Civic Literacy Curriculum

Introduction

Just because a bill passes through Congress does not mean it is either good policy or constitutional. This activity will give students the chance to practice their decision-making skills by deciding if they will -- or will not -- sign a bill into law. There are two variants of the activity, (one using a bill about pets, the other about “Drug X”, which is effectively a stand in for some of the contemporary legal issues surrounding medical marijuana but which has been made generic so that the students will assess the issue with more distance). Both require students to consider the same underlying constitutional or policy issues, with a discussion of a decision-making process at the end.

By using the optional documents, this activity can introduce the students to the decision-making model that is often taught in management courses to make decisions and solve problems. 

Preparation

• Provide each group with the Federalism reading. 
• Provide each group with the case study, either:  
  • New bill regarding pet ownership 
  • New bill regulating Drug X
• Provide each group with an organizer (optional).  
• A rubric is available if this is a graded activity.

Required files

The Teaching Materials for this exercise includes a rubric.

Instructions

1. This activity works well as an individual assignment. However, depending on the age and/or skills level of the students, you may want to have them work in pairs. 
   • If that is the case, divide the class into pairs based on the students’ individual levels. Group A is the group that needs some extra support. Group B is the core group that has the core knowledge to complete the activity. Group C is the enrichment group who have mastered the material and are prepared to extend their knowledge. Pair those who need support (Group A) with those who have core knowledge and/or have mastered the material (Groups B and C).
2. Explain to the students that they must determine whether a specific bill should be signed into law. Not only do they have to consider the merits of the underlying policy, but if they sign the law, they may violate the Constitution, which the president takes an oath to uphold and enforce. 
   • You want them to focus on the question of power: does the federal government have the authority to tell every state what to do on this topic? The students must decide if they believe Congress has the power to make the decision (regulate pets or medical marijuana) or if they believe either that the Constitution forbids the federal government from doing this.  If they believe the bill is constitutional they should still explain whether they it would be better for the states to decide the issue individually and thus veto the bill on policy grounds, or if it is constitutional, if it is also good policy to have a uniform rule on this issue.
   • If the students are not familiar with the decision-making process itself, review the steps with them at this point.
3. They will receive a reading about federalism.
4. After they complete the reading, they need to read the case relating to the bill and determine if they will or will not sign the bill. 
   • Emphasize again that they are not deciding on the topic or policy itself. They do not have to have an opinion on the topic and need to keep their personal feelings in check. 
   • They must decide if they will sign the bill, which takes the decision away from the states, or veto the bill, which will mean the states continue to make their own decision regarding the topic.
   • If you wish, provide them with the worksheet, which they can use to organize their argument.
5. Circulate throughout the room to help students as needed.
6. Once the students have made their decision, hold a roundtable discussion. Consider using some of these questions: 
   • Will you sign or not sign the bill? Why or why not? Is it constitutional? If constitutional, is it a good idea or good policy, or no?
   • How does the particular issue affect your opinion? Would you feel differently if the issue was (insert a current event)?
   • Even though you need to keep them out of the decision-making process, did personal feelings affect your decision? For example, did you like what the bill did, but thought it unconstitutional for the federal government to act? Would you support this at the state level instead?
   • Even though it was not one of the options for this assignment, the President can tell Congress that he or she will not sign the bill unless it is revised. Would that be a choice you would rather make? Why? What changes would you insist on? Or would you try to convince state governors to pass similar bills in their states?

Note: You may wish to turn this into an interdisciplinary activity and join forces with the English department and have the students write a short paper, an editorial, or a letter to the editor to justify their choices.