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eLECTIONS State Standards - Oklahoma


OKLAHOMA SEA HOMEPAGE

OKLAHOMA CONTENT STANDARDS ALL

OKLAHOMA SOCIAL STUDIES CONTENT STANDARDS (PDF)


UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

High School

Standard 1: The student will demonstrate process skills in social studies.
  1. Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and secondary sources, such as artifacts, letters, photographs, art, documents, newspapers, and contemporary media (e.g., television, motion pictures, and computer-based technologies) that reflect events in United States government and politics.
  2. Interpret economic and political issues as expressed in maps, tables, diagrams, charts, political cartoons, and economic graphs.
  3. Make distinctions among propaganda, fact and opinion; evaluate cause and effect relationships; and draw conclusions in examining documentary sources.
  4. Develop discussion, debate, and persuasive writing and speaking skills, focusing on enduring issues (e.g., individual rights versus the common good, and problems of intolerance toward cultural, ethnic, and religious groups).

Standard 4: The student will describe the purpose of government and analyze how its powers are acquired, used, and justified.
  1. Distinguish between civic life (i.e., the public life of the citizen concerned with community and national affairs) and private life (i.e., the personal life of the individual devoted to the pursuit of private interests).
  2. Examine political authority, its sources and functions, and the difference between authority and power without authority.
  3. Distinguish between and explain the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited governments, and identify historical and contemporary examples of each.

Standard 5: The student will compare and contrast how governments are organized in terms of the number of people who have access to power (i.e., despotism, oligarchy, republic, and democracy), where power is located (i.e., unitary, federal, and confederal), and the relationship between the legislative and executive branches (i.e., presidential and parliamentary).

Standard 6: The student will analyze and describe examples of fundamental United States constitutional principles contained in the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Federalist Papers, and the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments.

Standard 7: The student will identify and explain the fundamental concepts of the system of government of the United States.
  1. The equality of all citizens under the law
  2. Majority rule and minority rights
  3. The fundamental worth and dignity of the individual
  4. The necessity of compromise
  5. Individual freedom
  6. The rule of law
  7. Constitutionalism and limited government
  8. Democracy and republicanism
  9. Consent of the governed
  10. Liberties, privileges, rights, and responsibilities

Standard 11: The student will explain and give contemporary examples of how political parties, interest groups, the media, and individuals influence the policy agenda and decision-making of government institutions.

Standard 12: The student will describe the components of campaigns for national, state and local elective office, including the nominative process; campaign funding and spending, the influence of the media, advertising, and polling; reapportionment and redistricting; the role of the electoral college; and the term-limitation movement.

Standard 13: The student will explain the rights, responsibilities, and benefits of citizenship in the United States, such as voting, jury duty, obedience to lawful authority, and private ownership of property.