David Childs, Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
Introduction
When there is a lot of bi-partisan discord between the executive and legislative branches surrounding passing end of year spending legislation we often begin to hear about the possibility of a government shutdown. It is important that American citizens understand what this means. What makes a democracy successful is when citizens understand their rights and the various processes that take place in the government as well as their civic duties. An important component in operating a well functioning democracy is an educated citizenry.
When Does a Government Shutdown Occur?
A government shutdown takes place in the United States when nonessential offices of the government close due to a lack of approval on the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year. More specifically, when congress fails to pass legislation or the President does not sign an appropriations bill that would fund certain federal government operations and agencies a shutdown occurs. Sometimes the case is that the opposing party in Congress disagrees with the president and refuses to pass the spending legislation. For example, republican senators may refuse to vote for certain spending legislation that a democratic president wants to pass, this would trigger a government shutdown. NOTE: An appropriations bill is legislation in the United States Congress to appropriate federal funds to specific federal government departments, agencies and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment and activities.
If Congress passes all of the spending bills connected to the federal budget, a shutdown can be circumvented. However, if they cannot come to an agreement a government shutdown will occur. A shutdown will close many of the federally funded operations, stopping the work for federal employees that are deemed non-essential. Some non-essential organizations can stay open for a short amount of time running on cash reserves. However, when the reserve funds runs out the organizations close. This sort of stalemate continues until an agreement is reached within Congress or with the President and a budget bill is passed. In the recent shutdown of late fall 2018, President Donald Trump asked for federal funding to build a wall along the Mexican border, but Congress has not been able to pass legislation to support it, this triggered a government shutdown.
Government Shutdowns Have Happened Before
A shutdown is not new to the federal government, but it’s unusual for them to happen when one party controls the White House and Congress; this is the case for the Trump administration. In fact, because of sharp disagreements between both parties on spending, a shutdown has happened three times during his nearly two years in office. The recent shutdown has caused federal employees to be furloughed. This has not happened since 1974.
What are the Effects of a Government Shutdown?
Government shutdowns can affect many of the everyday government processing functions, including recruitment of law enforcement officers and the processing of social security cards and passport applications. Also, some functions of banks are affected by the shutdown, even though they are not government-controlled. Financial institutions cannot access information needed such as income tax records which may impact their ability to process new small business loan applications. Another possible affect might be that, payments from government sources to recipients of veterans’ benefits or unemployment insurance may be temporarily put on hold. In the fall 2018 shutdown triggered by the Trump administration more than 380,000 federal workers have been put on furlough and another 420,000 employees were forced to work without pay.
There can also be indirect effects of a government shutdown. It could impact other sectors of society besides the government, such as the business sector. In the fall 2018 shutdown, more than 380,000 federal workers have been put on furlough and another 420,000 employees were forced to work without pay. When federal workers are on furlough and as a result not spending, this could cause a loss of revenue within the businesses they normally would have patronized. The overall cost and impact on the economy as a result of a furlough can be devastating. Some shutdowns in the past have cost the economy as much as $20 billion, however some may not be as costly. Offices that do not receive funding from Congress can continue operating during a shutdown such as the Federal Reserve, the Post Office, active prison guards, police and firefighters, border patrol agents, air traffic control and active military.
The average US citizen may not understand the ends and outs of a government shutdown; many people may not realize what it means at all. The social studies classroom is a great way to educate students on this aspect of the American government. Below some teacher resources are provided to help social studies teachers create a curriculum highlighting key aspects of government shutdowns.
Teacher Resources/ Lesson Plans
STANDARDS:
- National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)- Standard 6 Power, Authority and Governance: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create, interact with, and change structures of power, authority, and governance.”
- High School Ohio Social Studies Standards: American Government Theme: Students examine the Founding Documents which form the basis for the United States of America and how the American people govern themselves at national, state and local levels of government is the basis for this course. Students may also impact issues addressed by governments through service learning and senior projects.
- Eighth Grade Standard ROLES AND SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT Content Statements: 22. The U.S. Constitution established a federal republic, providing a framework for a national government with elected representatives, separation of powers, and checks and balances. 23. The U.S. Constitution protects citizens’ rights by limiting the powers of government.
Questions for discussion: - What ways can a government shutdown affect the average person?
- What persons or citizens might be affected most by the government shutdown?
- Should Congress be held accountable for the government shutdown?
Teacher Resources/Sample Lessons
Teaching Toolkit: 9 Resources for Discussing the Government Shutdown
https://doingsocialstudies.com/2018/01/22/teaching-toolkit-9-resources-for-discussing-the-government-shutdown/
2013 Government Shutdown – Database of K-12 Resources
https://civics.sites.unc.edu/files/2013/11/Shutdown-Lesson_10.pdf
Five Ways to Teach the Shutdown
https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/five-ways-to-teach-the-shutdown/
Government Shutdown: A Teacher’s Guide
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily-videos/government-shutdown-a-teachers-guide/
Need-to-Know: Government Shutdown!
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/2013/09/need-know-government-shutdown/
The Government Shutdown and K-12 Education: Your Guide
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/01/government_shutdown_education_your_guide.html
References/Resources
Government Shutdowns Are Rare When One Party Controls White House, Congress. President Trump is On His Third
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/22/government-shutdowns-rare-except-under-president-donald-trump/2396942002/
Government Shutdowns in the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_United_States
In Pictures: The Latest Government Shutdown
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/22/politics/gallery/government-shutdown-december-2018/index.html
Here is Every Previous Government Shutdown, Why They Happened and how They Ended
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/25/here-is-every-previous-government-shutdown-why-they-happened-and-how-they-ended/?utm_term=.86403a7e84a3
Schumer Demands Trump ‘Abandon the Wall’ as DC Faces Shutdown Stalemate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-demands-trump-abandon-the-wall-as-dc-faces-shutdown-stalemate
Government Shutdown 2018
https://www.politico.com/latest-news-updates/government-shutdown-2018
What Happens During a Government Shutdown? 7 Things You Should Know
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/what-happens-during-a-government-shutdown-7-things-you-should-know
Why the Government Shutdown Actually Costs Money?
https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/01/21/why-the-government-shutdown-actually-costs-money-000624
The government shutdown is here. How does it affect you?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/21/government-shutdown-how-does-affect-you-what-closed/2391079002/
Government Shutdown 2018 and 2013 Explained
https://www.thebalance.com/government-shutdown-3305683
before looking at this passage I looked at the government shutdown as juvenile. this passage helped me to look at the government shutdown in a different light. I still see it as a bit silly but I also see how different agenda for different parties can create this problem. I am just glad that I am not a politician or government worker so I can still go to my job and make an income.
I’m not very educated on things that happen within the Government. When I heard about the Government Shutdown, I didn’t really understand what that meant. My dad explained a lot of it to me when it first shutdown. We just recently went out of town, and he explained that everyone working in the airport wasn’t getting paid. It was so crazy to think about all of the people that were/are continuing to work with no pay.
I found this article very informative and intriguing. I have heard about government shut downs in the past but never understood what they were and their effects on society. I chose to read this article because the shutdown of this past month has prevented my background check for a job to be ran. Prior to reading this article, I had no idea that certain government employees were forced to work without being paid. Why would these individuals be forced to continue at their jobs without receiving appropriate compensation? I hope that more citizens that are uninformed of the effects of government shutdowns become aware of what exactly is going on in the government and how it impacts them.
During the time of the government shutdown, I was in shock that such actions could take place. As stated in the article, it is uncommon for a government shutdown to happen but obviously had occurred and still could potentially happen again. I feel that a lot things happen involving political views and social media. My family has been directly affected by the government shutdown, as my mother works for a government agency. This article gives a good overview of the context of the shutdown.
I thought this article was very interesting and helpful. I never fully understood why shutdowns happened so this article was extremely helpful and relevant. Before this recent government shutdown occurred, I didn’t really care about the government shutdown because I thought the only people that were not getting paid were rich senators that already had plenty of money. This article really helped me understand the extent and impact of a shutdown with 420,000 employees being forced to work without pay. I also did not even thing about the impact of a shutdown on the business sector so I thought that information was fascinating to me. Overall, I thought that this article was a great read and really made me think about the impact of a government shutdown. I think it will be interesting how the next couple of weeks play out because there was recently a reopening of the government for a short period of time.
This article was very informative as I did not know exactly what a government shutdown was. Hearing about the government being shutdown definitely irritates me because it is affecting the country and we shouldn’t be going through this all because of a disagreement on funding for a wall, which I think is ridiculous! Some of my coworkers have mentioned their feelings on this matter because they are also being affected by this personally and they are very concerned with what is going to happen if certain agencies and organizations run out of cash reserves. I have heard of a government shutdown occurring when President Obama was in office, but not quite to the extent that President Trump has placed on our country.
I always pride myself on keeping up with politics, and I have done so with the most recent shutdown. This article has enlightened me on some more serious details I wasn’t aware of. For example, it states 420,000 employees have been forced to work without pay, and I didn’t realize it was to that level. The craziest thing about this longest shutdown ever, is that the president had to end it without getting his way.
This article was very interesting to me. I knew the basics of what a government shutdown is, but I never really knew all of the specifics. It is crazy to me that hundreds of thousands of people can be forced to take an unpaid leave of absence from their jobs or work without pay because the government disagrees on funding. It is was also very interesting to see how the shutdown can affect everyone both directly and indirectly. I knew that the shutdown effected many people who work for the government, but I never thought of how it could affect the economy as a whole because of the lack of spending that would otherwise occur.
This was a very informative article about the government shutdown. I have heard a lot about it, but it was good to read a more unbiased article about it. One thing about the news of the government shutdown that has bothered me is everyone seeming to act like Trump is the first one to ever have this happen to. Of course, as the article said, it is not common when one party controls both the White House and Congress. Additionally, this shutdown has gone on for an extremely long amount of time. Many people are out of work until the shutdown gets resolved, and it is devastatingly hurting many lives.
I found this article very informative for anyone who may not understand why the government recently shut down. I had a lot of questions as to why the government shut down and this article cleared up a lot of questions I had about the issue. It’s unbelievable to me that something like this can happen and affect so many people. Something that shocked me is that 420,000 people were forced to work without pay during the shutdown. I can’t imagine how families are feeling who are struggling financially while still having to work without pay.