About

Participation runs through a registered class rather than a club or individual entry — a teacher must adopt the We the People curriculum and guide students through all six units, which cover the philosophical foundations of American government, the Constitutional Convention, the structure of the new government, the relationship of citizens to government, civil liberties and civil rights, and the Constitution in the contemporary world. Each class is divided into six teams of three to six students, one per unit. At competitive hearings, each team delivers a four-minute prepared statement on a constitutional question from their unit, then faces open-ended follow-up questioning from the judge panel — who probe for depth, nuance, and the ability to apply constitutional principles to contemporary issues they have not seen in advance. State competitions run from December through February; state champions and wildcard selections compete at the National Finals each spring. The final rounds are held in actual hearing rooms in congressional office buildings on Capitol Hill, before panels that often include sitting elected officials, constitutional scholars, and legal professionals.

We the People is the right competition for a student who wants to develop genuine expertise in constitutional law and American government rather than surface-level civics knowledge — the preparation requires mastering primary sources, landmark court cases, and the philosophical traditions underlying American democracy at a level well beyond what AP Government covers. For students targeting law, political science, public policy, or government programs, National Finals participation is a distinctive credential that demonstrates exactly the kind of sustained intellectual engagement with civic institutions that those programs most want to see.

We the People National Finals is the right competition for a high school student with deep interest in law, constitutional history, or government — and the preparation required, which is far more rigorous than a typical civics course, is itself a meaningful civic education regardless of competitive outcome.