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Two-Column Notes

Date:
Sept 13,
2016
Page #

Name: Samantha Hamski

Class/Subject:
EDTL 2760

Topic or Chapter
What Kind of Democracy Do We Live in? What Kind is Best for Social Studies?
The Text Says
I Say
Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)
My notes, commentary

Ranking tab

Website: The website shows how many


democracies rank against each other. It
shows that Norway, Switzerland and
Sweden are the top 3 best democracies
in the world and the US isnt even in the
top ten.

Website:
Home
objective

Website: The objectives of the website


were to deliver empirical data for
comparatively ranking democracies in
global format.

Website:
Home
objective

Website: The website Encourages


ongoing reforms, improvements and
innovations of democracies for a further
enhancement of the quality of
democracy.

I found both the website and the video very


surprising. Growing up in America you get
told that you live in the best place on earth.
Land of the free, home of the brave. I still
personally believe that America is amazing
and I would go to war and do anything I had
to for my beloved country but it is extremely
surprising to see these statistics. To see that
while we might think we are the best, that
statistics show we are not.
I found this data extremely interesting. I
enjoyed seeing where all of the countries
ranked. It was eye opening.

I think that the motive for this website is


great. Democracies are always changing so
the world should always be trying to improve
them.

Website:
Home
Objective

Website: Other motives: Supporting


democracy awareness and the awareness
of the need for improving the quality of
democracy.

It is important for people to be aware of the


need to improve the quality of democracy. If
the Articles of Confederation were never
improved where would we be?

Video

Video: Many Americans say America is


such a great country because we have
things like diversity, opportunity and
freedom but MANY countries have that as
well and they have a better operating
democracy than we have and are in way
less debt.

From the information provided in these


sources I can agree that other countries may
run better than America. There are many
countries that are better off than we are.

Video: Near
the end

Video: We stood up for what was right.


We fought for moral reasons, struck down
laws for moral reasons, we waged wars
on poverty, not poor people. We
sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors,
we put our money where our mouths
were and we never beat our chest. We
built great big things, made ungodly
technological advances, explored the
universe, cured diseases and we
cultivated the worlds greatest economy.

This quote really spoke to me. It shows the


way that things used to be and how messed
up they are now. America really was once the
best nation. Now we are trillions and trillions
of dollars in debt and we have more and
more terrible things happening. We once
were truly the most superior country in the
world and we are now allowing other
countries to beat us out.

Video..towar
ds the end

Video: Back in the day.. We didnt


identify ourselves by who we voted for in

I can see that the speaker actually means


that we were all just Americans not

of the video.

the last election.

Video
Content, the
basic idea
all
throughout
the video.
Connections
between the
video and
the website
and
connections
between
BP2 and
BP3.

Video: Overall, America is not the


greatest country in the world anymore
but it we all realize this as a nation there
is something we can do about it to fix it.
CONNECTIONS!!:
The United States is a representative
democracy. It is a form of democracy in
which people vote for representatives
who then vote on policy initiatives as
opposed to a direct democracy, a form of
democracy in which people vote on
policy initiatives directly. I think a direct
democracy is good for not only social
studies but everything because it is the
direct vote of the people. There is no
representatives and there would be a
greater chance for the people to get what
they want. Both the website and video
said that America isnt the best
democracy in the world. BP2s sources
talked about how social studies helps you
become a responsible citizen, that we
should have knowledge about our world
and state to improve our democracy.
BP2 and BP3 are alike because they both
talk about the United States democracy.

Democrats or Republicans but I believe


that even in the days that the speaker is
talking about that everyone still classified
themselves as a democrat or a republican. I
feel that he may be romanticizing past
America just a little bit.
Our nation still upholds the idea of the
American Dream. If we work hard, we can
achieve anything. If we work very hard we
can become a top democracy again.

They both say that theres definitely room


for improvement in our democracy.

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