Gravitas: A Voice for Civics : 7/6/14

A Crucial Element of Democracy

This is a blog by Robert Gutierrez ...

While often taken for granted, civics education plays a crucial role in a democracy like ours. This Blog is dedicated to enticing its readers into taking an active role in the formulation of the civics curriculum found in their local schools. In order to do this, the Blog is offering a newer way to look at civics education, a newer construct - liberated federalism or federation theory. Daniel Elazar defines federalism as "the mode of political organization that unites separate polities within an overarching political system by distributing power among general and constituent governments in a manner designed to protect the existence and authority of both." It depends on its citizens acting in certain ways which Elazar calls federalism's processes. Federation theory, as applied to civics curriculum, has a set of aims. They are:
*Teach a view of government as a supra federated institution of society in which collective interests of the commonwealth are protected and advanced.
*Teach the philosophical basis of government's role as guardian of the grand partnership of citizens at both levels of individuals and associations of political and social intercourse.
*Convey the need of government to engender levels of support promoting a general sense of obligation and duty toward agreed upon goals and processes aimed at advancing the common betterment.
*Establish and justify a political morality which includes a process to assess whether that morality meets the needs of changing times while holding true to federalist values.
*Emphasize the integrity of the individual both in terms of liberty and equity in which each citizen is a member of a compacted arrangement and whose role is legally, politically, and socially congruent with the spirit of the Bill of Rights.
*Find a balance between a respect for national expertise and an encouragement of local, unsophisticated participation in policy decision-making and implementation.
Your input, as to the content of this Blog, is encouraged through this Blog directly or the Blog's email address: gravitascivics@gmail.com .
NOTE: This blog has led to the publication of a book. The title of that book is TOWARD A FEDERATED NATION: IMPLEMENTING NATIONAL CIVICS STANDARDS and it is available through Amazon in both ebook and paperback versions.

Monday, July 7, 2014

A RESPITE

This is, according to my accounting, the 400^th posting of this blog. The blog began on September 6, 2010. I would have continued it no matter what the readership was – this has been a selfish endeavor and I have enjoyed it. I plan to continue enjoying it for the foreseeable future, but I have decided to take a respite from it for a short while. Due to personal reasons, I am going to stop making my twice weekly entries for a month or so. As a parting gesture, I want to discuss a purpose of this blog with you.

My wish is that those of you who read the blog, at least the parents among you, would see it as an instructional source. That is, what you ascertain from reading it might help you associate with your child's civics or social studies teacher, and might better equip you to address the issues with which that professional deals. Of course, this is not every parent's interest, but among all parents there may be a sizable number of you that, once engaged, can make a difference in a particular school – a change for the better. And, naturally, this type of engagement is right in line with the central conceptualization this blog promotes, a federalist approach to our social interactions. That public school which your sons and daughters attend belongs to you. When you visit it, it is not like visiting a retail store or even visiting a professional office, such as your doctor's office. In those other places, you do not own the facility; you are a guest. But the public school is your place – collectively.

Of course, this doesn't mean you can disrespect the professionals there, but it does mean you can have a direct say in what goes on there, along with the rest of the community. Unfortunately, too many parents do not take up the role of caretakers and involve themselves only when an issue arises concerning their own children. Perhaps part of the reason for such reluctance is a lack of knowledge about what is being attempted in the school; hence, a role for this blog and others like it.

What I have promoted has never been presented as the “true way.” Instead, it has been a suggested way – one presented with reasoned, I hope, argument. I don't know who reads it, but I gather that there has been a core of repeat visitors to this site. I sincerely thank you for your interest. Perhaps I have another 400 or more postings in me; I plan to write them and share them with you. For now, though, I will bid you a short adieu.