U.S. Government and the West Wing

Knowing how the U.S. Government runs is a very important aspect in being a well educated citizen. However learning about how the Government runs can be a very tedious and boring process.
Thankfully for teacher's everywhere there is a TV show that shows accurately how the Federal Government of the United states works. That show is NBC's "The West Wing"

Starting in 1998, Writer Aaron Sorkin and NBC created a show following the Presidency of Fictional Democrat Josiah "Jed" Bartlett. The show focused on the interactions of President Bartlett and his Senior Staff. But along the way the show clearly demonstrates how the U.S. Government works.

For example the episode "The Stackhouse Fillibuster"

Senator Stackhouse

In this episode the Senate is attempting to pass a monumental Family Wellness bill designed to help families get healthcare. However Senator Stackhouse holds up the passage of the bill in an attempt to get 47 million dollars of funding added to the bill to help combat autism across the United States(it is later revealed that his grandson has autism) The episode is mostly accurate in showing how a single senator used to be able to use unlimited debate to prevent the passage of a bill(the record by a single senator was Strom Thurmond's 24 hours and 18 minute filibuster of the 1957 Civil Rights bill) However the only flaw in the episode is that in reality even when answering a question during a filibuster, the filibustering senator may not sit down.

Congressman Matt Santos

With election season coming up the entire sixth and seventh seasons of the show are great for showing the inner workings of a campaign. The sixth season focuses on the Democrat Presidential primary race between Matt Santos and Bob Russell to see who will replace President Bartlet. The show depicts how candidates sometimes have to change their feelings on certain issues to gain support (i.e. ethanol as a fuel) and how campaigns need large amounts of money to effectively win. The show also has a brokered convention, in which neither candidate has achieved enough votes to secure the nomination.

Vice President Bob Russell

The seventh season focuses primarily on the race between the Matt Santos, the Democrats nominee for president and Arnold Vinick, the Republican Nominee for president, to see who will succeed president Bartlett. The show gives a behind the scenes look at the underhanded aspects of a presidential primary race, from the possibility of a love child, the possible politicizing of a nuclear plant meltdown, to the death of a vice presidential candidate.

Arnold Vinick, President Bartlett, Matt Santos