Q Follow and use the structure when answering these questions (this is a part of your grade) Reading Notes Assignment - (refer to instruction in syllabus) read assigned pages in the “Democracy in 21st Century America” (PDF) book and the articles for this unit. Take notes on all of the assigned readings. Then, in an extended memo format using the format provided below: 1. Summarize & Explain (in about 400 words+) in an overview of a couple of The Highlights of what the Major Points of Knowledge or what you understand now (ideas or concepts or facts and/or what you think it all means), which you gained from the book readings for this unit. Do this using one paragraph summary narratives (with additional bullet points - IF NEEDED - using whole sentences to illustrate the highlights). 2. Then, Summarize & Outline (in about 400 words+) the Major Skills or points of Critical Political Thinking (ways to think about political questions and how to see & understand social & political phenomenon that affect your life in your world) – do this using bullet points with whole sentences (NOT just one or two words) - to illustrate the key thinking skills you seek to highlight, 3. Finally, in about two or three paragraphs (about 600 words+); make a Conclusion with Commentary explicitly using ideas you take away from reading the articles to suggest how these (with in text citations) and ideas from the book, offer “us” (you) lessons we should all learn from what you have read and thought about, as to how the material in this unit section relates to the following explicit question(s): a) The Struggle for Civil Rights: The struggle for equal rights has been a struggle that has existed from our nation’s founding. The Constitution speaks of securing the blessings of liberty for all; however, this promise has not always been kept. The history of the Constitution is a story of struggle between people, factions, sectors and branches. It is a struggle that still goes on to this day. African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, women, the disabled, and the LGBTQ community have all faced unequal treatment in the legal system, the job market and in schools (to name a few places) and have had to fight to secure and win equal treatment under the law. • What are some ways in which you see de facto discrimination occurring in your community? • What steps might be taken personally and collectively to address this discrimination? b) Public Opinion & Why It Matters and Why public opinion SHOULD matter: We talk a lot about "We the people" in American politics. Thomas Jefferson argued: "Government must get its powers from the 'consent of the governed'." Abraham Lincoln extended this idea with noting that Government should be “of the people, by the people and for the people.” And V.O Keys noted that unless the views of the masses of the people “have some place in the shaping of policy, all talk about democracy is non-sense.” Thinking about the way things seem to be in the 21st century so far; • Do you think the people’s opinions does matter? • Why or why not? • Do you think the people’s opinions should still matter? • Or is democracy outdated and someone else’s opinions matter more • Is there anyone whose opinions should matter more than the general public (e.g. elites)? • Why or why not?