ONE SEMESTER · OFFERED EVERY FEW YEARS
Before asking how government works, we ask what it ought to do—and why.
I teach this semester course every few years. Students examine justice, freedom, equality, and responsibility, then test those ideas against the choices and institutions of American government.
BOOKS & PRIMARY SOURCES
The two central texts in the Spring 2023 semester archive. Assigned chapters connect philosophical arguments with American institutions and public choices.
Utilitarianism, libertarianism, markets, Rawls, Kant, and affirmative action.
The founding, Constitution, federalism, civil liberties, parties, interest groups, and media.
Titles identify the readings; books are not reproduced here. See the assignment sheets for specific chapters and excerpts.
READ CLOSELY · DISCUSS · RECONSIDER
Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? anchors our conversations about utilitarianism, libertarianism, Rawls, Kant, markets, and equality. We the People connects those debates to the Constitution, federalism, parties, interest groups, and the media.
Students prepare through reading and short written responses, then support their positions in discussion and consider the strongest arguments against them.
The course emphasizes prepared, thoughtful participation. Students examine cases, discuss current events, analyze films and reporting, and revisit their assumptions about government and public responsibility.
Regular self-reflection asks students to identify a contribution they value, something they want to improve, and evidence of their growth. I retain responsibility for the final assessment and discuss disagreements with students individually.
THE WHOLE SEMESTER, TOGETHER
Read all 47 dated entries across 6 units on one page, with daily classwork and homework in the course’s teaching order.
Open the full-semester assignment sheet ↗Print the complete semester or use your browser’s Print → Save as PDF.
BROWSE THE COMPLETE COURSE
The month menu covers every month with dated lessons in this archived course. View the whole semester, choose a unit, or combine both filters to narrow the daily plans.
Showing 6 of 6 units · 47 dated entries
ARCHIVED CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK · UNIT 1
What makes a government just?
Compare utilitarianism, libertarianism, and Rawls’s theory of justice through Michael J. Sandel’s Justice and short written arguments.
Open printable assignment sheet ↗Read each day below: In class shows the work students do together; Homework / preparation shows what they complete outside class and when it is due. Search within this unit, or use the course-wide unit and month filters above.
Showing 11 of 11 dated entries · Spring 2023 · Unit 1
Course introduction: What makes a government just?
Complete the chapter, “Doing the Right Thing,” from Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? for Tuesday. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the following prompt: What wounds deserve the Purple Heart?
Reading and preparation day.
No additional homework.
Is America’s government “the best”? Clip: The Newsroom. Discuss. Break out into groups to discuss “what would your government look like? What laws would there be? Why?”
Complete the chapter, “The Greatest Happiness Principle/Utilitarianism,” from Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? for Friday. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the following prompt: Can the utility principle support the idea that certain individual rights should be upheld even if doing so makes the majority very unhappy? If not, which should give way—respect for individual rights, or the utility principle itself?
Discuss Sandel reading. Share responses.
No additional homework.
Introduce "We the People" and register for online resources.
No additional homework.
Discuss Sandel reading. Share responses.
Complete the chapter, “Do We Own Ourselves: Libertarianism,” from Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? for Monday Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the following prompt: If you accept the idea that we own ourselves, must you also accept the conclusion that all paternalist and redistributive laws are unjust? If, on the other hand, you believe that government should tax the rich to help the poor, how do you answer the libertarian argument that such laws are a form of coerced charity that makes every person the property (perhaps even the slave) of the majority?
Discuss Sandel reading. Share responses.
Complete the chapter, “Markets and Morals," from Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? for Thursday. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the following prompt: What do you think about the morality of prostitution? Is it morally wrong to sell (or rent) the use of one’s sexual organs? Is it morally wrong to buy sex? Should it be legal to buy or sell sex?
Breaking down this week in politics and the news.
No additional homework specified.
Discuss Sandel reading. Share responses.
No additional homework.
Breaking down Thomas Hobbes: The Leviathan (1651).
Complete the chapter, “The Case for Equality/John Rawls,” from Michael J. Sandel’s Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? for Monday. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the following prompt: One way to think about justice is to imagine a social contract in which people come together to choose the basic principles that will govern their society. Would the principles chosen in this way be fair? What does Rawls think? Do you agree? Why?
Discuss Sandel reading. Share responses.
For Thursday, please read Chapter 2 in We the People, "The Founding and the Constitution."
ARCHIVED CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK · UNIT 2
How do constitutional compromises distribute power and protect liberty?
Examine the Constitution’s strengths, limits, and compromises alongside readings from We the People.
Open printable assignment sheet ↗Read each day below: In class shows the work students do together; Homework / preparation shows what they complete outside class and when it is due. Search within this unit, or use the course-wide unit and month filters above.
Showing 5 of 5 dated entries · Spring 2023 · Unit 2
Discuss Sandel reading. Share responses.
For Thursday, please read Chapter 2 in We the People, "The Founding and the Constitution."
Discussing compromise, strengths, weaknesses, and promises of the Constitution (1 of 2).
No additional homework.
Discussing compromise, strengths, weaknesses, and promises of the Constitution (2 of 2).
No additional homework.
Analyze representation under the Great Compromise and the expansion of voting rights.
Please complete the Inquizitive, Module 2.10, for Monday.
Discussing strengths and weaknesses of Federalism, focusing on Hurricane Katrina. What does the federal government owe the states? What do the states owe the government? What do states owe other states? (1 of 2).
For Thursday, please read Chapter 3 in We the People, "Federalism."
ARCHIVED CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK · UNIT 3
What do national, state, and local governments owe one another—and the people?
Use Hurricane Katrina and When the Levees Broke to examine shared power, public responsibility, and the consequences of government action.
Open printable assignment sheet ↗Read each day below: In class shows the work students do together; Homework / preparation shows what they complete outside class and when it is due. Search within this unit, or use the course-wide unit and month filters above.
Showing 8 of 8 dated entries · Spring 2023 · Unit 3
Discussing strengths and weaknesses of Federalism, focusing on Hurricane Katrina. What does the federal government owe the states? What do the states owe the government? What do states owe other states? Watch "When The Levees Broke" Part 2. Discuss.
For Thursday, please read Chapter 3 in We the People, "Federalism."
Discussing strengths and weaknesses of Federalism, focusing on Hurricane Katrina. What does the federal government owe the states? What do the states owe the government? What do states owe other states? Watch "When The Levees Broke" Part 2. Discuss.
For Thursday, please read Chapter 3 in We the People, "Federalism."
Discuss reading, part 1.
For next Friday, please read Chapter 4 in We the People, "Civil Liberties."
No Class — Early Dismissal
No class.
No additional homework specified.
No School — President's Day
No class.
No additional homework specified.
No School — Extended Holiday
No class.
No additional homework specified.
Discuss reading, part 2.
For Monday, please read Chapter 5 in Justice, "What Matters Is the Motive: Immanuel Kant"
Reading day.
No additional homework.
ARCHIVED CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK · UNIT 4
Should we judge an action by its motives, its consequences, or its fairness?
Return to Sandel to discuss Kant, moral duty, and the arguments surrounding affirmative action.
Open printable assignment sheet ↗Read each day below: In class shows the work students do together; Homework / preparation shows what they complete outside class and when it is due. Search within this unit, or use the course-wide unit and month filters above.
Showing 6 of 6 dated entries · Spring 2023 · Unit 4
Discuss reading, part 2.
For Monday, please read Chapter 5 in Justice, "What Matters Is the Motive: Immanuel Kant." Please respond to this prompt in 1-2 paragraphs: "According to Kant, morality is doing the right thing just because you know it’s the right thing. Is that true? Kant imagines a shopkeeper who does not overcharge his customers only because he fears that word of his dishonesty will spread and he’ll lose money. Kant thinks there’s nothing morally worthy about his action; his honesty is mere prudence, mere selfishness. Do you agree?"
Reading day.
No additional homework.
Discuss Chapter 5 in Justice, "What Matters Is the Motive: Immanuel Kant."
For Thursday, please read Chapter 7 in Justice, "Arguing Affirmative Action." Please respond to this prompt in 1-2 paragraphs: “Barbara Grutter, a white woman, applied to law school at the University of Michigan. She was rejected, even though her grades were higher than some of the minority candidates who were admitted. This time, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the University of Michigan had acted lawfully, because racial diversity at law school was an important goal. Do you agree? Was the decision just or unjust?”
Discuss affirmative action through a video and class conversation.
No additional homework.
Discuss Chapter 7 in Justice, "Arguing Affirmative Action."
No additional homework.
Class community outing.
No additional homework specified.
ARCHIVED CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK · UNIT 5
Whose voices shape public policy, and how?
Examine Citizens United, campaign spending, lobbying, political parties, and the tobacco and e-cigarette industries.
Open printable assignment sheet ↗Read each day below: In class shows the work students do together; Homework / preparation shows what they complete outside class and when it is due. Search within this unit, or use the course-wide unit and month filters above.
Showing 7 of 7 dated entries · Spring 2023 · Unit 5
Welcome back! Watch PBS' "Parties and Interest Groups."
For Monday, please read Chapter 8 (which is our Unit 5, as we are going out of order) in We The People.
Discuss PBS' "Parties and Interest Groups." Reading period.
No additional homework.
Dissecting the Tobacco and E-Cig industry. Read and discuss "In Washington, Juul Vows to Curb Youth Vaping. Its Lobbying in States Runs Counter to That Pledge."
No additional homework.
Watch Thank You for Smoking.
Complete reading.
Finish Thank You for Smoking. Discuss.
No additional homework specified.
Discuss Chapter 8 (1 of 2).
No additional homework.
Discuss Chapter 8 (2 of 2).
No additional homework.
ARCHIVED CLASSWORK & HOMEWORK · UNIT 6
How does the press shape what citizens know and what government can do?
Study political news, media influence, and press freedom through readings and analysis of Outfoxed and The Post.
Open printable assignment sheet ↗Read each day below: In class shows the work students do together; Homework / preparation shows what they complete outside class and when it is due. Search within this unit, or use the course-wide unit and month filters above.
Showing 10 of 10 dated entries · Spring 2023 · Unit 6
Introduce new unit I The Media. Watch documentary, Outfoxed
For Tuesday, please read and be prepared to discuss "The Media" in We the People.
Finish and discuss documentary, Outfoxed.
No additional homework.
Discuss "The Media" (part 1)
No additional homework.
No Class — Parent/Teacher Conferences
No class.
No additional homework specified.
No School — Parent/Teacher Conferences
No class.
No additional homework specified.
No School — Patriot's Day
No class.
No additional homework specified.
Discuss "The Media" (part 2)
For Tuesday, please read and be prepared to discuss "The Media" in We the People.
Mr. Cutler is away at a journalism conference
Watch "The Post" in class. Please mark down ending period before class ends.
No additional homework.
Mr. Cutler is away at a journalism conference
Continue watching "The Post" in class. Please mark down ending period before class ends.
No additional homework.
Finish "The Post" in class. Please mark down ending period before class ends.
No additional homework.
READ · PRINT · REVIEW
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6 resources
Course archive · see document attribution
External source · youtube.com
External source · youtube.com