The Powers of National and State Government

Why is separation of powers within a government important for protecting freedom? How does the United States Constitution organize the nation's governing bodies in order to ensure powers are limited and balanced? This video illustrates...

To war! To war! Every nation in the history of the world has had to deal with warfare on some level. Scholars go through a series of activities and discussions surrounding the development of the Constitution to help them better...

Should states or the federal government have more power? With this fantastic online interactive, your pupils will be charged with the task of identifying arguments that support either federal or state power.

Popular culture often portrays the Feds as the most fearsome of law enforcement agencies. Yet, someone charged with a crime is considerably more likely to end up in a state court. The lesson, one of six covering the Organization of the...

Use this library of mini-lessons to teach students about the concept of federalism, from the powers held by the federal government to the powers reserved for the states. They will also learn about state government structures and...

Discuss the separation of church and state as it relates to government entities. This is a great way to launch a discussion on the relationship between these groups. Learners analyze this relationship in governments throughout the world,...

The Supreme Court gets all the glory, but very few federal cases make it to the highest court. An interesting lesson explores the structure of the lower levels of the federal court system. In addition to outlining the organization of...

How much power is too much power for the federal government? Scholars use primary documents and constitutional research in groups to analyze the creation of the Second National Bank under James Madison. This is the second lesson of a...

Federalism divides power to protect individual rights while giving the government enough power to be effective. The concept comes from a balance the Founding Fathers struck between authority and freedom. Scholars explore the relationship...

While this lesson includes several nice worksheets to identify and discuss the various limits on government (i.e. a constitution, the rule of law, separation of powers, consent of the governed, etc.), its main value lies in a case study...