C3 TEACHERS

11-12 Grade Civics Inquiry

What is the best form of

Government?

UN Photo/Loey Felipe A wide view of the UN Security Council chambers as members meet on the situation in the Middle East,
including the Palestinian question.

Supporting Questions
1. What are the main types of governments and how do they affect peoples’ lives
differently?
2. How do governments handle conflict and disagreement among citizens?
3. How do ideologies such as liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and communism shape
governmental policies and priorities?
4. What historical events have influenced the way these ideologies formed?

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Grade level Inquiry Title

What is the best form of Government?

D2.Civ.1.9-12. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and
international civic and political institutions
D2.Civ.3.9-12. Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the
maintenance of national and international order.
D2.Civ.9.9-12. Use appropriate deliberative processes in multiple settings.
Standards and Content
D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies,
promoting the common good, and protecting rights

Staging the Compelling Read the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a class and dissect the document in order to pose the
Question supporting questions.

Supporting Question 1 Supporting Question 2 Supporting Question 3 Supporting Question 4

What are the main types of
governments and how do
they affect peoples’ lives
differently?
Formative Performance
Task
List key features of each
major government type and
describe how they affect
peoples’ lives.
Featured Sources
Source A: Various founding
documents
How do governments handle How do ideologies such as What historical events
conflict and disagreement liberalism, conservatism, have influenced the way
among citizens? socialism, and communism these ideologies formed?
shape governmental
policies and priorities?
Formative Performance Formative Performance Formative Performance
Task Task Task
Create a T-chart of examples Have a class discussion of Develop a claim over a
of conflicts on one side; on the ideologies to create a historical event as to why
the other side, write a common ground definition you (as the student) think
description of why the of the ideologies. it shaped an ideology.
citizens may have disagreed
with the government.
Featured Sources Featured Sources Featured Sources
Source A: Magna Carta Source A: Communist Source A: Revolutionary
Source B: Communist Manifesto War event
Manifesto

ARGUMENT: What is the best form of Government? Construct an argument (e.g., detailed outline, poster,
essay) that evaluates the need to study, remember, and/or celebrate this expedition using specific claims and
relevant evidence from sources while acknowledging competing views.
Summative
Performance
Task
(see additional information on assessments in following pages)

Taking Understand: Students will form an informed argument for the supporting questions and research/cite the
Informed applied sources.

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Assess: Using the applied sources, create a list ranking the government types from best to worse with
Action justifications.
Act: Choose one of the options above to craft an argument to then present in front of the class.

*Featured sources are suggested and links are provided. It may be that these links are broken and we apologize in advance for the
inconvenience.

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Overview

Inquiry Description
This inquiry leads students through a civic investigation of the four major world governments. By investigating
the compelling question “What is the best form of Government?” students will evaluate these governments,
how they operate, how they handle internal and external events as well as how history has shaped them into
what they are today. Using the works of several primary sources, students will learn to craft an argument. The
formative performance tasks build on knowledge gained and skills learned throughout the course of inquiry and
help students recognize different perspectives in order to better understand the ways in which the governments
operate and if one is better than the other. Students create an evidence based argument using the primary
sources we look at in class about which government is the best form.

This inquiry highlights the following additional standards:

● D2.Civ.1.9-12. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political
institutions
● D2.Civ.3.9-12. Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the
maintenance of national and international order.
● D2.Civ.9.9-12. Use appropriate deliberative processes in multiple settings.

● D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good,
and protecting rights

It is important to note that this inquiry requires prerequisite knowledge of civics and will require having to already take a
government's class as well as their english literature class to know how to form and write an essay. This inquiry is
expected to take an estimated 10 50-minute class periods. The inquiry time frame could expand if teachers think their
students need additional instructional experiences(i.e., supporting questions,formative performance tasks,and featured
sources). Resources can also be modified as necessary to meet individualized education programs (IEPs) or Section 504
Plans for students with disabilities.

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Summative Performance Task

At this point in the inquiry, students have examined the four major government types in the world, and formed a basic
option of each type. We as a class have established the basic definition of each government and listed their key features
in order to answer all four supporting questions to reach a conclusion to answer the unit’s overall sparking question
“What is the best form of government?”

Students should be expected to demonstrate the breadth of their understandings and their abilities to use evidence
from multiple sources to support their claims. In this task, students are asked to construct an evidence-based argument
responding to the compelling question “What is the best form of government?”.

Students’ arguments will likely vary, but could include any of the following:

● Democracy is the best form of government as it allows citizens to participate in decision-making through
elections and ensures their rights and freedoms are protected by the rule of law.
● In a constitutional monarchy, there's a king or queen who doesn't have much power, just as a symbol. They
follow rules set by a constitution, which also protects people's rights and makes sure everyone has a say in how
things are run.
● Communist regimes promise equality and they promote unity and focus on what's best for everyone.
● Military dictatorship swiftly enforces order and makes decisive choices, ensuring stability and security for the
nation. Although it may limit civil liberties, this sacrifice guarantees efficient governance and protects the
country from internal threats, fostering long-term peace and prosperity.

Students argument tasks will be assessed using the following criteria (list elements of rubric):

● Making a claim/argument and having it be clearly identifiable

● Using evidence from the movies to support said claim/argument
● Close Reading (being able to identify what the filmmakers are trying to say)
● Contextualization (being able to identify why the movie might have been made)
● Presentation

In the Take Action Task students will

Demonstrate an UNDERSTANDING of the different government types and answer the supporting questions throughout the unit.

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Will be ASSESSED using the following criteria… Create a list of reasons as to why they believe their government type is best.

Will ACT by (describe what skills students will apply and authentic actions they will take with new knowledge)… Choose one of the
options and implement it as an individual, small group or class project. Students will use historical and critical thinking to evaluate
the sources to support their arguments. This could be with an essay, debate, presentation, etc. They will be encouraged to work
together to hone in on growing their collaborative skills but will also be allowed to work independently if wanted.