UNAVOIDABLE
DEBATE
(December
20, 2010)
I have been conveying in this blog
what some might consider a natural conflict within our politics.
This conflict has been there since the beginning of the republic and
it has taken different guises. This national conflict is our form of
the age old fight between the different economic classes. Our
version might be a bit milder than what has been experienced in other
nations. There are probably different historical reasons for this
deviation. Perhaps what we have cannot be expressed as pure class
warfare, although some would argue that it is. Within different
institutions, this tension takes on varied forms, but it is there and
we should recognize it for what it is.
THE
DEBATE BETWEEN CIVICS EDUCATORS
(December
24, 2010)
A review of previous postings of
this blog shows references to a debate among civics educators. Both
sides of the debate – proponents of the natural rights construct
and proponents of the critical theory construct – are briefly
defined in the last posting of this blog, “Unavoidable Debate.”
I think you should be aware of this debate because of the role it
plays in obstructing the promotion of civics education in our schools
and among the general public. A divided field does not yield a
position of strength from which its advocates can compete for either
funds or a more prominent position in our schools' curricula.
Natural
Rights' Basic View of Morality
(December
27, 2010)
We
often wonder what makes others “tick.” An example might be: why
does a neighbor not bring in his garbage cans or bins after the
sanitation truck makes its weekly visit? Speculation might range
from laziness to a deep-seated animosity toward the neighborhood.1
When
such a question involves professionals performing their duties,
assuming sufficient levels of conscientiousness on their part, one is
probably safe to assume that decisions reflect some moral belief,
some notion of right and wrong. These notions can range from beliefs
concerning a work ethic to how these acts might affect people. Based
on this assumption, I will begin describing the content or substance
of the moral outlook of the prevailing civics curricular construct,
natural rights. By reviewing what I see as its advocates' moral
position(s), we can begin to understand what makes them “tick” in
making their curricular choices.
1Just
want to be on the record; this is not a problem in my neighborhood.
WHEN
DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT?
(December
31, 2010)
One of my favorite shows from the
current crop of TV fare is Men of a Certain Age. It stars Ray
Romano of Everybody Loves Raymond fame. Given the topic of my
last posting on traditional liberal morality, the show's last episode
had a timely plot line.
AN
EXTRAORDINARY QUALIFIED SUCCESS
(January
3, 2011)
I want to take one more bite at
this topic that I have been addressing in this blog; that is, the
moral implications of natural rights construct. If you have never
thought about the natural rights construct, much less its moral
implications, but found something familiar with what the last two
postings described, there is a reason. The moral element of the
natural rights construct is the moral foundation of a capitalist or
free market economy. In future postings, I will give my critique of
free markets, but here I want to sing its qualified praises.
THE
NATURAL RIGHTS APPROACH TO POLITICAL CONTENT
(January
7, 2011)
The last few postings have
described what natural rights advocates believe to be the basis of
civic morality. I have outlined that their view of civic morality
centers on valuing individual liberty as a trump value. That is,
individuals should be allowed to determine their own values and goals
and to have the rights necessary in order to live in accordance with
those values and to pursue, through their individual efforts, the
fulfillment of those goals. Those beliefs serve as a moral
foundation for their civic and political views.
INPUTS,
OUTPUTS, AND FEEDBACK
(January
10, 2011)
The natural rights construct is
currently the prevailing view of governance and politics which guides
the curricular choices of civics educators. A civic construct
answers a variety of questions. Among these questions are what is
the basic moral position one should take in regard to political and
governmental affairs and what is the theoretical understanding of
politics and governments. I have argued that this construct promotes
a traditional or classical liberal moral stand. As for its view of
political and governmental reality, the construct adopts a political
systems perspective.
REQUISITE
FUNCTIONS
(January
14, 2011)
The prevailing view guiding civics
education in American classrooms, the natural rights construct, uses
the political systems model as its main theoretical approach to the
study of political reality. Based on the work of David Easton, the
political systems model views politics as a competitive process
engaged by citizens who, when moved by atypical conditions, vie
against each other for governmental favor(s). The model outlines
this process by distinguishing inputs, conversion, outputs, and
feedback.
POWER
(January
17, 2011)
In
the last few postings, I have been reviewing what the political world
looks like through the natural rights perspective. That construct's
basic outline of politics is best represented by the political
systems model. As far as a theoretical view, the political systems
model was central for political scientists during the decades of the
mid Twentieth Century. Shortly, I will proceed with an overview of
the methodology this approach promoted and how those methods
reflected the general adoption by these scholars of behavioralism. I
will proceed in small doses, not so much for your sake, but for mine.
FURTHER
OBJECTIFYING POLITICS
(January
21, 2011)
Up to date in this blog, I might
have left you with the impression that civics instruction around the
country regularly portrays an image of government in which people try
to outdo each other to get favorable policy decisions. That is not
true and I didn't exactly write that. If only civics and government
classes were that interesting. What I was trying to convey is that
civics and government classes have a descriptive foundation. In
government there exists all these “branches” of government,
bureaucratic departments and offices, and all of these people outside
government who seek government action, such as voters, interest
groups, and political parties. The image presented: the political
system is a big machine with a multitude of parts. All the juicier
stuff of intrigue, power plays, deception, and the like is left to
novels or the more partisan pundits on TV.
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