CNN Presents Classroom: Broken Government: Part Two: Where the Right Went Wrong

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(CNN Student News) -- Set your VCR to record the CNN Special Classroom Edition: Broken Government when it airs commercial-free as a two-part series. The first part in the series, Two Left Feet, aired on Monday, October 30, 2006, from 4:00 -- 5:00 a.m. ET on CNN. Part Two of the series, Where the Right Went Wrong, will air on Monday, November 6, 2006, from 4:00 -- 5:00 a.m. (A short feature begins at 4:00 a.m. and precedes the program.)

Program Overview

In Broken Government: Part Two: Where the Right Went Wrong, CNN senior political analyst Jeff Greenfield examines the dilemmas facing the Republican Party. With the GOP firmly in power, many of those most deeply committed to the conservative cause are enraged over out-of-control government spending, political pork, nation building and the president's more lenient approach to immigration.

Grade Level: 7 -- 12, College

Subject Areas: Current Issues, Civics, Government, Political Science, U.S. History

Objectives: The CNN Special Classroom Edition: Broken Government: Part Two: Where the Right Went Wrong and its discussion questions and activity challenge students to:

Identify characteristics of the Republican Party;

Explore why some well-known conservatives are dissatisfied with the Republican Party;

Evaluate the challenges facing the Republican Party in the 2006 midterm elections.

Curriculum Connections

Civics

9-12 Content Standards

Standard III. How does the government established by the constitution embody the purposes, values, and principles of American democracy?

E. How does the American political system provide for choice and opportunities for participation?

Public opinion and behavior of the electorate. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions about the role of public opinion in American politics.

Political communication: television, radio, the press, and political persuasion. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on the influence of the media on American political life.

Political parties, campaigns, and elections. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions about the roles of political parties, campaigns, and elections in American politics.

Associations and groups. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions about the contemporary roles of associations and groups in American politics.

V. What are the roles of the citizen in American democracy?

B. What are the rights of citizens?

Scope and limits of rights. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues regarding the proper scope and limits of rights.

The National Standards for Civics and Government (http://www.civiced.org/912erica.htm) are published by the Center for Civic Education (http://www.civiced.org/index.html).

National Standards for History

Standard V. Individuals, Groups and Institutions: Students will explore how institutions (e.g. schools, churches, families, government agencies) are formed, what controls and influences them, how they control and influence individuals and culture and how institutions can be maintained or changed.

Standard VI. Power, Authority and Governance: Students will understand the historical development of structures of power, authority and governance and their evolving functions in contemporary U.S. society as well as other parts of the world.

Standard X. Civic Ideals and Practices: Students will examine the ideals, principles and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic.

The National Standards for History (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/) are published by the National Center for History in the Schools (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/).

Discussion Questions

1. Why are some well-known conservatives dissatisfied with the current policies and practices of the Republican Party? What suggestions, if any, do they have to remedy what they say has "gone wrong" with the party?

2. CNN's Jeff Greenfield argues that President George W. Bush and Congress have been spending taxpayers' dollars at a rate faster than at any time during President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. What examples of federal spending does Greenfield present to support this assertion? Why does Mike Pence call "runaway federal spending" the "real scandal in Washington, D.C."? How do Sen. Sam Brownback and Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist explain the vast federal spending?

3. Arizona Sen. John McCain says, "Conservatives came to office to reduce the size of government and enlarge the sphere of free and private initiative. But lately, we have increased government in order to stay in office." What do you think that he means by "size of government," and "sphere of free and private initiative"? Why might increasing the size of government upset some Republicans?

4. Greenfield describes "earmarks" as projects that individual members of congress can slip into spending bills, usually without any oversight. What are some of the examples of earmarks explored in the program? What is a lobbyist? What roles does Grover Norquist say lobbyists can play in the legislative process? Why does Matthew Continetti say that, with respect to earmarks and lobbyists, there is a "chasm" between what conservatives promised and what has been done?

5. How does Council on Foreign Relations expert Michael Gerson explain President Bush's policy which he calls "democratic internationalism"? Why does Gerson support this policy? Why does National Review founder William F. Buckley argue that this policy is not a conservative foreign policy? Why does Andrew Sullivan say that Bush's foreign policy "goes against the grain of everything in conservatism"?

6. What is the "traditional values" movement? Why does Greenfield say that this is the key element of the Republican Party? According to Phil Burress, who is with the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values, on what issues do the so-called "values voters" vote? Why does Burress say that social conservatives are discontented with the Republican Party? How might you explain Andrew Sullivan's assertion that the association of the so-called "religious right" with the Republican Party has injured real conservatism?

7. Why does Rep. Mike Pence, (R) Indiana, believe that this is the toughest year that the Republican Party has faced in a generation? What messages about the Republican Party do conservatives like Pence, former representative Vin Weber and talk radio host and former education secretary Bill Bennett hope to send to voters? What Republican Party accomplishments do these leaders plan to stress in this year's midterm elections? Why do some conservatives think that it would be good for the Republican Party if it lost seats in the elections?

8. The terms "conservatism," "republicanism" and "libertarianism" are explored throughout this program. What is your understanding of these ideologies? How does each of these ideologies view the role of the federal government with respect to taxes, federal spending, morality, national security or foreign policy? What roles do you think that the federal government should play on these issues?

9. In Where the Right Went Wrong, Rep. Mike Pence says, "I believe that as a movement, we have veered off course into the dangerous and unchartered waters of big government Republicanism." After watching this program, what do you think he means? Do you agree with his statement? Why or why not?

Suggested Activity

What is a Republican?

In Where the Right Went Wrong, CNN's Jeff Greenfield argues that a growing number of conservatives have been asking out loud, "Whatever happened to the core conservative notion, proclaimed by Ronald Reagan in his first inaugural"?

Share the following excerpt from Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address on January 20, 1981, with your class:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?

Discuss the excerpt with students. Ask: What "core conservative notion" does Reagan promote in this speech?

Next, organize students into small groups, and assign each group to one of the following time periods: Turn of the Century (Progressive Era), Early 20th Century (WWI), 1920s and 30s (Depression/New Deal), 1930s and 40s (WWII), 1950s (Korea/Cold War), 1960s and 70s (Civil Rights/Great Society/Vietnam), 1980s, 1990s, early 21st century.

Challenge students to imagine that they are voters during their assigned time periods. Refer students to print and online resources to learn about the Republican Party during their assigned time periods, and encourage students to interview friends and family members to gather information on Republican platforms and policies in their given time periods. Then, ask: When you go to vote, what positions on issues such as taxes, federal spending, foreign policy or education would you expect to associate with Republican Party candidates? How might you have described the Republican Party at the time you voted? How do those descriptions compare with the core notions promoted by Ronald Reagan?

After students have presented their findings, discuss the evolution of the Republican Party since 1900. Ask:

Based on what you learned in the program and from the class presentations, to what extent, if at all, have Republican Party policies changed over time?

How might a "Coolidge Republican," an "Eisenhower Republican" or a "Reagan Republican" compare with Republicans today?

What, if anything, might account for any changes in identity for the Republican Party?

What implications, if any, might the current policies promoted by the Republican Party have on the ability of Republicans to get elected in this year's midterm elections?

Keywords

George W. Bush, Ted Kennedy, Mike Pence, John F. Kennedy, Newt Gingrich, conservatism, liberalism, No Child Left Behind, Prescription Drug Program, Republicans, Democrats, William F. Buckley, Dick Armey, Andrew Sullivan, Karl Rove, Lyndon B. Johnson, Great Society, Bill Clinton, Medicare Act, Bruce Bartlett, Grover Norquist, Sam Brownback, Vin Weber, electorate, Tom DeLay, Ann Northup, earmark, "values voters," Mark Foley, Phil Burress, revolutionaries, The Schiavo Case, war in Iraq, "democratic internationalism," Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Hastert