million gallon underground reserve designed for use in national emergencies. President Bush in 2008 was against this move, though in 2006, when gas prices were approaching $3 a gallon, he supported a similar move. Whether or not to offer a “tax holiday” on the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax stymied some politicians during the 2008 presidential campaign because Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and John McCain, a Republican, supported it, while Barack Obama, a Democrat, was against it. Mostly Republican proposals to allow offshore drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge also received attention.

These measures were unlikely to have much affect on gas prices, especially in the short-term. For example, the federal government would normally in a two-month period deposit 10 million gallons of gasoline in the strategic reserve; consumption in the United States is about 20 million gallons of gasoline per day. World gasoline consumption is about 87 million gallons per day. Putting an additional 10 million gallons into a global market which will consume about 5 billion gallons in a 60-day period is not likely to have any measurable impact.

The higher oil prices were very good for oil companies. Exxon Mobil, the largest publicly traded oil company in the United States, reported profits of nearly $11 billion for the first quarter of 2008. Whenever oil prices rise sharply, there are always cries of “price gouging.” But, repeated federal investigations of the industry have failed to produce any evidence that such gouging has occurred.

Meanwhile, market forces responding to the higher gasoline prices are already at work. Gasoline producers are looking at cellulosic ethanol, which can be produced from materials such as wood chips, corn stalks, and rice straw. Automobile producers are examining “plug-in” hybrids—cars whose batteries could be charged not just by driving but by plugging the car in a garage. The goal is to have a car that could go some distance on its battery before starting to use any gasoline. Consumers are doing their part. Gasoline consumption in the United States fell more than 4% by the summer of 2008 from its level one year earlier.

These potential market responses are the sort of thing one would expect from rising fuel prices. Ultimately, it is difficult to see why gasoline prices should be a matter for public sector intervention. But, the public sector consists of people, and when those people become angry, the urge for intervention can become unstoppable.

Sources: Paul Davidson and Chris Woodyard, “Proposals To Cut Gas Prices Scrutinized,” USA Today , May 11, 2006, p. 5B; Joseph Curl, “Bush Orders Suspension Of Gas Rules; Federal Probe To Look At Price-Gouging Charges,” The Washington Times , April 26, 2007, p. A1; David M. Herszenhorn, “As Gasoline Prices Soar, Politicians Fall Back on Familiar Solutions,” The New York Times , May 3, 2008, p. A16; Richard Simon, “The Nation; Mixing Oil and Politics; Congress Votes To Stop Shipments to the Nation’s Reserve. The Move Could Save Motorists Some Money,” Los Angeles Times , May 14, 2008, p. A18.

Answers to Try It! Problems

• This is an attempt to deal with monopoly, so it is a response to imperfect competition.
• Cigarettes are treated as a demerit good.
• Protecting the earth from such a calamity is an example of a public good.
• Food Stamps are a means-tested program to redistribute income.
• Social Security is an example of a non-means-tested income redistribution program.
• This is a response to external costs.
• This is a response to monopoly, so it falls under the imperfect competition heading.

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Assignment on Basic concepts and Definition of Government

Definition of Government :

Governmen t, a public organization – is part of a broader governance system. It is a means to a goal.

These days, government is seen predominantly as a public organization set up by a society for the purpose of pursuing that society’s development objectives. This comprises articulating the society’s development-related demands, proposals and needs, aggregating them and implementing responsive solutions. Enjoyment of public consent constitutes the source of government’s legitimacy. Transparency is a condition sine qua non for government’s accountability vis-à-vis its oversight body.

Definition of Governance and Good Governance:

The term “ Governance ” refers to a multifaceted compound situation of institutions, systems, structures, processes, procedures, practices, relationships, and leadership behavior in the exercise of social, political, economic, and managerial/administrative authority in the running of public or private affairs.

Good Governance is the exercise of this authority with the participation, interest, and livelihood of the governed as the driving force.

( Governance and Public Administration Branch, Division for Public Administration and Development Management, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, General Secretariat, United Nations – GPAB/DPADM/UNDESA )

 Definition of Local Government, Local Governance and Good Local  Governance:

Local governments are administrative offices of an area smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as central government, national governments or (where appropriate) federal governments.

Local governance refers to the exercise of authority at local community level. ( GPAB/DPADM/UNDESA )

Good local governance is the exercise of economic, political, and administrative authority to better manage the affairs of a locale. ( LOG-IN Africa, CAFRAD/IDRC )

ICTS, Internet Government and Internet Governance :

The overall objective of improving the governance systems and the performance of the public administration at all levels, enhancing the delivery of the public services to all citizens, can greatly benefit from the integration of icts in the process of decision making, planning, co-ordination and management carried out by governments. but what are icts and why should we integrate icts in the government process, on a point of definition we talk of icts, adding “communications” to the more familiar “information technology”. this reflects the increasing role of both information and communications technologies in all aspects of society. generally speaking, icts are defined by stevenson in his 1997 report to the uk government and promoted by the new national curriculum documents for the uk in 2000 as: “the study of the technology used to handle information and aid communication”. but what we are interested in, more than the study of technologies is the application to improve and “channel” information through any means of communication, based on different infrastructure. so it is important to understand what is information and what is communication. the world bank defines icts as a generic term, which includes information technology (hardware and software) and the telecommunication infrastructure, equipment and services..

In this connection, it is worth underlining the role of ICTs as a tool for development, and not as a goal in itself. Using ICTs can help achieve development goals. This is particularly true in relation to government operations and governance in general. The integration of ICTs in governmental operations introduces the concept of Internet Government , Electronic Government, Digital Government or – in short – e-government .

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), the definitions of e-government or Internet Government fall into three groups:

– e-government is defined as Internet (online) service delivery and other Internet-based activity, such as e-consultation;

– e-government is equated to the use of ICTs in government. While the focus is generally on the delivery of services and processing, the broadest definition encompasses all aspects of government activity;

– e-government is defined as a capacity to transform public administration through the use of ICTs or indeed is used to describe a new form of government built around ICTs. This aspect is usually linked to Internet use.

In this regard, it is assumed that “the strategic use of ICTs in government can result in a more inclusive, effective, efficient, transparent and accountable public administration, which will be key to improved economic development and competitiveness. Moreover, in enhancing the quality and delivery of public services through ICTs – especially in education, health, social security and social welfare – government may be better positioned to reduce poverty, redress inequality, and promote sustainable development”

Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet – UN WGIG ( United Nation, Working group on Internet Governance ).

In other words, Internet governance is collective decision making by owners, operators, developers, and users of the networks connected by Internet protocols to establish policies, rules, and dispute resolution procedures about technical standards, resource allocations, and/or the conduct of people engaged in global internet working activities. ( The Internet and Global Governance: Principles and Norms for a New Regime, by Milton Mueller, John Mathiason, and Hans Klein ).

Therefore, in a point of conceptualization, we must take into consideration the multi-dimensional aspects of ICTs when discussing e-governance. In this regard, in a simple but, in our opinion very effective way, e-governance can therefore be defined as: the Governance “with and of” ICTs.

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