College Park High School / U.S. Government

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History-Social Studies Framework for California Public Schools (Chapter 17: Principles of American Democracy)

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Spring 2025 Research Project One: Due - Friday, March 14, 2025

Institutional vs. Structural Approaches to Analyzing U.S. Government - Research Project One Question

Book / Article Excerpts (Institutional Analyses)
  • [Book] Interest Group Politics - Loomis and Cigler
  • [Book] Free Speech Requires Campaign Money - Smith
  • [Book] The Road to Serfdom - Hayek
  • [Book] Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis - Von Mises
  • [Book] Capitalism and Freedom - Friedman
  • [Book] American Democracy in Peril - Hudson
  • Does Capitalism Cause Democracy? - Bailey
  • Socialism or Capitalism? A Soho Forum Debate - Epstein
  • How Socialism Leads to More Domination of Workers than Free Markets - Somin
  • The Case for Congress - Hamilton
    • Book / Article Excerpts (Structural "Critical" Analyses - POLITICAL ECONOMY)
  • Voices of Dissent (Introduction) - Grover and Peschek
  • The New Plutocracy - Schultz
  • American Oligarchy - Mother Jones Investigation
  • The USA Is An Oligarchy - Geopolitical Economy Report
  • Can Democracy and Billionaires Coexist? - Pizzigati
  • [Book] Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer - Baker
  • [Book] The Divine Right of Capital - Kelly
  • [Book] Democracy for the Few - Parenti
  • [Book] America Beyond Capitalism - Alperovitz
  • [Book] Myth America: Democracy vs. Capitalism - Boyer
  • [Book] Who Rules America? - Domhoff
  • [Book] Is That A Politician In Your Pocket? - Sifry and Watzman
  • The Common Good - Chomsky
  • The Power of the Rich - Tabb
  • The Market As Prison - Lindblom
  • Global Ecology and the Common Good - Bellamy Foster
  • Capitalism and the Environment - Magdoff and Foster
  • A Short History of Neoliberalism - George
  • The Straightjacket of Thin Democracy - Moore Lappe
  • This Land is Your Land - Hightower
    • Book / Article Excerpts (Structural "Critical" Analyses - IDEOLOGY AND CULTURE)
  • What Is the American Dream? - Hochschild
  • Liberal Individualism and the Crisis of Citizenship - Bellah, et. al.
  • Power of Majority Opinion in America Over Thought - Alexis de Tocqueville
  • Happiness and the American Dream - Gustave Speth
  • The Theology of American Empire - Chernus
  • The Greatest Nation on Earth - Jensen
    • Book / Article Excerpts (Structural "Critical" Analyses - CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATE STRUCTURES)
  • Declaring Independence From the Declaration of Independence - Joyce
  • American Exceptionalism and the Politics of Fragmentation - Cohen and Rogers
  • The Dark Side of the Constitution - Dolbeare and Medcalf
  • The Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the Decline of American Democracy - Lazare
  • Our Godless Constitution - Allen
  • Some Truths Are Not Self-Evident - Zinn
    • Magazine, Journal, and Web Articles
  • Capitalism is Antithetical to Democracy - Urie
  • Do Capitalism and Democracy Really Need Each Other? - Amico
  • Why Capitalism is in Constant Conflict With Democracy - Wolff
  • Capitalism and the Illusion of Democracy - Urie
  • Varoufakis Details Vision for Ending 'Global Empire of Capital' to Avert Catastrophe - Varoufakis
  • Some Reflections on Systemic Racism and Capitalism - Gendrault
  • With Western Imperialism Decline, Capitalism Is in Crisis -- a New Phase Is Emerging - Romeiro Hermeto
  • Why Work Sucks: Capitalist Alienation and Socialist Human Potential - Koulouris
  • Are You Working For A Psycho? - Bakan
  • Capitalism and Democracy "Don't Mix Very Well" - Street
    • Internet Websites on Corporate Power and Democracy
  • Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy
  • Multinational Monitor
  • Center for Public Integrity
  • United for a Fair Economy
  • Public Citizen

    • Spring 2025 Research Project Two: Due - Tuesday, May 27, 2025

    The 2024 Presidential Election: Continuity or Change? - Research Project Two Question

    Recent Books for the Research Paper:

    Click Here To See Titles

    Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Conservative / Republican)
  • The Political Spectrum
  • The Republican Party Home Page
  • Trump vs. the Deep State - Lawrence
  • What Odds, as Trump Takes on the Deep State? - Lawrence
  • Why Major Dissident Figures Now Back Trump - Hunter
  • Project 2025 - The Heritage Foundation
  • The Second American Revolution: Rebuilding Conservatism and Restoring Self-Government
  • The 3 Big Differences Between Conservatives and Progressives
  • Dispatch from Davos: Trump is Both Symptom and Driver of Our New Political Era
  • How Trump Can Combat the Harris Surge - Continetti
  • The Cult of Kamala - Hunter
  • Review: 'Government Gangsters' Chronicles the Deep State's Plot to Destroy Trump - Mansour
  • Trump Gives Isolated Americans the Chance to Hate Alone Together - York
  • New Poll: 2024 Republican Nomination Appears to Be Trump's for the Taking - Davis
  • Three Weeks into Joining Race, Kamala Harris Has No Policies - Pollak
  • Failure of "Bidenomics" Is Rankling Americans - Antoni
  • Biden the Liar - Cooke
  • Liz Cheney Would Rather See Democrats Win in 2024 - Garrity
  • Poll: Majority Believe Joe Biden Is 'Too Old to Effectively Serve' a Second Term - Bleau
  • Leave Trump Alone - Van Buren
  • CNN Poll: Most Republicans Believe GOP Has Best Chance to Win in 2024 if Donald Trump Is the Nominee - Bleau
  • 'What Happened to Unity?': Rush Limbaugh Says Biden 'Insulted' 75M Trump Voters in Speech - Soellner
  • Bernie Sanders: The Green Mountian Red - Smith
  • American Politics Change, But American Parties Endure - Mandelbaum
  • Trump's 2020 Vision - Antle III
  • (Book) The Rise and Fall of American Political Parties: 1790 - 2000 - Silbey
  • (Book) Free Speech Requires Campaign Money - Smith
  • (Book) Dollars and Votes - Clawson
  • The View From 1787 - Cost
  • Newsmax
  • One America News Network
  • The Continuing Woes of the "Establishment" - Larison
    • Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Liberal / Democrat)
  • The Democratic Party Home Page
  • Kamala Harris is Not Perfect - But We Have To Beat Trump!
  • A New Way Forward - Kamala Harris
  • This Election Isn't About a Perfect Candidate, It's About Our Futures - Parish Moreno
  • Harris Is Pushing Joy. Trump Paints A Darker Picture. Will Mismatched Moods Matter? - Weissert and Price
  • Joe Biden Says He Fulfilled This 'Obligation' By Dropping Out - Vlachou
  • Kamala Harris More Trusted on Economy as Donald Trump Loses Major Advantage - Carbonaro
  • Donald Trump is Stuggling - Brown
  • Happy Warriors Harris and Walz Propose an Antidote to Trump's American Carnage - Collinson
  • Turn Out, Not Polls, Will Determine Who Wins in 2024 - Lawrence
  • Trump Gives Isolated Americans the Chance to Hate Alone Together - Mazzarino
  • Portraying Trump as the Fascist He Is Could Save US Democracy - Green
  • The Garbage of 'Lesser of Two Evils' Discontents - Reich
  • 'Jail' Roger Stone Uproar as Congressmen Assassination Threat Audio Leaks
  • Voting for President Is Not an Exercise in Personal Expression - Zimmerman
  • The Doubtful Future of the American Experiment - Gurtov
  • Former Obama Advisor David Axelrod Says Cornel West's Presidential Candidacy Could Swing the 2024 Election to Trump - Dorman
  • Is Anybody but Trump Excited About the 2024 Election Beginning? - Nolan Brown
  • The Trump Case and the Decline of True American Nationalism - Pillar
  • An Open Letter to the Green Party for 2020 - Chomsky, et. al.
  • Imagine Yourself With Two Abusive Boyfriends... - Brown
  • 'They Let Him Get Away with Murder': Dems Tormented Over How to Stop Bernie - Korecki
  • Fake President - The Ralph Nader Radio Hour
  • How the Little Guy Gets Crunched - Barlett and Steele
  • White Supremacists Are Infiltrating the GOP From the Ground Up - Rivers Pitt
  • (Book) The Presidential Spectacle - Miroff
  • Can Hillary Clinton Convince Voters They're Not Settling? - Brownstein
  • Another Neocon Endorses Clinton, Calling Her '2016's Real Conservative' and 'the Candidate of the Status Quo' - Norton
  • Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright Scold Young Women Backing Bernie Sanders - Rappeport
    • Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Critical / Radical)
  • The Political Compass
  • Should the Political and Economic Systems Be Changed? Americans Speak
  • Billionaire BlackRock CEO:'Doesn't Matter' Who Wins US Election; Trump & Kamala Harris Benefit Wall Street - Geopolitical Economy Report with Ben Norton
  • Trump's Rule by Fiat a Bipartisan Legacy - Rotondaro
  • Neo-Feudalism: The Enemy the Left Must Name to Defeat - Rotondaro
  • Democracy Doesn't Exist in the United States (interview with Chris Hedges) - Up Front / Al Jazeera English
  • Biden's Pernicious Presidential Legacies - Rasmus
  • Trump Keeps His Promises While Democrats Must Be Abandoned - Kimberley
  • Phony Anti-Establishment Schtick - Johnstone
  • Radical Change in the USA: Prospects for Domestic Revolution - Tomlinson
  • "It's the System, Stupid!" The Underlying Causes of Trump's Victory - Rubenstein
  • Harris and Trump Debate Maintenance of the Status Quo - Kimberly
  • Catastrophe At the Ballot Box - Kavanagh
  • Kamala Harris - A New Hope Or A Mirage? - Shibabaw
  • Kamala Harris is the New Face Being Put on America's Wars - Urie
  • Will Kamala Make Idealism Great Again? - Bovard
  • Democrats Deploy Bernie Sanders to Con Workers and Youth Into Supporting Harris-Walz Campaign - Crosse
  • Black Left Critique of Kamala Harris - Black Agenda Report
  • Capitalism, Mass Anger and the 2024 Elections - Wolff
  • Biden Out - We Need a New Party, Not a New Democrat - Hubbard
  • The Biden-Trump Debate and the Crisis of the American Political System - Mackaman
  • Why Socialists Don't Vote for Our Enemies - Mark J.
  • The Lesser Evil Gambit - Koehler
  • The Sad Spectacle of Lesser-Evil Elections - Systemic Disorder
  • A Class Analysis of the Trump-Biden Rerun - Wolff
  • An Election for the Billionaires - Martin
  • America's Stunted Political Spectrum - Second Thought
  • American Oligarchy - Mother Jones Investigation
  • These Statistics Show Why the Status Quo is Failing Most Americans - Poole
  • Wall Street or the Working Class: The Democrats Must Choose - Leopold
  • Third Party? America Doesn't Even Have a Second Party - Knapp
  • Ralph Nader: Democrats Ushered in an Era of Corporate Fascism - Scheer
  • The Trump/Biden Handoff: Business as Usual, as Usual - Knapp
  • The Deep State's Stealthy, Subversive, Silent Coup to Ensure Nothing Changes - Whitehead
  • U.S. Ruling Class Wins Again - Mackler
  • Two Capitalist Parties Compete, Humanity Loses - Urie
  • Affluent Authoritarianism: New Evidence on Public Opinion and Policy - Ferguson
  • Class: The Little Word the Elites Want You to Forget - Hedges
  • Neither Democrats Nor Republicans Will Admit the Problem Is Capitalism Itself - Wolff
  • Billionaires and American Politics - Wittner
  • Vowing Not to 'Demonize' the Rich, Biden Tells Billionaires 'Nothing Would Fundamentally Change' If He Was Elected - Higgins
  • Elections and the Illusion of Political Control - Urie
  • (Book) The Limits of Presidential Power - Genovese
  • (Book) Democracy for the Few - Parenti
  • (Book) Is That A Politician In Your Pocket? Washington on $2 Million a Day - Sifry and Watzman
  • (Book) Dynasties: How Their Wealth and Power Threaten Democracy - Phillips
  • The Rise of American Authoritarianism - Taub
  • Overwhelming Majority of Americans Believe that Both Parties Are Too Corrupt to Change Anything - Washington's Blog
  • Ordinary Americans Fought Big Money and Won in 2015 - Mason
    • Books / Articles / Reports / Documents / Websites (Third Party)
  • Claudia and Karina 2024!
  • The Chris Hedges Report: Campaigning Against Genocide (w/ Dr. Jill Stein & Butch Ware)
  • Instead of Trashing Cornel West, Here's What Democrats Could Do If They Actually Cared About Social and Economic Justice - McCarley
  • Project 2025 Is No Match for MAGA Dysfunction - Slade
  • Presidential Candidate Jill Stein On Gaza, The Two-Party System and US Militarism - Interview with Mnar Adley
  • The Democrats' "All-Out War" on Third Parties and Independent Candidates - Crosse
  • Black Media Misleaders Do the Democrats' Dirty Work - Kimberly
  • Breaking Down Cornel West's Campaign So Far (w/ Sabby Sabs) - Journalists for Sale (Jones and Ramos)
  • Cornel West Runs for President: You Can't Be a Spoiler if the System Is Already Rotten - Harris
  • We Should Not Disregard or Disrespect Cornel West's Candidacy for President of the United States - Griffen
  • Cornel West and the Campaign to End Political Apartheid - Hedges
  • Could Cornel West Help the Greens Win Ballot Access in 50 States? - Garrison
  • Cornel West's Candidacy is 'For The Least of These' - The Chris Hedges Report
  • Cornel West on Running for President, Ending Ukraine War & Taking on "Corporate Duopoly" of Dems & GOP - Democracy Now!
  • Socialist Alternative
  • Why We Need a New Progressive Party and How We Can Create It - Rall
  • You Can Trust 'Left Liberals' to be Liberals First (and Left Last): A Reply to Chomsky & Friends' Open Letter - Rasmus
  • Bossing Grown Folks Around: The Open Letter to the Greens - Moser
  • Sorry Chomsky and Friends, the Green Party Isn't the Problem - Pemberton
  • Why the Green Party Isn't the Problem - Hoenig
  • (Book) Spoiling for a Fight: Third Party Politics in America - Sifry
  • Truth + Justice = Green Party's Trailblazing World Peace Platform - Smith

    • Spring 2025 Final Research Project: Due - Tuesday, May 27, 2025

    The Four Theories of American Government - Final Research Project Question

    Text Assignments - Spring 2025 (Due: Upon Completion of Lecture)

    Final Exam Study Guide - Spring 2025

    Examples of Student Papers Receiving "A" Grades

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    Recent Articles, Documentaries, and Websites of Interest for US Government Students:

  • For United States Rulers - Not Just for the Military Industrial Complex - Being AT War is Far More Important than Winning a War - Spritzler
  • American Oligarchy - Mother Jones Investigation
  • World's First Trillionaire Just 10 Years Away as Richest Men Double Their Wealth - Johnson
  • Geography and History Render the U.S. the Most Defensible Country in the World - Indeed It Spends Far More Than Any Other Country On Its Military - Johnston
  • Essay: Anatomy of the Deep State - Lofgren
  • Trump Against Empire: Is That Why They Hate Him? - Parenti
  • The Deep State Hiding in Plain Sight - Moyers and Company
  • The War on Journalism: The Case of Julian Assange
  • The UBER Files - International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
  • OK Chloe: Millennial MP Challenges the New Zealand Establishment - Video
  • A Message From the Future II: "Years of Repair"
  • Granny D Goes to Washington
  • The Political Compass
  • Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens - Gilens and Page
  • Measuring Rates of Return for Lobbying Expenditures: An Empirical Analysis Under the American Jobs Creation Act - Alexander, Scholz, and Mazza
  • The Powell Memo (also known as the Powell Manifesto) - Reclaim Democracy!
  • The Crisis of Democracy - The Trilateral Commission (1973)
  • The Collapse of the American Empire? - The Agenda with Steve Paikin
  • Corruption is Legal in America - Represent.Us
  • Unbreaking America: A NEW Short Film about Solving the Corruption Crisis - Represent.Us
  • The Lie We Live [Smart Kid - A Nice Wake-Up Call] - Spencer Cathcart
  • War Is A Racket - Major General Smedley Butler
  • Four Horsemen - Documentary (Great Stuff! Check This Out!)
  • Empire Files: Peter Joseph & Abby Martin on Abolishing Capitalism
  • The Propaganda Multiplier:How Global News Agencies and Western Media Report on Geopolitics - Swiss Propaganda Research
  • Tipping Point: The End of Oil - Documentary
  • Capitalism Never Solves Its Crises; It Moves Them Around Geographically - RSAnimate
  • Two American Families - Frontline Documentary
  • Global Wealth Inequality: What You Never Knew You Never Knew - therules.org
  • Wealth Inequality in America - therules.org
  • Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us - Institute for Policy Studies
  • Park Ave: Wealth, Poverty, and the American Dream - Documentary
  • Shadows of Liberty - Documentary (Mass Media)
  • Plutocracy in America - Brenner
  • Addicted To War - Andreas
  • Consent Without Consent: Reflections on the Theory and Practice of Democracy - Chomsky
  • The Untouchables - Frontline Documentary
  • The Crisis of Civilization - Documentary
  • Let Your Life Be A Friction That Stops The Machine - Class War Films
  • Political Fraud - Class War Films
  • Financial Crime - Class War Films
  • Imperial Decay - Class War Films
  • WikiRebels - Documentary
  • Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis - Documentary
  • The Purchase of Our Republic - Falkson
  • Empire Under Obama: Counterinsurgency, Death Squads, and the Population as the Target - Marshall
  • Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? - Taibbi
  • Smash the Control Machine - Otep Rocks!
  • The Story of Stuff Project
  • Prologue: Why You Shouldn't Let Collapse Get You Down - Sid Smith
  • The World is Coming to an End - Prince Ea
  • The Final Word from My Two Favorite Comedians of All Time on "The Big Question"