Our Founding Fathers did not intend to create a two-party system, yet, our government has evolved into a “winner-take-all” system in which two major parties emerged.  These two party that dominate American government is the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.  In this curriculum unit, the students will read, analyze, and research the intricacies of how political parties work in the American political system political system.  Students will learn about the role of political parties in the United States and the influence parties have in our political system, including the role of third parties.  This unit will cover the history and trend of party ideologies and explores the phenomena of why marginalized groups vote the way they do.  Students will research the history, trend, and policies of each political parties ultimately concluding what political parties have done for them. 

This curriculum unit is design to be taught in a 12^th grade Advance Placement U.S. Government and Politics class, but can be adapted for 12^th grade government, 11^th grade Advanced Placement United States History and 11^th grade United States History. 

(Developed for Government and AP U. S. Government and Politics, grade 12; recommended for Government and AP U. S. Government and Politics, grade 12; and AP U. S. History, and U. S. History, grade 11)