Civic Ed Benchmarks: Guiding Questions 9-12
Civic education benchmarks in Delaware have been designed to cover
four basic categories of understanding with respect to civics for
grades K-12: government, politics, citizenship,
and participation. These essential questions are designed to help direct
your examination of the civics standards in Delaware schools.
Benchmarks for Grades 9-12
Civics 1 (Government)
- Why might different governments around the world have different purposes?
- Why are governments around the world structured differently?
- How might the different structures of governments around the world reflect different ideologies, cultures, values, and histories?
Civics 2 (Politics)
- Why do political parties exist?
- Why are America’s political parties “extra-constitutional” rather than constitutional?
- How can we account for the two-party system?
- How has the United States government been able to remain effective through over two centuries of change?
Civics 3 (Citizenship)
- Why are citizens expected to keep themselves informed in a representative democracy?
- Why are citizens expected to participate in a representative democracy?
- Why are citizens usually expected to uphold the laws of the land in a representative democracy?
Civics 4 (Participation)
- Why is it important to learn the skills and processes under which government organizations operate?
