Judging from the way the words liberal and conservative are used in public discourse, one would think that the characteristics of each species are clear and unmistakable. Take material from one or more of the following: Richard Bellamy, editor, Victorian Liberalism: Nineteenth Century Political Thought and Practice (1990); Harold Stearns, Liberalism in America (1919); Dexter Perkins, The American Way (1957); Ruth Levitas, editor, The Ideology of the New Right (1985); William F. Buckley, Keeping the Tablets: Modern American Conservative Thought (1988). Ask students to identify whether the statements in question are liberal or conservative and to explain their choice. Lead into a listing of the characteristics of each point of view. Then take the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution, rewrite them in modern language, and disguise their origins. Present the resulting paragraph to the class for identification as liberal or conservative. For even more complexity, compose a list of major American figures such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and any others who might be argued as either liberal or conservative. Have students write a brief paragraph explaining the chosen label. Then discuss. Result: complexity defeats oversimplification. Students may benefit from more general consideration of the postwar, Cold War, and post-Cold War eras. See Alonzo Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush (second edition; 1992); William C. Berman, America's Right Turn: From Nixon to Bush (1994); and Charles W. Dunn and J. David Woodard, The Conservative Tradition in America (1996).

Is nationalism a good thing? Invite the class to find evidence of nationalism in the description of the return from the Gulf in the first paragraphs of Chapter 313. Ask for a definition of nationalism and of patriotism. Apply the definition to a variety of places, asking students to characterize nationalism as beneficial or harmful. Consider Palestine and Israel; Croatia, Serbia, and Yugoslavia; Russia and Ukraine; the Confederate States of America; and the United States.

By 1992 Japan-bashing had become widespread as American apprehension over the United States' economic future was exacerbated by an economy in the doldrums. Was anger at Japan justified? Assign two students interested in economic issues to take opposite sides of the question and make a brief presentation to the class. Consult C. Fred Bergsten and William R. Cline, The United States-Japan Economic Problem (second edition; 1987), and Lester Thurow, Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe, and America (1992).

The sexual scandals that beset President Clinton were the result not only of his own conduct but of the modern inclination to expose the private lives of political figures. The sexual behavior of Thomas Jefferson, Warren Harding, and John Kennedy, among others, was not a matter for public debate. Was this arrangement, this concealing of lapses in morality, better or worse for the nation than the bare-all activity of the present? Ask four students to prepare statements. Impose the obligation to concentrate on the president as commander-in-chief, as a principal maker of national policy, and as a human being with all the usual weaknesses. Students could do no better than to consult contemporary media publications for ideas.