This comprehensive course on U.S. government provides a detailed analytical look at the origin and role of civil government in the United States. Students will not only study the fundamentals of U.S. government and politics, but will also consider the worldviews held by those who founded it. Students will examine founding documents such as the Mayflower Compact, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution. Influences that shaped the political ideas and theories of America’s Founders, such as the political philosophy of the Greco-Roman world, Magna Carta, English Common Law, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Judeo-Christian sources, will be discussed and evaluated. The class also examines the relationship among federal and state governments, and studies in depth the three branches of U.S. government. Other topics include constitutional freedoms, checks and balances in government, political parties, election campaigns, public opinion polls, bureaucracy, participation in government, and comparing and contrasting different political systems and types of government. Throughout the course students will be given an appreciation for the privileges they enjoy under the U.S. government, and for their responsibility to steward that trust for future generations. Opportunities to discuss current political issues and how they relate to America’s political system are also provided. As George Washington once noted, “A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”