Teaching Ideas for Chapter 21:
The New Importance of State and Local Government

• Voters in a number of states have approved term limitations for their state legislators; some states also have term limitations for governors. Ask your class to write a brief essay supporting the idea of term limitations, then ask students to write a paragraph refuting their own arguments. (This process may be reversed, if you prefer, but students should not know in advance about the second half of the task.)

• Divide your class into research teams to examine the different ways by which states select judges. Students should look at both partisan and nonpartisan elections, at the Missouri Plan, and at variations of the Missouri Plan generally referred to as "merit selection."

• Compile a list of state and local government decision-making bodies that are open to the public in your area, such as city councils or commissions, county commissions, zoning or planning boards, school boards, and courts. As a class project, have each student sign up to attend a session or meeting of at least one government entity on your list.

• Have students review recent coverage of local government and politics in the local newspaper, identifying what major issues are being debated. If there is no local coverage (a point which you might want to discuss in class . . . ), then have students visit local government offices and ask for meeting agendas, press releases or government reports that might convey what issues are currently on the agenda. Ask students to research the various groups that are represented in the policy discussion, what positions they take, and the resources and limitations that local government faces in dealing with the problem.