A major goal of this perspective is for students to develop a willingness to assume citizenship responsibilities and to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a pluralistic, democratic society in an interdependent world. Students are expected to be able to explain the meaning and origin of the ideas of the core democratic values expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other foundational documents of the United States.

Examples of Benchmarks -(When you reach the Michigan Framework for the Social Studies website, scroll down to the Civic Perspective and click on one of the standards to view K-12 benchmarks for that standard.)

Democracy in Action: Using actual cases, evaluate the effectiveness of civil and criminal courts in the United States.

American Government and World Affairs: Describe events in other countries that have affected Americans and, conversely, events the United States that have affected other countries.

American Government and Politics: Explain how American governmental institutions, at the local, state, and federal levels, provide for the limitation and sharing of power and how the nation's political system provides for the exercise of power.

Purpose of Government: Describe how the federal government in the United States serves the purposes set forth in the Preamble to the Constitution.

Examples of Key Civics Concepts