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.

Friday, July 3, 2020

THE PARTY DIVIDE


As the last posting stated, this blog is now concerned with the current polarization of the national political landscape.  The divides facing the citizenry can be detected on many fronts.  Regularly, Americans have been divided, to varying degrees of intensity, along political party lines.  Political parties can be traced back to the origins of the government.  Then the split was between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.  Currently, the popular musical, Hamilton, can give the reader an overview of that division.
          But, as the last posting indicated, the division today seems significantly more intense, one in which socializing with those of the other side has become an issue.  Political party division is but one factor or area upon which one can find polarization taking place.  One research group that has looked into this arena has been the Pew Research Center.  The reader is encouraged to look up their various reports concerning this and other issues that the Center has investigated.  It basically conducts survey research projects into these contemporary issues.
          This posting, in reporting the writer’s research into polarization, shares one such report.[1]  That report was issued just the other day, June 25.  It looks at one example of this divide, how Democrats and Republicans view various aspects of the coronavirus pandemic.  This posting will share a sample of Pew’s findings in relation to six more specific issues – how do members of each party feel about how those issues should be considered or treated by government or the people?
          First, here are some of the particulars of the study.  Pew conducted a national survey from June 16-25.  The survey questioned 4,708 adults through the Center’s American Trends Panel.  Here, the study gives the reader an indication of how the citizenship is divided in one area of concern.  Guiding this posting’s effort is to see if the writer can garner information as to the nature of the reputed polarization many have reported and is but one attempt to garner a better understanding at what is causing Americans to be so at odds. 
The last posting introduced the reader to a journalist, Ezra Klein, and his recently published book that offers a comprehensive overview of the divide.[2]  With this posting, the writer is sharing with the reader a “progress report” of the writer’s efforts to research this topic.  What follows is arranged in relation to six “issues” that the Pew report identifies.  The Pew findings are merely listed without much commentary by this blogger.
Issue 1:  Has the COVID 19 crisis turned the corner, allowing for more normal times?
·       61% of Republicans and Republican leaning independents believe the “worse is behind us” and 38% believe “the worse is still to come” (56% believed this latter opinion in April);
·       23% of Democrats and Democratic leaning independents believe the “worse is behind us” and 76% believe it is “still to come” (87% believed this latter opinion in April).
Issue 2:  General Concern over Coronavirus – how has the spreading of the disease taken place?
·       62% of Americans are fearful of having been instrumental in spreading the disease (30% very concerned); 51% are concerned they will get the disease and require hospitalization (24% very concerned).
·       45% of Republicans are concerned about unknowingly spreading the disease or contracting it; 35% of Republicans worry about contracting it and needing hospitalization; in April, 58% worried about unknowingly spreading the disease and 47% worried about contracting it.
·       77% of Democrats are very or somewhat concerned they will spread disease and 64% of getting the disease.
·       From April until June, blacks’ concern about individually spreading the disease is up 8 points (from 64% to 72%).
·       During that time, whites’ concern about individually spreading the disease is down 8 points (from 65% to 56%).
Issue 3:  What is the impact of ordinary Americans’ behavior in spreading the disease?
·       87% of Americans believe actions of ordinary Americans have a great or fair impact on how the disease spreads;
·       59% believe that impact is great, 73% of Democrats believe this impact exists to a great degree; 44% of Republicans agree.
Issue 4:  To what degree do people feel comfortable with “opening” the economy?
·       44% of Americans feel comfortable eating out in a restaurant (22% in mid-March); 79% feel comfortable going to a hospital (57% in mid-March); currently, 65% of Republicans feel comfortable eating at a restaurant vs. 28% of Democrats (in mid-March:  29% of Republicans vs. 16% of Democrats felt that way).
·       18% of Americans feel comfortable attending a crowded party (that breaks down to 31% of Republican and 8% of Democrats); 23% feel comfortable attending indoor sporting event or concert.
·       53% of Americans feel comfortable at a hair salon or barber shop; 77% feel comfortable entertaining family and friends at home; 79% feel comfortable going the grocery store.  In each of these Republicans and Republican leaners feel comfortable at a higher rate than Democrats and Democrat leaners (widest span exists in terms of going to hair salons and barber shops) – actual percentage amount not listed.
Issue 5.  To what degree has the disease affected the economy?
·       General assessment of the economy in January was 57% believed it was excellent or good, in April and June this positive assessment was/is shared by 25% of those surveyed.  In these later surveys, 46% of Republicans find the economy excellent or good; only 9% of Democrats agree.
·       Republicans are much less likely to see the continuance of government stimulus is necessary as compared to April; Democrats continue to see a stimulus as necessary. 71% of Americans favor a new stimulus package is needed (beyond $2 trillion already enacted), down from 77% in April, the decrease has come entirely among Republicans; 51% of Republicans still say it will be necessary, 47% say it will not be needed (66% in April said it was needed). Democrats overwhelmingly continue to believe additional economic stimulus is needed (that’s 87%, unchanged since April).
Issue 6.  How do Americans feel about other government aid?
·       88% of Americans support helping homeowners, renters, and businesses.  This includes large numbers in both parties.
·       91% of Democrats support helping state and local government, 58% of Republicans agree; overall 58% support that assistance.
·       77% of Democrats favor extending unemployment benefits ($600/week), 39% of Republicans agree; overall, 60% of Americans support the extension.
·       53% of Americans (in both parties) favor temporary cut in workers’ Social Security and Medicare taxes to help in meeting problems associated with the coronavirus outbreak.
          Pew Research Center characterized these findings with the following summary statement:
In every case, the differences between Republicans’ and Democrats’ levels of comfort far exceeds other demographic and even geographic differences. Across all six items, the average partisan gap in levels of comfort is nearly twice as big as the gap between whites and nonwhites and is far larger than the gap between men and women, those living in urban and rural communities, and the gap between younger and older Americans.
Americans’ level of comfort with each of these activities has risen across the board since the middle of March, when many states began to implement stay-at-home orders and other measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.[3]
As these words are written, the virus pandemic seems to have taken an even more dire projection.  As of this date, the national rate of infection has hit 50,000 per day and a reputable government expert warned that that number can reach 100,000 per day.  This increase is being experienced in many of the Western states generally considered “red” states.  Whether this trend will affect the responses of future surveys, time will tell.
          If party affiliation accounts for so much of how people feel, this tendency further politicizes how Americans face the challenges the disease poses on them.  One should remember, party identification is but shorthand for an array of feelings concerning issues the nation deals with at a given time and if divisions can be associated with that identity, divisions are further legitimized in the hearts of citizens.


[1] “Republicans, Democrats Move Even Further Apart in Coronavirus Concerns,” Pew Research Center, June 25, 2020, accessed July 2, 2020, https://www.people-press.org/2020/06/25/republicans-democrats-move-even-further-apart-in-coronavirus-concerns/ .

[2] Ezra Klein, Why We’re Polarized (New York, NY:  Avid Reader Press).

[3] “Republicans, Democrats Move Even Further Apart in Coronavirus Concerns,” Pew Research Center.

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