LibGuides: Government & Law (U.S.): DVD, Websites, etc.

DVD

Key Constitutional Concepts by PJ Productions These three 20- minute videos examine key constitutional concepts. The first explains why the nation's framers created the Constitution. The second describes the protection of individual rights by highlighting the Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright, affirming the right to an attorney. The last explores the separation of powers by examining the Supreme Court case of Youngstown v. Sawyer, a challenge to President Truman's decision to take over steel mills during the Korean War.
Call Number: DVD KF4550.A1K49 2006
Publication Date: 2006
Mandate: the President and the People by Philip B. Kunhardt From George Washington to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, examines the relationship between the presidency, mass media, and public opinion.
Call Number: DVD JK516.M36 2006
Publication Date: 2006
Pay 2 Play: Democracy's High Stakes by John Wellington Ennis If our political system is like a game of Monopoly, how can outsiders have a voice when only money speaks? John Ennis documents comical corruption, follows political newcomers, and uncovers intrigue in this colorful journey that connects the dots of Big Money in our ever-challenging election process.
Call Number: DVD JA66.P39 2014
Publication Date: 2014
Ruby Ridge by Barak Goodman Ruby Ridge is a riveting account of the event that helped give rise to the modern American militia movement.
Call Number: DVD HV8141 .R83 2017
Publication Date: 2017
Second Chance Kids by Ken Dornstein A fight over the fate of juveniles in prison for murder, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
Call Number: DVD KF9780 .S436 2017
ISBN: 9781531702229
Publication Date: 2017
The 1787 Constitutional Convention, Day by Day (2 discs) by Bill Moyers "Composed of 30 video reports (2:35 each), this program covers the Constitutional Convention of 1787 from May 21st, just before its start, through July 25th, when the delegates tried, unsuccessfully, to decide how a President should be elected. "We seem to be entirely at a loss!" said Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts. It was the only thing they could agree upon that day.
Call Number: DVD KF4510.A13 1987
Publication Date: 1987
Themes from the 1787 Constitutional Convention (2 discs) by Bill Moyers "A thematic study of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 opens important avenues of discussion on topics related to the Convention itself and the Framers, the workings of the U.S. government, and life in America. This program uses 38 video clips (2:35 each) from The 1787 Constitutional Convention, Day by Day, Parts 1 and 2 to explore the following themes, some of which are especially relevant today: The Context/Setting of 1787, The Delegates, The Virginia and New Jersey Plans, The Executive Branch, The Legislative Branch, The Judicial Branch, and Slavery."
Call Number: DVD KF4510.A134 1987
ISBN: 9781421360249
Publication Date: 1987

Selected Websites

Alexis de Tocqueville on the Tyranny of the Majority Instructors of US history, civics, or social studies may be interested in this set of three lesson plans from EDSITEment, the National Endowment for the Humanities' online collection of free teaching resources. These standards-aligned lessons focus on Chapter 7 in Volume 1, Part 2 of Alexis de Tocqueville's influential tome Democracy in America, in which Tocqueville lays out his arguments about the dangers of the "tyranny of the majority." Since Tocqueville can be a challenging author, these lessons are designed "to encourage both teachers and students to work through Tocqueville's argument by breaking it down into its component parts." Each lesson takes place over one class period, with the first introducing Tocqueville's claims about the "omnipotent" power of the majority, then the second lesson examines Tocqueville's reasoning about the dangers of unchecked power, while the third lesson concludes the unit by weighing Tocqueville's argument that "there is no freedom of mind in America," in comparison to Europe. Worksheets with excerpted passages from Democracy in America are included, as are links to the full text, suggestions for assignments, and other resources. This lesson unit is intended for high school classrooms, but anyone interested in considering Tocqueville's work may also find it a helpful reading guide.
American Bar Association: Teacher's Portal Social studies and government teachers may want to bookmark this site as they dive into spring semester curriculum planning. Curated by the American Bar Association's Division for Public Education, the lesson portal contains an array of materials that build a foundation for how the legal system affects various aspects of our lives. Lessons are arranged by elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. Though the content covered for each level varies slightly, some topic areas include Civic Engagement, Due Process, and Law and Literature. Educators preparing for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 18, may enjoy the Equal Protection lesson plans, which include "Realizing the Dream Today" (specifically analyzing aspects of his vision for equality). Educators looking ahead to Constitution Day (celebrated each September) will find constitutional law-themed curriculum available for each grade level. In addition to these educator-specific resources, the Division for Public Education also produces a variety of tools for the general public that may be of interest to all readers.
Annenberg Classroom: Resources for Teaching the Constitution
Caselaw Access Project Readers with an interest in the U.S. legal system may want to take a look at the Caselaw Access Project (CAP), a massive digitization project that makes 360 years of American court cases publicly available online. This large database was created "by digitizing roughly 40 million pages of court decisions contained in roughly 40,000 bound volumes owned by the Harvard Law School Library," adding up to approximately 6.7 million unique cases with the earliest from 1658 and the most recent from 2018. Visitors can access this database through the CAP's open-access API, which the project states is "the best option for anybody interested in programmatically accessing our metadata, full-text search, or individual cases." CAP also offers a bulk download option for readers who need a large collection of cases. It should be noted that, while all CAP's data is freely available to the public, accessing the full text of a case requires registering for an account and at the time of this write-up visitors are limited to 500 cases per day. Launched in October 2018, CAP is the result of a collaboration between the Harvard Law School's Library Innovation Lab and Ravel Law, a legal research company owned by Lexis-Nexis.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Civic Online Reasoning
Civics Renewal Network: A Republic, If We Can Teach It
Classroom Law Project: Resources Oregon's Classroom Law Project (CLP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth "become active, engaged, and informed participants in democratic society." On its resources page, K-12 social studies teachers will find a range of materials for teaching civics and law, including a number of lesson plans that engage young citizens with contemporary legal issues and debates. Educators can best browse these lessons via the Teaching Materials link, where lesson plans, readings, mock trials, role play activities, handouts, and more are organized by topics such as First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Congress and Lawmaking, Criminal Law, and more. The CLP also allows instructors to explore this wealth of material with a bit more ease via an Online Library, where users may conduct a keyword search or filter material by grade level, topic, or type of research.
Decoding Elections: Process, Persuasion, & Participation Educators looking to incorporate current events into their teaching may be interested in Decoding Elections: Process, Persuasion & Participation, a collection of lesson plans created by NewseumED. These eleven lesson plans are grouped into one of three categories: election procedures, campaign messages, and public participation. Each 30-60 minute lesson is based on a case study accompanied by primary source artifacts from the Newseum's collections for illustration and each case study includes an issue summary, historical context, and guiding questions. In their note to teachers, NewseumED suggests beginning with their nonpartisan political personality quiz focused on engagement with the electoral process. The lesson plans in this collection are primarily intended for middle and high school students, but they could be adapted for use in undergraduate classes. It should be noted that a free login is required for full access to all the resources. NewseumED is the educational department of Newseum, the journalism museum in Washington, D.C.
Democracy Beyond the Ballot Box: A New Role for Elected Officials, City Managers, and Citizens
Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age (EDDA) Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age (EDDA) is a partnership between University of California, Riverside, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), and the National Writing Project. The purpose of this initiative is to leverage web 2.0 tools and best practices in civic education to provide all high school students in Oakland with opportunities that will prepare and motivate them to work for positive change in their communities. In other words, we aim to prepare students to be community ready.
How Courts Work
American Bar Association
iCivics Founded by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2009, iCivics aims to provide "students with the tools they need for active participation and democratic action, and teachers with the materials and support to achieve this." All the resources on this site are free with a one-step sign up that only requires an email address, and iCivics is also integrated with Google Classroom. Readers may like to begin by exploring the sundry resources housed in the Teach section, which include more than 20 Curriculum Units on important topics ranging from Foundations of Government to the Legislative Branch. These resources can be searched by content or by educational standards. Within each unit readers will discover detailed lesson plans. For instance, the International Affairs unit reveals lesson plans on Diplomacy, Conflict and Cooperation, International Influence, and International Organizations. Readers should also check out the Play section, where they will find over 20 online educational games where players can (for example) become part of constitutional history in Race to Ratify and imagine themselves as president in Executive Command.
Items: The Democracy Papers "Can representative democracies be strengthened to govern more effectively?" This is the question that the Social Science Research Council's (SSRC) Anxieties of Democracy program has been exploring. In the Democracy Papers, a series in the SSRC's digital publication Items, readers will find essays that "highlight and summarize new research presented at conferences and workshops related to the Anxieties of Democracy program." Written with general audiences in mind, these essays feature the work of experts such as professors and postdocs, as well as university students, and tend to focus on various aspects of democracy in North America and Europe. For example, one recent student contribution by Jenny W. Xiao of the University of Hong Kong examines Slovakia's 2019 presidential election and highlights three lessons from Zuzana Caputova's unexpected victory. Another recent article comes from Jason M. Roberts, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, who explains his data-driven research on measuring the effectiveness of party leadership within the US Congress. These and the numerous other essays in the Democracy Papers offer readers insights into current social science research on democratic institutions.
James Madison Foundation: Lesson Plans The United States Congress established the James Madison Memorial Foundation in 1986 in order to better teach the constitution in high schools across the country. Fellows are drawn from students who plan to become teachers. In exchange for graduate school funding, selected students agree to teach history and civics for at least one year after graduation. This page gathers together various "powerful" lesson plans composed by past fellows on topics related to constitutional history and government. The lessons are divided into sections that cover Articles I-VII of the constitution, Lessons About Constitutional Connections, Lessons on the Federalist Papers, and Freedom and Slavery in the Early Republic.
1963: The Struggle for Civil Rights With this rather remarkable timeline, the staff members of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum have brought to life a pivotal year in the struggle for civil rights in the United States: 1963. While the historic events on the timeline begin in 1939 and span all the way to 1965, the interactive element is limited to this one tumultuous year. Readers will want to Enter the Timeline to access the 230+ primary sources that have been purposefully organized into seven event chapters. Taken together, these resources, which include telegrams to and from the White House, photographs of the march on Washington, memos from the Commission on Civil Rights, and video clips of JFK addressing "anti-Negro terrorism in the South," offer a behind the scenes look at the Kennedy administration's response to key events in civil rights history. Additionally, the site offers two separate resource pages, one For Educators and one For Students. Educators will enjoy the multiple lesson plans and supplemental materials that contextualize the historical background, while students are sure to appreciate the numerous Chronology and Bibliography resources that will facilitate research on topics such as Project C and The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.
Open Secrets
Tracking money in politics
plainlanguage.gov Under the Plain Writing Act, a law signed in 2010, federal agencies must "use clear government communication that the public can understand and use." However, the benefits of clear writing extend far beyond the governmental sector. At the site above, readers can learn more about the Plain Writing Act and hone communication skills to assist in professional and personal endeavors. Managed by the Plain Language Action and Information Network, "a group of federal employees from different agencies and specialties who support the use of clear communication in government writing," and frequently updated since its launch in 1994, this site has a wealth of reliable resources. The Plain Language Guidelines tab walks users through steps for clear communication; for example, writers should always "choose your words carefully," and "keep it conversational." Then, the Examples tab further illustrates many of these principles (check out the Before and After section for some quick fixes to eliminate ambiguity). Looking for even more guidance? The Training tab highlights resources for both federal agencies and the general public, and the Resources tab includes a useful "Checklist for Plain Language." Happy (clear) writing!
Politico Founded by former Washington Post editors in the winter of 2007, Politico shares breaking news on politics and policy, from congress to lobbying to the presidential campaign. With a circulation of about 40,000, the newspaper is distributed for free in Washington D.C. and Manhattan. Most adherents, however, stay up-to-date by using the Politico website, where readers may like to begin by scouting the continually updated and always interesting articles in its queue. The Agenda tab elucidates topics such as Education and Transportation, among others, while the Policy tab focuses on Agriculture, Cybersecurity, Defense, and many other topics.
PolitiFact.com
PunditFact
SNCC Digital Gateway
State Integrity Investigation
Sunlight Foundation
The Upshot An analytical blog from The New York Times that focuses on politics, policy, and economics
Voting Viva Voce: Unlocking the Social Logic of Past Politics Today, the act of voting is a largely secretive affair in the US, with booths and ballot machines protecting voters' privacy. This was not always the case--voting used to be "conducted in the open before interested spectators," and in some states, votes were cast viva voce, or by voice. This type of voting is key in Voting Viva Voce: Unlocking the Social Logic of Past Politics, a project examining the lives of residents in 1860 Alexandria, Virginia, "a commercial city based on slave labor," and in 1870 Newport, Kentucky, "an industrial city based on immigrant labor." Visitors can search or browse each city's database by social group, business, or individual, with the results displaying on a map of the city showing their residences or business locations. A remarkable range of individual-level data is available, such as demographics, occupation, relationship to slavery, and which candidates individuals voted for in elections. This resource also provides useful contextual information about public voting in Alexandria and Newport. Voting Viva Voce was created by Don DeBats, Professor of American Studies at Flinders University (Australia) and a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia.
Wall Street Journal: Law Blog Spearheaded by lead writer Jacob Gershman, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog publishes posts from a range of WSJ staff writers and columnists. Featuring detailed posts on a variety of legal topics, the blog provides commentary on news, emerging trends, and interesting cases. Interested readers can browse the homepage for the latest posts, sort through topics, such as Law School, State Legislation, and Intellectual Property, or sign up to receive email alerts when new entries are added. With the range of material covered, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog will provide hours of erudite entertainment to law experts and amateurs alike.

Streaming Video

American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi From a segregated childhood in Alabama to becoming the most powerful woman in the world, Condoleezza Rice cuts an extraordinary and enigmatic figure. This incisive documentary tells a mesmerizing Faustian tale of a woman whose pursuit of power destroyed her core values and rocketed America into a fateful new direction. Leading her own defense through a series of candid interviews, this is political biography like no other.
America's Great Divide: From Obama to Trump (2 parts) Episode 1 traces how Barack Obama’s promise of unity collapsed as increasing racial, cultural and political divisions laid the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.
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Episode 2 examines how Donald Trump’s campaign exploited the country’s divisions and how his presidency has unleashed anger on both sides of the divide.
And She Could Be Next: Building a Movement During the 2018 midterms, women of color run for political office in record numbers. Candidates and organizers mobilize to expand the electorate, inspire voters to turn out and make history in the process.
And She Could Be Next: Claiming Power As a movement of candidates and organizers inspire voters to turn out for the 2018 midterm elections, voter suppression in Georgia casts a shadow on Stacey Abrams’ history-making run for governor.
Can the States Do It Better? This program explores the history and anatomy of the ongoing political debate over the idea of shifting power and authority from the federal government to the states and individuals. The program goes back to the founding of the country and examines the split between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over how much power the federal government should have, through the Civil War, to the rapid expansion of federal powers during the Great Depression and World War II, to the Great Society programs of Lyndon B. Johnson, to the present. The program looks at the idea of "devolution" today and examines in detail two of the most contentious aspects of it: welfare reform and school vouchers. The program draws on documentary footage and archival materials, and features numerous experts including several governors and a wide range of leading academics.
The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden In November 2020, American voters will go to the polls to decide whether President Donald Trump or his Democratic challenger will lead the country for the next four years. In a polarized and bitterly divided country, voter enthusiasm is already at record levels with the turnout predicted to be the highest in a century. Frontline’s The Choice 2020 will explore the character of the candidates by examining the formative episodes in their lives through interviews with those who know them best. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
The Election Process The Almost Painless Guide to the Election Process uses contemporary footage, archival footage and photographs, original graphics, and dialog narration to provide students in grades five and up with information on the election process. The program explores the qualifications needed to vote or become a candidate, including the concept of citizenship and how it applies to running for political office and voting eligibility. It explains political parties and their diversity and usefulness in presenting candidates to the public. Time is also spent detailing platforms that were significant in United States electoral history, such as suffrage. The 15th, 19th, and 26th amendments, and how they expanded voting rights, are explained in detail. The significance of the different types of elections is covered – including general, primary, initiative, and recall elections. The purpose of the Electoral College and its role in electing the president is also clarified. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the involvement of citizens in each step of the process, such as grass roots campaigning and citizen involvement. The program concludes with “The Almost Painless Review,” which offers an excellent synopsis of the entire program. Also, a Video Quiz is provided prior to the closing credits.
Elections: The Maintenance of Democracy—Democracy in America This program explores the crucial role of strategy in the two-stage electoral campaign system; the opportunities for citizens to choose, organize, and elect candidates who will pursue policies they favor, and the need for campaigns to increase voter turnout by educating citizens about the importance and influence of their vote.
Give Trump a Chance: A Debate Since Donald Trump became president in January 2017, opponents have criticized him as unpredictable, offensive, and autocratic, a threat to both democratic ideals at home and stability abroad. But supporters have praised him as refreshing, bold, and unafraid to make waves or upset the status quo. Some Americans urge resistance to working with Trump to avoid "normalizing" his presidency, but others warn that this will only deepen political divisions in the United States and hurt the country. Should Americans—even those who strongly oppose him—give President Trump a chance?
Latino Vote: Dispatches from the Battleground This film follows the efforts of community leaders working to ensure Latino voter turnout. How will these efforts impact the presidential election result, and will 2020 be a tipping point for the impact of the Latino vote? Distributed by PBS Distribution.
McCarthy Chronicles the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin Senator who would test the limits of American decency and democracy. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Meet the Donors: Does Money Talk? With the election of 2016 shaping up to be the most expensive in U.S. history, candidates from both political parties are relying on the generosity of big donors to get their message out to the American people. With more money pouring into campaign coffers than ever before, a collective cry has been raised to curtail the spending of individuals and special-interest groups capable of raising billions of dollars for a single campaign. Who are the high rollers contributing to presidential candidates and why are they giving so much of their money away? In search of answers, Alexandra Pelosi takes viewers behind the scenes to top-dollar fundraisers—and chats with dozens of ultra-rich mega-donors.
The Mueller Investigation The Mueller Investigation chronicles the dramatic events that led the White House and the nation to this historic moment in American politics. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook
The Swamp The Swamp provides a look behind the curtain of Washington politics by following three renegade Republican Congressmen as they bring libertarian and conservative zeal to champion the President’s call to “drain the swamp,” while facing demands to raise money for their re-election campaigns and the Republican national party. Directors Daniel DiMauro and Morgan Pehme (Get Me Roger Stone) track Republican Congressmen Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Ken Buck (R-CO) over the course of a pivotal year in politics, demonstrating the breadth and grip of a system that rewards fundraising above all else, plaguing Congress on both sides of the aisle. With unique behind-the-scenes access to the inner workings of the House of Representatives amid major breaking news events, including the Mueller hearing and President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings, the film presents a revealing look at the core democratic institution of American government. An HBO Production.
Understanding Government Series The Constitution of the United States established three distinct branches of Government: the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. Our founding fathers, in their wisdom, formed this division of government to establish the principle of separation of powers. This creates an internal system of checks and balances designed to protect citizens from capricious or tyrannical actions of government.
War Powers in American Politics In this Foreign Policy Research Institute Primer, Ron Granieri explores the history and use of War Powers in American politics.
Whose Vote Counts Allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement in the lead-up to the 2020 election. With Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb investigates how the pandemic is being used to sway turnout. Distributed by PBS Distribution.
Willie Velasquez: Your Vote is Your Voice Political empowerment for Latinos in the United States has always been difficult. A Mexican-American butcher's son from Texas, Willie Velasquez questioned the lack of Latino representation in his city's government, propelling him into a lifelong battle to gain political equality for Latinos. This documentary examines obstacles Latinos had to overcome to obtain representation, and addresses issues facing Latinos today.
Words that Built America The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution and The Bill of Rights represent much more than the words used by America’s Founding Fathers to define a fragile, nascent country. They’re the living, breathing realization of America’s democratic ideal, the bedrock of a society that its people have built over nearly two-and-a-half centuries, and they provide a blueprint that is, was and will be a template for democracy around the world. To celebrate these iconic documents on our nation’s birthday, HBO presents a 45-minute special, directed by Alexandra Pelosi and narrated by David McCullough (John Adams), in which dozens of Americans – from actors and media personalities, to politicians, lawmakers and presidents, to schoolchildren whose future is being shaped by our shared past – read the three founding documents that define our outlook on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Podcasts

Civics 101: A Podcast Branded as "the podcast refresher course on the basics of how our democracy works," Civics 101 distills important government topics, such as the separation of powers and the electoral college, for listeners of all ages. Since its launch in 2017, the award-winning podcast has released nearly 200 episodes. Traditional episodes are around 20 minutes long, while "Civics Shorts" ("bite-size" recaps of important topics designed for middle school students) are less than 10 minutes in length. These episodes are available on most popular listening platforms and at the link above. In addition to the podcast, the site offers instructors some great classroom tools, including lesson plans and quizzes, on the Educator Resources page. The Civics 101: NH page contains information about the off-shoot program of that name, a podcast focused on New Hampshire's state government. Looking for a topic not yet covered? Civics 101 welcomes questions via their Ask a Question page (found under the For Educators dropdown menu) or through their social media channels (@civics101pod on Twitter and Instagram). Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice host the show, which is produced by New Hampshire Public Radio with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. [EMB]
Presidencies of the United States "The presidency is constantly shifting with circumstances, the times, and the occupants." This observation from host Jerry Landry, a self-proclaimed history geek, led him to launch Presidencies of the United States. This podcast (and related blog and video series) is meant to introduce the "people and events that shaped and reshaped each administration and the office in general." The podcast works its way chronologically through the United States' presidents, (covering their lives before, during, and after their time in the White House), and (as of this write-up) is currently on Thomas Jefferson, with new episodes discussing his life set for release throughout 2020. Readers can find the nearly 100 episodes released since the podcast launched in January of 2017 under Episode Guide by President. In addition to organizing episodes chronologically by president, this section features "source notes" and additional resources that relate to each president. Podcast episodes range in length, but most are under an hour. The blog also includes links to a video series, an extension of the podcast launched in 2019. Though the series only includes a few videos as of this write-up, they are a great addition to the work of the podcast.
We the People Calling all history buffs and legal theorists: You may find We the People of particular interest. This weekly podcast is produced by the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing "awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people," offering well-regarded visual tools and Educational Resources (featured in the 09-13-19 Scout Report). Hosted by the President of the National Constitution Center, We the People provides Constitutional insights on a variety of topics and feature stakeholders on all sides of the political spectrum. The 44 episodes (as of this write-up) offer in-depth discussions on constitutional clashes, civil rights, and constitutional legacy. Listeners will learn from experts in the field who explore the constitutional and historical dimensions of issues that are making headlines, covering ground from the Founding Fathers to the current Supreme Court. A new episode is released each week, and most are around an hour in length. Readers can stream episodes at the link above by clicking the "We the People" link under Podcasts, or subscribe to We the People via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and other platforms. [EMB]

Government & Law (U.S.): DVD, Websites, etc.

DVD, Web, Streaming

DVD

Selected Websites

Streaming Video

Podcasts