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Conference back40::soapbox

Title:	Soapbox. Just Soapbox.
Notice:	No more new notes
Moderator:	WAHOO::LEVESQUEONS

Created:	Thu Nov 17 1994
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	862
Total number of notes:	339684

94.0. "Prescription to heal a political process in crisis" by USMVS::DAVIS () Wed Nov 23 1994 12:11

The political process is out of control. Whose fault is it? Well, it's not
the dems' or the repubs'. It's ours. Programmed by a lifetime of television
and mind-numbing technological change, we have the attention span of a
gerbil. 

Recognizing that, politicians have taken the lessons of advertising and
chosen simple themes and images and drummed them into us with short,
repeated jabs: slick TV ads, speeches built around sound bites, slogans
like "It's the economy, stupid," and simplistic, quasi-policy proposals
like "Contract with America." Even debates turn out to be little more than
a battle of sound bites. 

What do we really know about our political choices? A few select, idealized
images crafted by the candidate and a few equally select, demonized images
crafted by his/her opponent. 

Is that any way to make an informed vote? 

I suggest we need to reaffirm and re-energize the democratic process in
this country in two ways: 

o    	Make an "application for candidacy" a prerequisite for seeking      
	office, whether you're new or an incumbent. 

o    	Make political science a core study in public schools, from
	eight grade through high school,  with active "lab" work during
	elections. 

Application for Candidacy 
------------------------- 

Every candidate for public office must fill out an application for
candidacy. It would include some information you would typically find in a
job application, such as work history. More important, it would conclude
with two essay questions: 

o	What do you believe to be the important issues facing our
	[school, town, city, state, country -- depending on the level
	of government in which the candidate seeks office] 

o	For each issue given above, please say what role, if any,
	government has in addressing it, and, if government does have a
	role, give a detailed plan of action you expect to follow during
	your term of office with respect to this issue. 

All applications would be published in newspapers and on the Internet, and
read on television. (We would give media tax incentives to carry this
material.) 

One of the problems we have is that we do not "have it in writing" what our
candidates stand for and what they plan to do once they're in office. As a
result, we have very little accountability. 

I think Gingrich recognized that sense of vulnerability and distrust among
the voters when he created his CWA. I bet he also gambled -- and won --
that the public's attention is not only short, but not particularly tuned
into details, either. Hence the "debate it on the floor" bit could be
promoted as "we'll push for this" when in fact it was no more than what it
said. Tell me that the voters who based their vote on the CWA didn't expect
to have those items WIN in congress if they got a Republican majority. "No
fine print" my ass! 

Well, this Application for Candidacy is designed to REALLY hold them to
their word -- and to give us real information upon which to base our votes.

Core Political Science Curriculum 
--------------------------------- 

If the role of education is prepare us not only to for the challenges of
home and job, but to be responsible citizens in a democratic society, then
political science is almost up there with the three Rs. Actually, it
shouldn't be called political science, which suggests some kind of
specialization instead of something that we all should be using all of our
lives.  I suggest instead "Citizenry." 

I would envision that the citizenry curriculum would include an detailed
survey of the opportunities to participate in the political life of the
community, state, and country. Besides the usual  study of state and US
constitution and state and federal government ( I'm not saying its well
done today, but it's covered),  it would include local politics. In many
Massachusetts towns, for example, students would learn the job descriptions
for town clerk, selectman, etc., and the process and rules for town
meetings. This stuff would be given full subject status and be part of
every student's schedule during 8th, 10th, and 12th grade. 

During the two months prior to an election, ALL students would be required
to read the Applications for Candidacy of the candidates seeking offices in
which the students would have a vote if they were of voting age. Classes
would be expected to debate the relative merits of the candidates and to
actually vote using the same ballots and process as real voters will use in
their communities. 

Graduates who have gone through the system would finally be well prepared
to take on their roles as voters and citizens. 

Is this a great (if long-winded) idea or what! 

What would you include in the Citizenry curriculum? What would do
differently?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
94.1	Not bad...	GAAS::BRAUCHER		`Wed Nov 23 1994 13:22`	19
	On requiring no-nonsense statements of position from candidates, I certainly agree, particularly for challengers. Incumbents will be judged on their records. If we get term limits (dunno yet), this will become even more important. Ah, Civics ! We had it when I was in High School way back (late 50's- early 60's). I had to memorize that money bills originated in the House, confirmations went only to the Senate. Actually, it was a good course. But as an adolescent, I didn't know it. Today you can't have a test for voting. It would be viewed as a curtailment of 'liberties', I suppose, and it probably is. Hey, but no problem ! In the prm, the ballot itself is now the intelligence test. We make them so incomprehensible, the dummies cancel out each other's votes by misreading the instructions. bb
94.2	Ramblings from the disgruntled.	BSS::DEASON	Duck and Cover	`Wed Nov 23 1994 14:04`	19
	I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of a "citizenship" class. I think it is sorely needed. As for the statement of position, I for one don't think candidates should have an "agenda". As a representative republic, officeholders are supposed to represent the views and opinions of their constituents. All too often in today's political arena, elected representatives perceive getting elected to mean a mandate from voters. How many times has your representative in Congress/Senate, state house, etc. sought your opinion on pending legislation?? We constantly hear, "Contact your representative and let them know how you feel". I was always under the impression that it should be the other way around--THEY SHOULD CONTACT US!!! The short attention span of voters, combined with the slick television ads by candidates, leads to little accountability. Of course, as the basenoter stated, we have only ourselves to blame. Marty P.S.-- Here's a different idea--Set a limit on how much money can be spent on a campaign (and set that limit as low as possible).
94.3		HELIX::MAIEWSKI		`Wed Nov 23 1994 14:16`	17
	I'm not sure where you guys went to school, but when I was a kid we always had a class called "Social Studies" or "Civics" and we covered government. As with most highschool classes, the "smart kids" figured out what the teacher wanted to hear, wrote it on the test, got A's, then forgot everything they learned and went on to the next test. The "stupid kids" just horsed around and never even knew what the teacher was talking about nor did they care. In theory it's a nice idea, but in practice I doubt this course would make much of a difference. And when you factor in the inevitable bias of the teacher one way or the other it's even more unlikely that the kids would be taught to think for themselves. I say stick to the basics. Teach kids how to read then let them figure out who to vote for themselves. George
94.4		CSC32::J_OPPELT	Oracle-bound	`Wed Nov 23 1994 14:28`	12
	> As with most highschool classes, the "smart kids" figured out what the >teacher wanted to hear, wrote it on the test, got A's, then forgot everything >they learned and went on to the next test. The "stupid kids" just horsed around >and never even knew what the teacher was talking about nor did they care. This says more about the public education system than anything else. > I say stick to the basics. Teach kids how to read then let them figure out >who to vote for themselves. I agree.
94.5		USMVS::DAVIS		`Wed Nov 23 1994 14:48`	32
	<<< Note 94.3 by HELIX::MAIEWSKI >>> Yeah, we had those classes in HS, like I said in the base note, but they addressed the fed government almost exclusively. Local and state government, elections, referendums, town meetings, etc. weren't covered at all. What civics we got was covered in one class, during one year (can't remember which). And they didn't make current elections a springboard to understanding the process. Given such cursory treatment in our education system, is it any wonder that OVER HALF of the graduates we churn out don't bother to vote? I think that's why extremists at both end of the political spectrum have influence far in excess of their propotionate numbers. They will always have a bit more influence because they are almost by definition louder and more politically active, but these days they seem to be controlling the debate, and that's not good. This tension between polar extremes also has helped to replace character assasination for issues in typical campaigns. Re .1 (or was it .2?) I disagree that representatives are supposed to be pure conduits of the people they represent. If you want government by polls, then you should be quite content with the way things are. It's inefficient and ultimately self defeating. What we need are reperesentatives who have ideas and principles we know and understand, who can respond and function in a dynamic environment -- which is to say who are smart and can think on their own. If they've been honest in the Application for Candidacy, they won't do anything that would be too surprising. If they do, we can hold them accountable. Tom
94.6		CLUSTA::BINNS		`Mon Nov 28 1994 12:58`	28
	re: .2 > I agree wholeheartedly with the idea of a "citizenship" class. I think > it is sorely needed. As for the statement of position, I for one don't > think candidates should have an "agenda". As a representative > republic, officeholders are supposed to represent the views and > opinions of their constituents. All too often in today's political OK, but you got 50% on your first test. That's an F where I went to school. In a representative republic those elected are expected to vote based on their knowledge and experience. They are not expected automatically to reflect the views of their consitutents. They are constrained by the fact that they came from among the people and likely share many of the people's views and must be elected and reelected by the people. The founders addressed this issue repeatedly, and would be horrified to hear your one-sided analysis of their responsibilities. The conservative British parliamentarian Edmund Burke was a particulary articulate definer of this concept. Study up. These suggestions are just re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Level the playing field by cutting down on the money required to run and by requiring widespread public debate (i.e., substantial TV time -- those few of us who read newspapers already know what the candidates stand for. And, no, I don't mean USA Today or the Daily Oklahoman).
94.7	Better late than never...	REFINE::KOMAR	Just when you thought it was safe	`Thu Dec 08 1994 12:50`	18
	I have to put in my opinion. We don't need Civics classes to inform the masses about government. These should NOT be mandatory. The biggest problem with them is that often, the teacher will put his/her own views. This makes the students a captive audience for these views and that is not right. We have more sources of information for a voter to use now than at any point in history. Not only do we have the "mainstream media", which includes the major networks and regular neswpapers, but we have talk radio, one of the best ways to find out what America is thinking, oodles of news magazines, such as Time or Newsweek, CNN, C-SPAN(1 and 2), Headline News, news magazine shows, for example 20-20, and of course, anything on the Internet and/or other computer online services. There really is no excuse for a person to be an uneducated voter, unless the voter chooses to be that way. ME