Civics & Government · 9th Grade

Active learning ideas

The Role of Money in Politics

Active learning works for this topic because the abstract rules of campaign finance become concrete when students trace real money flows. Classroom simulations and debates help students grasp how legal loopholes shape political power in ways that dry legal analysis cannot.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Civ.5.9-12
• C3: D2.Civ.11.9-12

• 40–55 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Problem-Based Learning
• 55 min · Small Groups

Follow the Dark Money Trail

Students use OpenSecrets or FollowTheMoney to trace a specific dark money organization, identifying what they can learn about its donors (often very little), its reported spending, and its publicly stated mission. Groups present what they found and what remains opaque, then discuss what additional disclosure rules would be needed to answer the questions they couldn't answer.

Analyze the impact of 'dark money' on electoral transparency.

Facilitation Tip

For Follow the Dark Money Trail, provide students with actual IRS Form 990s and FEC reports so they practice reading primary documents rather than summaries.

What to look for

Provide students with a brief scenario describing a political advertisement. Ask them to identify whether the ad is likely funded by disclosed Super PAC money or 'dark money,' and to explain their reasoning based on donor disclosure.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Problem-Based Learning
• 55 min · Small Groups

Policy Design Workshop: Reforming Campaign Finance

Groups design a campaign finance reform proposal addressing dark money, Super PACs, and small-dollar fundraising. They must identify the constitutional constraints set by Citizens United precedent, the practical enforcement challenges, and who would oppose their proposal and why. Groups present proposals and receive structured peer critique focused on feasibility, not just ideals.

Evaluate the effectiveness of current campaign finance regulations.

Facilitation Tip

During the Policy Design Workshop, assign each group a specific reform (e.g., disclosure requirements, public financing) and require them to draft a one-page proposal with points for and against.

What to look for

Present students with a simplified organizational chart showing a 501(c)(4) receiving funds from an anonymous source and then donating to a Super PAC. Ask them to label the flow of money and explain one potential transparency issue with this structure.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Formal Debate
• 45 min · Whole Class

Formal Debate: Disclosure vs. Donor Anonymity

Half the class argues that all political spending should require full donor disclosure; the other half argues that donor anonymity protects privacy and free association rights, drawing on NAACP v. Alabama (1958), in which the Supreme Court protected the NAACP from state compelled member disclosure. Both sides must engage with the historical civil rights argument before applying it to the current campaign finance context.

Design reforms to address concerns about money's influence in politics.

Facilitation Tip

For the Structured Debate, assign roles (e.g., advocate for disclosure, defender of donor anonymity) and give students 15 minutes to prepare arguments using the data from Data Analysis: The Cost of a Senate Seat Over Time.

What to look for

Facilitate a class discussion using the prompt: 'If a wealthy individual or corporation wants to influence an election without their name being public, what specific legal avenues are available to them today, and why are these avenues problematic for democratic transparency?'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Problem-Based Learning
• 40 min · Small Groups

Data Analysis: The Cost of a Senate Seat Over Time

Students chart the average cost of winning a Senate or House seat over several election cycles, adjusting for inflation. They analyze what the trend implies for who can realistically run for office, what proportion of an elected official's working week must be devoted to fundraising, and how that allocation might affect which constituents' concerns receive sustained attention.

Analyze the impact of 'dark money' on electoral transparency.

Facilitation Tip

In Data Analysis, have students graph the cost of Senate seats from 1990 to 2020 and annotate the graph with key events like Citizens United to show correlation.

What to look for

Provide students with a brief scenario describing a political advertisement. Ask them to identify whether the ad is likely funded by disclosed Super PAC money or 'dark money,' and to explain their reasoning based on donor disclosure.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by grounding abstract legal rules in real-world examples. Avoid overwhelming students with exhaustive legal citations; instead, focus on how money flows and why disclosure matters. Research shows that simulations help students retain complex procedural knowledge, so prioritize activities where students actively trace, evaluate, and propose reforms rather than passively absorb facts.

By the end of these activities, students should be able to distinguish between disclosed and undisclosed political spending, explain how dark money operates through legal structures, and evaluate reform proposals using evidence. They should also articulate why transparency matters for democratic accountability.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Follow the Dark Money Trail, some students may assume all campaign spending must be reported to the FEC.

  During Follow the Dark Money Trail, direct students to the IRS Form 990s and FEC reports they are analyzing. Ask them to highlight which organizations are required to disclose donors and which are not, and have them explain why the same ad could be funded by disclosed or undisclosed money depending on the structure.

• During the Policy Design Workshop, students might conflate dark money with Super PAC money.

  During the Policy Design Workshop, provide groups with organizational charts showing how 501(c)(4)s funnel money to Super PACs. Ask them to label each step in the flow and explain why disclosure is lost at each stage, using the charts as a reference.

• During the Structured Debate, students may argue that campaign finance reform requires a constitutional amendment.

  During the Structured Debate, provide students with a list of legislative reforms (e.g., disclosure requirements, coordination rules) and ask them to evaluate which could be implemented without a constitutional amendment. Have them cite the constitutional constraints they learned about during the debate preparation.

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Methods used in this brief

• Problem-Based Learning
• Formal Debate