Foundations of Democracy

Foundations of Democracy serves as the SVPD Program’s foundation building curriculum. The series focuses on four concepts fundamental to an understanding of politics and government: Authority, Privacy, Responsibility, and Justice. This multidisciplinary curriculum draws upon such fields as political philosophy, political science, law, history, literature, and environmental studies.

The Authority curriculum helps students

• distinguish between authority and power
• examine different sources of authority
• use reasonable criteria for selecting people for positions of authority and for evaluating rules and laws
• analyze benefits and costs of authority
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on the proper scope and limits of authority

The Privacy curriculum helps students

• understand the importance of privacy in a free society
• analyze the benefits and costs of privacy
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on the proper scope and limits of privacy

The Responsibility curriculum helps students

• understand the importance of responsibility in a free society
• analyze the benefits and costs of responsibility
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on how conflicts among competing responsibilities should be resolved
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on personal responsibility

The Justice curriculum helps students

• understand and apply the basic principles of justice set forth in fundamental documents of our political and legal systems
• consider fair distribution of the benefits and burdens of society
• consider fair responses to remedy wrongs and injuries
• consider fair practices for gathering information and making decisions
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on issues of justice