This course is an introduction to American government and politics and is a foundational course elective required by the State of Georgia.   While national level policy making, and governance is designed to address issues facing our nation as a whole, state and local governance addresses policy issues that affect our everyday lives. In order to truly understand American government, we must understand how these parts work – separately and together.

The class is divided into six components.   The first six are lecture and speaker based.    They include the U.S. Constitution/Georgia Constitution, the Federal Government, the Federal Supreme Court, Georgia State Government and Local Government (Cities, Counties, School Boards).   The last component is student policy engagement.    The basis of this section, through group projects and speakers, is to teach students the importance and how to directly engage in the policy making process to enact change.  This section is divided into Aspire, Organize, Learn and Act assignments.