Open-Ended Questions for Social Studies and Political Science Teachers

Below are some sample questions are in the form of open-ended questions that can be answered with essay type answers:

How has direct democracy been practiced in other countries and institutions and how effective has it been?
How can the educational system participate in the implementation of a direct democracy utilizing Internet and computer technology?
How can direct democracy be introduced and taught in Social Studies and Political Science courses?
How can a constitutional amendment be proposed?
How can the reliability of Internet voting be assessed?
How can the privacy and security of voters be assured?
How can the public be informed of issues to be voted on?
How can the voters register their votes via the Internet or computer?
How can the public be made aware of the safety and limitations of direct democracy?
How can the public be made aware of the roles and duties of citizens in a democracy?
How can the public be made aware of the philosophy and history of democracy?

An example of how one of the sample questions could be answered:

— How can a Constitutional amendment be proposed?

_____Constitutional amendments are permanent additions to the Constitution, though they can be counter amended as was the case with the Prohibition amendment, that require a 2/3 vote from both houses of the Congress and therefore very difficult to obtain. There have been twenty seven Constitutional Amendments with the most recent being in 1992 which involved no Congressional self salary increases while the legislators are in their terms. The twelfth Amendment concerning changing the method of electing the president of the United States using the Electoral College was added in 1803 after the first ten Amendments, the Bill of Rights, were added in 1791.

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