National Standards for Civics and Government

K-4 Content Standards

What is Government and What Should It Do?

1. What is government?

2. Where do people in government get the authority to make, apply, and enforce rules and laws and manage disputes about them?

3. Why is government necessary?

4. What are some of the most important things governments do?

5. What are the purposes of rules and laws?

6. How can you evaluate rules and laws?

7. What are the differences between limited and unlimited governments?

8. Why is it important to limit the power of government?

What are the Basic Values and Principles of American Democracy?

1. What are the most important values and principles of American democracy?

2. What are some important beliefs Americans have about themselves and their government?

3. Why is it important for americans to share certain values, principles, and beliefs?

4. What are the benefits of diversity in the United States?

5. How should conflicts about diversity be prevented or managed?

6. How can people work together to promote the values and principles of American democracy?

How Does the Government Established by the Constitution Embody the Purposes, Values, and Principles of American Democracy?

1. What is the United States Constitution and why is it important?

2. What does the national government do and how does it protect individual rights and promote the common good?

3. What are the major responsibilities of state governments?

4. What are the major responsibilities of local governments?

5. Who represents you in the legislative and executive branches of your local, state, and national governments?

What is the Relationship of the United States to Other Nations and to World Affairs?

1. How is the world divided into nations?

2. How do nations interact with one another?

What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?

1. What does it mean to be a citizen of the United States?

2. How does a person become a citizen?

3. What are important rights in the United States?

4. What are important responsibilities of Americans?

5. What dispositions or traits of character are important to the preservation and improvement of American democracy?

6. How can Americans participate in their government?

7. What is the importance of political leadership and public service?

8. How should Americans select leaders?



Directed by the Center for Civic Education
and funded by the U.S. Department of Education and The Pew Charitable Trusts
Copyright 1994-2007 Center for Civic Education
All rights reserved


Printer-Friendly Version