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The Forgotten Realm – Civics for American Christians

Name: The Forgotten Realm - Civics for American Christians
SKU: B-019
Price: 29.95 USD
Availability: InStock

Original price was: $34.95.Current price is: $29.95.

Hold the activism. Hold the platitudes. We know something is wrong with our government. As American Christians, we have a rich political inheritance and a strong desire to act. Yet our action is stunted by reactionary politics and a lack of understanding of the systems which govern us.

It is time for a practical manual on American government written specifically for Christians. In The Forgotten Realm, Elizabeth Landis explains these often ignored structures of government that the average citizen interacts with every day. Starting with the city and working outward to the county, special districts, state, and nation, Landis inverts the way many Americans think about politics and their role as citizens. She demonstrates that there is much we can do to engage with the civil realm and heal our nation. By looking at these structures and learning them well, American Christians will not only become more informed citizens but also more engaged citizens, able to bring the gospel of Christ into an often unreached space.

By faithfully pursuing civics, American Christians can ensure that The Forgotten Realm does not stay forgotten for long.

SKU: B-019 Categories: Books, Civics Tags: 10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade, 9th grade

About The Forgotten Realm

Who is this book for?

For students.

This book forms the core of a semester-length civics course at the high school or college level. As a practical manual, there is plenty to do in and out of the classroom.

For citizens.

This book is a practical manual for the citizen who wants to understand how the governmental structures all around them works. It will demystify what occurs in their own town, county, and state.

For clergymen.

When America was founded, there was a company of pastors known as the “Black Regiment.” These pastors, wearing the black Genevan gowns of clergymen of the time, were leaders as well as shepherds. While the civil realm is distinct from the ecclesiastical realm, they are both under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and clergymen are essential in leading, instructing, and encouraging their flocks in the affairs of the civil realm.

For Christians.

Finally, this book is for Christians. It is not that a non-Christian cannot greatly benefit, but this book presupposes a Christian audience. John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The non-Christian is warmly invited to come along, and it is our sincere hope that the end result would be an understanding that there is no true freedom apart from the freedom found in Jesus Christ.

Table of Contents with List of Figures

List of Figures

vii
Preface

xiii
Introduction

1
Chapter 1: The Realm of Civil Government & Dual Citizenship

15

Figure 1.1 Governance Structure

19
Figure 1.2 Governance Structure in the United States

22

Chapter 2: Layers of Law—The Cornerstone Chapter

49

Figure 2.1 Three Branches of Government

57
Figure 2.2 Federal Laws

68
Figure 2.3 State & Federal Judicial Systems

73
Figure 2.4 Federal Regulations

76
Figure 2.5 State Session Laws

82
Figure 2.6 State Codes of Law

83
Figure 2.7 State Regulations

84
Figure 2.8 Governance Structure in the United States in Terms of Law

87

Chapter 3: City Government

93

Figure 3.1 Governance Structure in the United States

92
Figure 3.2 Accountability (Who is Accountable to Whom)

115
Figure 3.3 Commission System

120
Figure 3.4a Council-Manager System I

122
Figure 3.4b Council-Manager System II

123
Figure 3.5 Mayor-Council System

125
Figure 3.6 (Open) Town Meeting

127
Figure 3.7 Representative Town Meeting

129
Figure 3.8 Review of the Systems of City Governance

130
Figure 3.9 The Types of People You Will Meet in the Civil Realm

136

Chapter 4: County-Equivalent Government

151

Figure 4.1 Governance Structure in the United States

150
Figure 4.2 Commission System

164
Figure 4.3 Council-Administrator System

166
Figure 4.4 Council-Elected Executive System

168
Figure 4.5 Consolidated City-Council System

170
Figure 4.6 Comparison: Systems of City & County Governance

171
Figure 4.7 State Judicial System

181

Chapter 5: Special Districts, Independent Cities, Townships & Regional Governments

193

Figure 5.1 Governance Structure in the United States

192
Figure 5.2 All Districts & Special Districts

197

Chapter 6: State Government

211

Figure 6.1 Governance Structure in the United States

210
Figure 6.2 How a Bill Becomes a Law: Phase 1

235
Figure 6.3 How a Bill Becomes a Law: Phase 2

239
Figure 6.4 How a Bill Becomes a Law: Phase 3

240
Figure 6.5 How a Bill Becomes a Law: Phase 4

241
Figure 6.6 How a Bill Becomes a Law: Phase 5

242
Figure 6.7 How a Bill Becomes a Law: Phase 6

243
Figure 6.8 State Judicial System

261
Figure 6.9 State Systems

265

Chapter 7: National Government

275

Figure 7.1 Governance Structure in the United States

274
Figure 7.2 Apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives (based on the 2020 Census)

290
Figure 7.3 U.S. Electoral College

296
Figure 7.4 Federal Judicial System

306
Figure 7.5 U.S. Regional Courts of Appeal

308
Figure 7.6 National System

311

Chapter 8: Voting, Elections & Parties

317

Figure 8.1 State Election Offices: What is Yours Called?

332
Figure 8.2 Reasons for Not Voting: Presidential Elections, 2004–2020 (in percent)

346

Chapter 9: Christian Diplomacy

353
Conclusion

379

Figure C.1 Governance Structure in the United States

385

Appendix A: The Declaration of Independence

389
Appendix B: The United States Constitution & Bill of Rights

395
Appendix C: Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists

427
Appendix D: Establishment & Enablement of State Agencies

431
Appendix E: Civic Parenting

435
Appendix F: All Sorts of Districts

441
Glossary

451
Bibliography

483

Access all the Resources and Links mentioned in the book HERE.

Elizabeth Landis graduated from The Ohio State University with a master’s degree in French. She and her husband Greg have five children whom they have homeschooled K-12. In 2016, a local issue pulled her into the civil realm, and she has been uncovering the forgotten realm ever since. She currently works as assistant to the president at New Saint Andrews College where she founded the college’s civics club in 2020.

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