During the unit “The United States in Recent
Times,” students… reflect on the redefinition of the
Bill of Rights during the twentieth century, particu-
larly the tension between the rights of the individual
and the power of the state;… compare the status
of minorities in 1900 to the present; and reflect on
changes in job opportunities, educational opportu-
nitles, and legal protections available to minorities
and women.

Grade Twelve
Principles of American Democracy. In this course
students pursue a deeper understanding of the in-
stitutions of American government, both in theory
and practice. .. >

In the unit “The Courts and the Governmental
Process,” students examine the evolution of the civil
rights issue through cases affecting blacks, Asians,
and Hispanics.

In the unit “Comparative Governments, with Em-
phasis on Communism in the World Today,” stu-
dents examine the way in which different philoso-
phies influence… human rights practices. Critical
thinking skills are employed to analyze the nature of
a dictatorial regime in which no social contract
exists between the state and those it governs and in
which citizens have no rights and no means of
redressing their wrongs. Students should be aware
of the methods that the totalitarian communist
state employs to repress internal political opposi-
tion and dissident minorities. .. .

Students should examine the condition of human
rights in communist societies . . . purges . . . and
mass arrests___Why are there defections? Why do
communist governments spy on their citizens and
prevent them from emigrating? Why are critics jailed
or harassed? Why do ordinary people risk their lives
to flee a communist state, such as the Vietnamese
boat people, Cuban refugees, and East Germans
who scale the Berlin Wall? How do communist
regimes come to power? How do they maintain
power? In assessing the Soviet Union’s pattern of
dominating other nations, students should review
the… mass deportations and “Russlfication* of the
Baltic populations . . . and the suppression of the
Solidarity movement in Poland. .. .

A concluding activity during the unit “Contempo-
rary Issues Confronting Students in the World
Today” includes a rigorous defense of democracy in
the world . .. and human rights issues.

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