Principles, Politics and Practicalities
By Kent Willmann

Overview

Compromise and cooperation are essential to successful politicians.  In this lesson, students use "The Professional Politician" video to discover how practicalities often force presidents to make political choices among American values and principles.  As an introductory activity to the video, students are asked to discuss which is more important to them, to the presidents, and to the country: living by their beliefs or achieving political success.  Additionally, students go through the process of creating a political party, thereby forcing them to compromise and cooperate in order to gain greater support.

Objectives

Students will:

  • Analyze presidential actions for adherence to democratic values and principles
  • Discover how compromise and cooperation are essential to political success
  • Discuss how their own actions and choices can mirror those of presidents
  • Apply values and principles to presidential decision making

Time Required

This lesson will require two to five 60-minute periods.

Materials

Initial Motivation

Ask students to think about times in their lives where they had to cooperate or compromise.  For example:  How do they decide what they and their friends will do on the weekends?  How does their family decide what to do on family vacations?  Then ask them to compare two basic method of decision making:

    a. Autocratic:  "Mom decided what we would do" or "We always do what Bill wants"
    b. Democratic:  "We all talk and try to agree" or  "We take turns"

Ask students if any particular person among their friends or in their family is good at getting the group to make a decision.  What does this person do?  Where did cooperation and compromise work?  Where did it break down? Which played a more important role: the needs of the group or popularity?

Place the following situation on the overhead and discuss this scenario in class:  

    You are currently a member of Congress who is facing a difficult reelection campaign.  Congress is about to vote on a bill that will provide some jobs for people in your district.  You and your party have been in favor of cutting unnecessary spending and you know that the country could do without these jobs.  In your mind, the jobs are a waste of government money.   You also know that voting in favor of this legislation will win you crucial votes in your reelection campaign.  Your party is asking you to vote "no."  How do you vote?  

Procedures

I. American Values and Principles

    1. Introduce this list of American values and principles: 

    • Life –  A primary American value about under what circumstances can life be taken.
    • Freedom/Liberty – A primary value described as being able to make significant choices for oneself without government interference.
    • Equality – A primary value suggesting that all people should have the same rights and opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion, etc.
    • Justice – A primary value that asks the government to serve as a fair judge of legal and illegal behavior.
    • Loyalty – A value stressing allegiance to people or ideas.
    • Rule of Law – A principle that says we should do what our laws say, not the whim of particular individuals.
    • Democracy – A principle describing the degree to which people living in the United States can participate in making a system of representative government.
    • Social Security – A principle saying we should provide a "safety net" of essential needs for our residents.
    • Federalism/States' Rights – A principle related to the relationship hierarchy and power of the various levels of government.
    • Property –  A primary value describing what is owned by residents and the public in general.

    Many other values and principles can be articulated and added to this list.  Teachers can use those that best suit their classroom purposes.   Some other values and principles to consider:  individualism, religion, team work, loyalty, work ethic, citizenship, education, honesty, tolerance, diversity, winning, achievement, helping others, limited government, common welfare, etc.  (Note:  You may want to put this list up as an overhead or distribute it as a handout.)  To guide the class, have students discuss the meaning of these values or to list examples of how they are practiced in the United States.  For a deeper understanding, ask students to rank the values from most important to least important and defend their choices to the class.

    2. Ask students to review their choices in the member of Congress simulation.  They should consider: What American values/principles are supported by my decision?  Which are supported by the other choice?  What may be some short-term and long-term consequences of my choice? 

    3. Distribute and have students individually complete the top portion of the position recording sheet.

II.  Political Party Simulation

    1. Explain to students that the object of this exercise is to create a political party.  This party should best represent their positions on the issues listed in the sheet that they just filled out.  The political party that ends up with more than half the class as members will be declared the winner.  Individuals who change the fewest number of positions will earn more points.  Remind students that when trying to convince other students to join their group, they should focus on the issues.  In other words, they should try trading positions on issues to get people to join or, perhaps, provide some more background information that may help others change their position.  Students will be asked to explain why they chose to change issues at the end of each round. 

    2. Below is the outline for each of the five rounds in this simulation:

    Round 1:  Students must find as many people in class who agree with them on all five issues as they can.  On the position tracking grid, they are to write the positions down again and record the number of people in their party. 

    Total length of round:  5 minutes

    Rounds 2, 3 and 4:  In each round, students must try to convince other groups to join their party.  All members must agree on all five issues.  Students may change their position on any issue except their most important one.  After each round, students need to record the group's positions and number of people in their party.  Remind students that they are now saying they support the party position on these issues.  Students should make a few notes about why they did or did not change positions at the end of each round.  (Note:  If students reach the goal of having more than half the class before the fifth round, they may continue to add people to their party or the other party may try to convince people to switch.)

    Total length of each round:  5-10 minutes

    Round 5:  Students must try to get as many people into their party as they can.  Students may change their position on their most important issue. Remind the class that this is the final round.  Total length of round:  15 minutes

III. Debriefing the Simulation

To facilitate their reflection, pose the following questions:

    1. How did you get people to join your party? Did you persuade?  What compromises were necessary?  Did you offer to make changes in your positions to match theirs?  What kept you from joining other parties?
    2. How can the minority party get some of their choices on issues?  What are some of the consequences of not compromising?  Is being part of the majority the only goal? 
    3. Which issues were the easiest to get people to change?  Which were the hardest?  What values and principles are associated with those issues?  Which values and principles are difficult to compromise?
    4. Did you have to change from an A to a C or from a C to an A to join a party?
    5. Look at the final round issue positions.  How many A's, B's, and C's were there?  How many of each for the other parties?  What does this indicate about political parties? 
    6. What role may those in the minority party and those in 3rd or 4th parties play?  What is most important to them?  Being part of the majority or holding on to a particular issue?

IV. Watching the Video

Hand out the graphic organizer form and ask students to complete it while watching "The Professional Politician" video.  You may wish to model this by setting up an overhead somewhere away from the video and taking notes on the overhead.   Stop the video from time to time for students to share their observations and catch up on note taking.

Assessment

There are several options to assessing student performance on this lesson.  You may have students take a content test (matching/fill-in-the-blank) covering the essential actions of the presidents.  Or, conduct a scored discussion using post-viewing questions as an agenda.  The discussion can be scored using the following criteria:

  • Participation
  • Use of factual information and/or quotes from the video
  • Providing understanding, insightful comments and/or analogies
  • Leadership skill and including others in the conversation

Extension Activities

Below is a list of suggested activities to springboard off this lesson:

  • Have students select three values or principles that can serve as an election campaign slogan for each of the presidents.  They should provide real examples of the president taking action that supports those values and principles.
  • Assign students to use the text or other resources, such as The American President website, to find other actions taken by the presidents.  They should match them up with values and principles.
  • Ask students to find the Web pages of current presidential candidates.  What values and principles are important to them?  What policies positions indicate their values and principles?

Interdisciplinary Connections

Here are some ideas to connect this lesson to other classes:

  • English teachers may be interested in helping student write formal essay answers to one of the reflection questions.
  • Science, particularly bioethics, offers May dilemmas that can be discussed in a similar format.
  • Voting records for members of Congress are available online through the Library of Congress and Thomas:  www.loc.gov

Kent Willmann is a social studies and interdisciplinary teacher in Longmont, Colorado.

 

Principles, Politics and Practicalities

Position Recording Sheet

Directions:  For each of the issues below, circle which letter comes the closest to representing your point of view.  Write the letter of your selections in the position tracking grid where it says "My Positions."  ***Star the one choice you believe in the most.  You may not compromise on this issue until the final (5th) round. 

Issue 1:  Gun Control

    A. Current guns laws are a violation of our 2nd Amendment rights.
    B. We should maintain and enforce our current gun laws.
    C. Handguns and assault weapons should be illegal in the United States.

Issue 2:  Welfare

    A. Welfare programs should be cut drastically and people forced to work.
    B. People should get welfare for only a limited time.
    C. We must have more programs for the poor, particularly children.

Issue 3:  Affirmative Action

    A. Affirmative action programs must be eliminated because they discriminate against the majority.
    B. Discrimination is not as big a problem now and some programs should be eliminated.
    C. We must continue to add to programs that protect and promote people who have been discriminated against.

Issue 4:  Environment

    A. Laws protecting wildlife and restricting pollution are costing many American jobs.
    B. Current environment laws have been successful and should be continued.
    C. We need to take more steps to protect wildlife and to eliminate pollution.

Issue 5:  Federal Budget

    A. The surplus should be returned to tax payers in the form of tax rate cuts.
    B. The surplus should be used to help save Social Security and to pay down the national debt.
    C. The surplus should be used to create new programs for education and help the nation's poor and elderly.

Position Tracking Grid

Directions:  During the simulation, use this grid to keep track of your positions on the five issues.   Record your position as A, B, or C.  Be sure to put a star by the issue you think is most important.

Total number of people in your class _____ x .50 =  _____ number of people needed in your party to win

 

Issue 1

Gun Control

Issue 2

Welfare

Issue 3

Affirmative Action

Issue 4

Environment

Issue 5

Federal Budget

Number of People in Party

My Positions

            

Round 1

            

Round 2

            

Round 3

            

Round 4

            

Round 5

            

Principles, Politics and Practicalities

Graphic Organizer

Directions:  As you view "The Professional Politician" video, look for examples of presidential actions and decisions.   In what ways did compromise and/or cooperation play a role?  What values and principles are being supported?  How?  What was the result?  Write down some way of remembering each part of the video (what was on the screen or counter number).

 

Event/Decision

Compromise/
Cooperation

Value/Principles

Result

Video Marker

Van Buren

 

 

 

 

          

Buchanan

 

 

 

 

          

Lincoln

 

 

 

 

          

Johnson

 

 

 

 

          

 

Principles, Politics and Practicalities

Post-Viewing Discussion Questions

    1. Which presidents were able to follow their values and principles and get things done most successfully?  What enabled them to do so?

    2. Which presidents were less successful?  What got in their way?

    3. What values and principles were likely to be supported?  Which were less likely to be supported?

    4. Compare your party building experience with the events faced by the presidents in the video. 

    5. Were any presidents willing to endure the consequences of not compromising?  In the long run, did this turn out to be successful? 

    6. What are the consequences of not compromising?  When should we endure the consequences of not compromising?  Why does the answer to this question vary from person to person?

    7. How did political realities force the presidents to compromise some of their values and principles?

    8. What role is served by those individuals and groups who do not compromise?  Cite some examples.