Town Hall Schedule
(Government)
Town Halls are open forum discussions where we discuss political issues, philosophical questions, reading selections relevant to the unit at hand, chapters from our supplemental text Hardball, and personal thoughts and experiences with the content.
Town Halls are not paper assignments, but they are meant to have deep conversations on the topics in place of written assignments, so come prepared to discuss what you have read but no notes will be collected.
Each Town Hall has several elements of discussion to it, so this offers an opportunity for students to participate in responding to topics they most feel opinionated on or having something they would like to contribute to the conversation.
Finally, the Town Halls are not structured like Socratic Seminars and they are meant to be much less rigid.
Town Hall #1 -
-Hardball Chapter 1: "It's Not Who You Know; It's Who You Get to Know"
-Hardball Chapter 2: "All Politics is Local"
-Presidential Elections: 1876, 2000
-Winners/Losers
-Question of Power: "Can Social Order be maintained without power?"
Town Hall #2 -
-Hardball Chapter 3: "It's Better to Receive Than to Give"
-Hardball Chapter 4: "Dance with the One That Brung Ya"
-Political Ideology Testing Discussion
-Question of Power: "Is the Final Goal of Government Simply to Enable Individuals to Live as they Chose?"
Town Hall #3 -
-Hardball Chapter 5: "Keep Your Enemies In Front of You"
-Hardball Chapter 6: "Don't Get Mad; Don't Get Even; Get Ahead"
-Media Virtual Gallery Walk Sharing
-Feeding Frenzies Discussion
-Question of Power: "Should Governments Be Under the Same Moral Limits as Individuals?"
Town Hall #4 -
-Hardball Chapter 7: "Leave No Shot Unanswered"
-Hardball Chapter 8: "Only Talk When It Improves the Silence"
-Discussion on Campaigning vs. Governing (no prep necessary)
-Question of Power: "Does Government Have Any Responsibility for Truth and Morality?"
Town Hall #5 -
-Hardball Chapter 9: "Always Concede on Principle"
-Hardball Chapter 10: "Hang a Lantern On Your Problem"
-Question of Power: "Should Government in All Circumstances Be Under Constitutional Limits?"
Town Hall #6 -
-Hardball Chapter 11: "Spin!"
-Hardball Chapter 12: "The Press is the Enemy"
-Presidential Approval Ratings (will be provided in class for you)
-Congressional Schedule (will be provided in class for you)
-Question of Power: "Should Governments Try to Create Societies That Fulfill All Needs and Desires?"
Town Hall #7 -
-Hardball Chapter 13: "The Reputation of Power"
-Hardball Chapter 14: "Positioning"
-Winners/Losers
-Final Hardball Question: Thoughts on the following passage - "The thing most people fail to understand about politicians is that most of them genuinely care passionately about public policy and the public good."