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.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

FOCUSING ON THE WHO OR WHAT

 

Some time ago this blog visited the contribution of David Landes[1] in a very influential reader, Culture Matters, edited by two giants in the study of human affairs, Lawrence E. Harrison, and Samuel P. Huntington.  This collection of articles had at the time of its publishing, 2000, a good deal of influence among the academics of that time.  For example, Landes’ article, “Culture Makes Almost All the Difference,”[2] begins by asking a very insightful question.

          It asks:  when a problem pops up, does one inquire into “what went wrong” or “who did this to us”?  The latter question seems to be what one’s emotions push to the fore, while the former is a more reasoned concern.  Eventually, both questions are important in not only fixing what’s wrong but also devising strategies that might prevent a recurrence of whatever the problem is.

          In line with Landes’ writing, today the nation is confronted with a problem that takes up a lot of concern among the nation’s news sources in their reporting.  That is the influx of immigrants through the southern border.  In the realm of blame, a lot of that reporting comments on the politics:  is the President to blame due to a lack of harshness – closing the border to these immigrants – or is it due to the opposition party’s reluctance to meaningfully address the problem in Congress? 

Neither of these options looks at why this immigration is taking place – it is treated simply as a given.  This blogger finally heard, in passing, a commentator on TV suggest that perhaps a program of extensive investment into the economies of the nations of origin – from where these immigrants come – could address the problem and supply a solution.  Of course, this is not a quick or easy fix; it presupposes many factors being lined up and working in productive ways.  To begin with, one can question the viability of moving in this direction.

But the first step is asking why this immigration is going on with the intent of addressing the causes in a way that is true and accurate.  This posting does not make an argument for this investment plan – it doesn’t argue against it either – but addresses what all is involved with such an approach.  And with that concern, Landes provides a historical case in which a traditional society did cross the line from being a traditional and agriculturally based economy to one in which it became a leading industrial and post-industrial nation, that being Japan.

To make a comparison between south of the border nations, from Central and South America, and Japan of the 1800s, one needs to go through several different stages.  The first stage is to compare the global landscape Japan faced with the one that exists today.  Very profound differences exist between that world of nearly two centuries ago and contemporary times.  At the earlier time, there were the beginnings of what today one calls dependency relationships and what some consider to be the post dependency era.

Simplified, dependency relationships divided lesser developed countries (LDCs) among the developed countries in which a given developed country controlled the export/import markets for a set of LDCs.  An LDC would be limited to which countries it could export its mostly agricultural/natural resources products and from whom it could import industrial products.  This would be to the benefit of both the upper classes of each type of nation.  The rich of the poor countries were/are equally rich as those of the developed countries.

Some argue today that due to advanced countries not limiting themselves to “their” LDCs, the whole system has been compromised.  Others think this is overstated.  Here is what a Global South article determined to be the case on this question:

 

In today’s realm, dependency thoughts are still useful in analyzing the widening inequalities between the poor and rich countries, or in analysing the divisions within a developed or a developing country context. Our societies are vastly divided, and dependent relations exist within our own social facbric [sic].[3]

 

Whatever the situation is today, one can suppose that there are vested interests that benefit from what is and they enjoy significant political power or influential status.  So, the first challenge would be to address this imbalance of power and financial resources.

          And here, this blogger believes Karl Marx had a point, not in terms of justice – although one can see injustice being an element of this arrangement – but from a practical point of view.  Treat people with disregard, especially if there is any experience of better times, and they will seek reciprocity.  They will believe they have the right to seek revenge.  Can one see this in operation?

          This blogger believes one can.  And one does see it in the politics of today here in the US.  The Global South article comments on this practical reality:

 

In other words, the financial crisis of 2008 showed the inefficiency of the global capitalist system and questioned the strengths of the new liberal economic philosophy in contributing to economic equality. Aaccording to [James] Petras & [Henry] Veltmeyer … capitalism in the form of new liberal globalisation provides very poor model for changing society in the direction of social equality, participatory democratic decision making and human welfare.[4]

 

And it is this aspect that motivates this posting.  Before one looks at any historical example to address contemporary conditions, one needs to consider how social/economic/political landscapes of the compared nations are one to the other.

          Another factor is how comparing nations addresses basic, relevant social elements or resources.  If the aim is to transform a nation from an agriculturally based economy to an industrial one, certain infrastructure assets need to be in place or developed before any such effort begins.  And in this, Landes describes how advantaged Japan was before they began the transition.

          Landes reports:

 

            The Japanese went about modernization with characteristic intensity and system.  They were ready for it – by virtue of a tradition (recollection) of effective government, by their high levels of literacy, by their tight family structure, by their work ethic and self-discipline, by their sense of national identity and inherent superiority.

            That was the heart of it:  The Japanese knew they were superior, and because they knew it, they were able to recognize the superiorities of others.[5]

 

And that overview sets up this blog to address the steps Japan took to make Japan the modern, developed nation one observes and admires today.  It wasn’t a smooth development – World War II didn’t help – but one can safely determine that nation has made the transition.  The next posting will trace a number of the broad strategies Japan employed in that process.



[1] Robert Gutierrez, “Is It Better to Ask Who or What?,” Gravitas:  A Voice for Civics, September 30, 2019, URL:  https://gravitascivics.blogspot.com/2019_09_15_archive.html.

[2] David Landes, “Culture Makes Almost All the Difference,” in Culture Matters:  How Values Shape Human Progress, eds. Lawrence E. Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington (New York, NY:  Basic Books), 2-13.

[3] “Is Dependency Theory Still Relevant Today?  A Perspective from the Global South,”  Global South:  Development Magazine, November 18, 2020, accessed December 23, 2023, URL:  https://www.gsdmagazine.org/is-dependency-theory-still-relevant-today-a-perspective-from-the-global-south/#:~:text=In%20today's%20realm%2C%20dependency%20thoughts,within%20our%20own%20social%20facbric.  British spelling.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Landes, “Culture Makes Almost All the Difference,” in Culture Matters, 8.

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