Hello and welcome to our class's corner of the Internet. I'm Mrs. Fowler and I have taught 8th grade civics for eleven years. I built this page over the summer so that you would have a place to find the things we cover in class: how our government is put together, how a law gets made, and how you and your family can take part in it. Students, you can use this page to study. Parents, please scroll down; there's a section just for you.

Civics is my favorite subject to teach because it is the one subject you will use your whole life whether you like it or not. You will pay taxes, you will vote (I hope!), you will have opinions about laws, and you might even run for something someday. Knowing how the machine works is the difference between being a passenger and being a driver. Let's learn to drive.

Class news: We finished our unit on the Constitution during Constitution Week (September 17-23; the Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787). The Constitution test is Friday, October 22. The study guide is below. Current events reports start the week of October 4; remember, one article from a real newspaper or news magazine, and it has to be about government, not sports.

The men who wrote the Constitution were worried about one person or one group getting too much power. So they split the national government into three parts and gave each part ways to check the others. We call this separation of powers and checks and balances.

Some of the checks: The President can veto a bill; Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both houses. The Senate must confirm judges; the courts can strike down laws and executive actions. The House can impeach (accuse) a President or judge, and the Senate holds the trial. Nobody gets to do it all alone. That's the whole point.

Here is the path, in order. Learn it in order; it will be on the test in order.

1. An idea. Anybody can have the idea for a law: a citizen, a group, the President. But only a member of Congress can introduce a bill. It gets a number (H.R. something in the House, S. something in the Senate). Bills can start in either house, except that bills to raise money (taxes) must start in the House.
2. Committee. The bill is sent to the committee that handles that subject (agriculture, education, the armed services, and so on). The committee studies it, may hold hearings where experts and citizens testify, and may change it. Most bills die right here; the committee simply never votes on them.
3. Floor debate and vote. If the committee approves the bill, the whole House (or Senate) debates it, may add amendments, and votes. A simple majority passes it.
4. The other house. The bill now goes to the other chamber and does all of the above again: committee, debate, vote. The other house often changes it.
5. Conference committee. If the House and Senate passed different versions, a small group from both meets to work out one compromise version. Then both houses vote again on that version, with no changes allowed.
6. The President. The bill goes to the President, who has ten days (not counting Sundays) to decide. The President can sign it, and it becomes law. The President can veto it and send it back with reasons. Or the President can do nothing: if Congress is in session, the bill becomes law without a signature after ten days; if Congress has adjourned in that time, the bill dies, which is called a pocket veto.
7. Override. If the President vetoes the bill, Congress can still make it law by passing it again with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. This is hard to do and doesn't happen often.

Thousands of bills are introduced every two-year Congress. Only a few hundred become law. Remember the cartoon we watched in class: it's a long climb up the steps.

1. The Preamble. You must be able to write it from memory, word for word. Here it is:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Yes, "defence" is spelled with a "c" in the original. I won't take off points either way. Know the six purposes of government listed in it (form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty).

2. The seven Articles. Know what each one is about:

• Article I - The Legislative Branch (Congress). The longest article.
• Article II - The Executive Branch (the President).
• Article III - The Judicial Branch (the courts).
• Article IV - The states: how they treat each other, and admitting new states.
• Article V - How to amend (change) the Constitution.
• Article VI - The Constitution is the "supreme law of the land."
• Article VII - Ratification: how the Constitution was approved by the states.

3. Numbers you need to know.

4. The Bill of Rights, in one line each. Know the number and the idea.

1. Freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petition.
2. The right to keep and bear arms.
3. No quartering of soldiers in your home in peacetime without your consent.
4. No unreasonable searches and seizures; warrants require probable cause.
5. Rights of the accused: grand jury for serious crimes, no double jeopardy, no being forced to testify against yourself, no loss of life, liberty or property without due process, and payment for private property taken for public use.
6. A speedy and public trial by jury, to know the charges, to confront witnesses, and to have a lawyer.
7. Trial by jury in civil (non-criminal) cases.
8. No excessive bail or fines; no cruel and unusual punishment.
9. Listing some rights doesn't mean the people don't have others.
10. Powers not given to the national government belong to the states or to the people.

5. Other amendments we discussed: the 13th (ended slavery, 1865), the 14th (citizenship and equal protection of the laws, 1868), the 15th (right to vote can't be denied because of race, 1870), the 19th (women's right to vote, 1920), the 22nd (two-term limit for President, 1951), and the 26th (voting age 18, 1971).

Study tip: Make flash cards. Have a parent or a friend quiz you on the Bill of Rights by number. Recite the Preamble in the shower. Don't wait until Thursday night, October 21.

Everyone is talking about the calendar rolling over, but for a civics class, the year 2000 is exciting for two better reasons, and both are right there in the Constitution.

The Census. Article I says the people must be counted every ten years so that the seats in the House of Representatives can be divided fairly among the states. Census Day is April 1, 2000. Every household in the country will get a form in the mail. Parents, please fill yours out; the count decides how many representatives our state gets for the next ten years, and how a lot of government money is shared out. We will do a classroom census of our own in March so students can see how it works.

The Election. On Tuesday, November 7, 2000 the country will elect a President, all 435 members of the House, about a third of the Senate, and thousands of state and local officials. Before that come the primaries and caucuses, starting in the winter, where the parties choose their candidates. We will follow the whole process in class from January on: who's running, how the Electoral College works, and why your parents' vote counts. Our class will hold its own classroom election in November 2000, and by then some of you will be just a few years from voting for real.

Every year I ask my students to go home and ask, "Are you registered?" If the answer at your house is "I'm not sure" or "not since we moved," here is how to fix that. It's easy and it's free.

• Who can register: a United States citizen who will be 18 by Election Day and who lives in the county. (Some states have a few other rules; the county can tell you.)
• Where: your county clerk's office or county election board, usually at the courthouse. That is the office that keeps the voter rolls.
• By mail: there is a mail-in registration form; ask the county office to send you one, or pick one up at the public library or post office. Fill it out and mail it in.
• At the DMV: since 1995, federal law says you can register (or update your address) when you get or renew your driver's license. Just tell the clerk you'd like to register to vote.
• When: most states close registration around 30 days before an election, so don't wait until the week before. If you've moved, even across town, you need to update your registration.

Students: if your parents register because you asked, tell me. That earns the whole class five minutes of talk time on Friday. I'm not above bribery in a good cause.

For a lot more about voting in 2000, absentee ballots and what poll workers do, please visit Vote 2000: A Citizen's Guide, a wonderful non-partisan page made by a retired couple who work at the polls on Election Day.