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, May 26, 2015

STARK DATUM AND A MORE HOPEFUL POSSIBILITY

I have in the past commented on the weaknesses of our civics education efforts among our secondary schools.  As I have also pointed out, the research is not so clear.  A recent academic article reviews this research.  Kathleen Hall Jamieson’s article reflects this inconsistency.  As I have indicated, some of the research is not so alarming but some is.  In addition to this review, she does report on some notable civics education programs and what the advantages would be if our overall civics instruction were optimal:
A randomized field experiment concluded that involvement “in Student Voices significantly boosted students’ confidence in their ability to make informed political decisions, their knowledge about how to register to vote, and their belief that their vote matters.”  Moreover, in a randomized controlled experiment, “participation in Facing History and Ourselves programs result[ed] in:  greater engagement in learning; increased skills for understanding and analyzing history; greater empathy and ethical awareness; increased civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions; and improved ability to recognize racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in themselves and in others; and reduced racist attitudes and self-reported fighting.”  Some civics programs, such as Kids Voting USA, have been shown to create a trickle- up effect, not only increasing the knowledge level and civic dispositions of the young but enhancing their parents’ political knowledge as well.  Evidence also suggest that inclusion of civics education in a curriculum may correlate with a decrease dropout rate.[1]
It this type of instruction that would lead to what this blog has called social capital among our populace.[2]

As for whether or not our civics education has been even somewhat effective, I personally cannot give our instruction very high marks given a fairly incontestable bit of datum:  in the last midterm election 63.6% of the eligible voters chose not to participate.  Nothing can ring louder alarm bells than that disheartening statistic.



[1] Jamieson, K. H.  (2013).  The challenges facing civic education.  Daedalus:  Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Spring, 142 (2), pp. 72-73.

[2] I have defined social capital as a societal quality characterized by having an active, public-spirited citizenry, egalitarian political relations, and a social environment of trust and cooperation.
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