In this 8 week flex class, students will be introduced to the study of comparative politics.  They will receive foundational tools to help in their study and evaluation of different political cultures and institutions across the world.  Throughout the course students will be encouraged to contemplate what other nations can learn from the United States and what the United States can learn from other nations.

Powerpoint led videos will be posted weekly to the classroom for students to view and take notes on.  Some videos will utilize independent note taking, while others will have a worksheet study guide to complete as they listen and learn.
Students will receive outside homework and quizzes via the class discussion stream to help reinforce class lessons and solidify the information they are learning.  An end of session evaluation will be provided to parents for your student's portfolio/records.
Students will be asked to contribute twice weekly to thought discussions initiated by the instructor in the class stream.  Participating in these conversations as a contributor and recipient of ideas and opinions is a way to grow critical thinking skills and see beyond our own world.  Students will also work collaboratively by contributing to a 'Comparative Issues Project'.  Students will each be assigned a country and series of issues to research in regards to that country.  They will present that information in a video uploaded to the class stream.  This information will be utilized by all students to complete an end of session project assignment.

The following is an outline  of what will be covered in this 8 week flex class:

*Comparative Politics - What is it?  (Weeks 1 and 2)
     Students will learn about the three main forms of comparison - political institutions, political behavior, political culture.
     Students will distinguish between democratic and authoritarian regimes as a means of comparison.
     Students will learn about categories of political conflict that often arise in a nation and amongst nations.

*The State (Weeks 3 and 4)
     Students will learn about the state and the five main political institutions (executive, legislature, judiciary, bureaucracy, military).
     Students will learn the different electoral methods for an executive and legislature.
     Students will learn the constitutional framework systems of the executive (parliamentary, presidential, presidential-parliamentary).

*Democracy - Going beyond government by the people  (Weeks 5 and 6)
     Students will learn the expectations of democracy.
     Students will learn the four perspectives of democracy.
     Students will learn the contradictions of democracy.
     Students will learn the purposes of democracy.
     Students will learn conditions that encourage democracy.

*Case Study Exploration  (Weeks 7 and 8)
    The Sudanese Civil War - an exploration of the political conflicts that contributed to civil war within Sudan
    Democratization of Iraq - Iraq's transition to democracy and its electoral system

Students should have the ability to do basic writing in order to take notes and do class worksheets.  The age range for this class is 14-18 year olds and is best geared towards high school age students.

Additional sessions of this class will be offered leading to it culminating in a full and complete comparative politics course.  Students are encouraged to enroll in High School Comparative Politics - Session 2 which will focus on ideologies and the political history, institutions, and culture of Russia and China.