Limiting Government
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to...
- Describe five limits on government: constitution, separation of powers, rule of law, consent of the governed, and rights of the minority.
- Analyze how former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori's presidential actions affected Peru's government limits.
- Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of giving one leader total control.
- Apply the five limits to fictional government systems.
Overview
What keeps government from having too much power? Students learn about the limited power of government in this lesson, which outlines five basic limits on government. They analyze the true story of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, in which many of those limits disappeared, and they evaluate fictional cases of governments with limits missing. The concepts in this lesson prepare students to understand why the U.S. Constitution is structured the way it is.
iCivics en español! Student and class materials for this lesson are available in Spanish.