Transcript Document

Citizenship and the Future of Democracy
Central Missouri State University
September 29, 2005
The Challenge of our Times
Threats to American Democracy:
Shrinking levels of knowledge of democracy
Rising levels of partisanship
Growing separation of society
Pervasive Change in Public Higher Education:
Diminishing levels of state support
Increasing levels of competition
Rising expectations for accountability
The Key Question:
How do we strengthen democracy and
simultaneously strengthen our public
institutions?
One Solution:
Focus on preparing citizens, a public purpose
for public institutions.
Thesis:
Democracy in the United States is threatened.
So, too, is public higher education.
The strategy for strengthening democracy also
strengthens our public colleges and universities.
Threats to American Democracy

Decline in social and economic capital

Increasing inequality

Atomization of interests, news sources and the
pervasive focus on entertainment

Money and politics

Lack of civic understanding and civics education
in K-12 grades

Decline in political participation, esp. among the
youngest adults
A Decline in Social Capital
Declining Social Capital: Trends over the last 25 years
Attending Club Meetings
Down by 58%
Family dinners
Down by 33%
Having friends over
Down by 45%
Factors Contributing to Declining Social Capital
Commuting (Each 10 minutes = 10% reduced participation)
Television
Two parents working
Less Social Capital (esp. bridging social capital) =
Less Democracy
Studies in the United States and Italy
Robert Putnam Bowling Alone
Increasing inequality
•
Disparities of income, wealth, and access to
opportunity are growing more sharply in the
U. S. than in many other nations
•
Gaps between races and ethnic groups persist
•
Progress toward American ideals of democracy may
have stalled, and in some arenas reversed.
American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality, Task Force on
Inequality and American Democracy, American Political Science
Association, 2004, www.apsanet.org
Atomization of Interests, News Sources and the
Pervasive Focus on Entertainment
1. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington
has more than doubled since 2000, from 16,342 to
34,750
2. More television channels, more talk radio,
internet, blogs, etc.
3. 40 million watched American Idol finale; 37
million watched 2nd Bush/Gore debate. Average
age of viewer of network news: 60
Money and Politics
2000: Bush $ 193; Gore $ 134 million.
2004: Bush $ 293: Kerry $ 252 million
House Speaker Hastert: 2005-2006
Receipts: $1,249,534 (40% by PACs)
House Minority Leader Pelosi: 2005-2006
Receipts: $237,252 (95% by PACs) [As of Aug 18]
.09 % of population gives at least $ 1,000 to political
campaigns, 55% of funds raised
¼ of Congress are millionaires; 1% of U.S.
91% of 2004 congressional primary candidates who
raised the most money won their races.
Winning Congressional candidates raised 50% more in
2004 than in 2002.
63% of primary candidates’ money came from .08% of
the voting age population.
“The sad thing is that in America today if it’s going to
take $ 2 million to win, then normal people can’t run
anymore. You either have to be very, very wealthy or
very, very bought.”
Janice Bowling, Republican Nominee
for Tennessee’s 4th District
Washington Post, September 12, 2005
Frederick Webber
30+ years as lobbyist in Washington
President of Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
“Political fundraising in this town has gotten
out of control”
“What are the priorities here?
“This thing has gotten away from us”
Lack of Civic Understanding
• John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Survey 112,003
high school students in 2004: 36% believe that
newspapers should get “government approval” of stories
before publishing
• Fewer than half of persons 15-26 years old think that
communicating with elected officials, volunteering, or
donating money to help others are qualities of a good
citizen
• On NAEP 1998 Civics, 23% of 4th graders, 23% of 8th
graders, and 26% of 12th graders scored at or above
proficient
• 25.5% know that Philadelphia is the city where the Constitution was
written; 75.2% know what city zip code 90210 is.
• 21.2% know how many senators serve in the U.S. Senate; 81.2%
know how many members in the music group “Hanson.”
• 9% know the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education; 87% know
the name of the football player found not guilty of murdering his wife
• 25% of respondents know that the Fifth Amendment protects against
double jeopardy/self incrimination, etc. ; 63.7% know that “The Club”
protects against car theft.
• 41.2% know the names of the three branches of government; 59.2%
know the names of the three stooges.
•
32% know the Speaker of the House; 89% know the father in Home
Improvement
Survey of 600 students age 13-17, National Constitution Center, 1998
Decline in Political Participation
The youngest generation of voters has the
greatest distrust of others
80%
70%
60%
70%
56%
59%
49%
50%
41%
40%
36%
40%
29%
30%
20%
10%
0%
DotNets
GenX
Boomers
Matures
Most people look out for themselves
Most people would take advantage of you
Source: The Civic and Political Health of the Nation, A Generational Portrait, 2002.
The youngest voters have the lowest participation
in presidential elections
80%
70%
60%
50%
25+ Turnout
18-24 Turnout
40%
30%
20%
10%
04
20
00
20
96
19
92
19
88
19
84
19
80
19
76
19
19
72
0%
Source: Current Population Survey (CPS), November Supplement, calculated using CIRCLE method.
Dewey reminded us…
The trouble…is that we have taken
our democracy for granted; we have
thought and acted as if our forefathers
had founded it once and for all. We
have forgotten that it has to be
enacted anew in every generation.
John Dewey
Pervasive Change in Public Higher Education
(This is not a new story):
Old: As percentage of state spending, higher education
funding is dropping, in some states now as little as 13%.
Prisons, medicaid, and K-12 schools; tax cuts, etc. New:
The willingness to fund higher education by significantly
raising tuition.
But competition is rising: University of Phoenix, founded in
1976, now 160,000 undergraduates.
Accreditation groups and states increasingly want greater
accountability, including evidence of student learning
outcomes.
1. Is it possible that focusing on preparing future
citizens can be understood as valuable civic
work?
2. Is preparing citizens a viable public purpose for
public higher education?
If the answers to these questions are yes, then
how does the work of civic engagement in
universities get accomplished?
A Focus on Institutional Intentionality
How Do Campus Leaders
Organize and Align the Campus
and its Resources
to Achieve an Institutional Focus on
Civic Engagement Outcomes?
What does it take to create civicallyengaged graduates?
3 Critical Features:
1. Institutional Intention
(leadership, culture, policies)
2. Programs and Activities
(curriculum,co-curriculum)
3. Measuring Results
(institutional and course/ program results,
using NSSE, Carnegie, HERI tools)
1. Institutional Intentionality
• Leadership: at lots of levels
• Culture: reflecting widely-shared beliefs
• Statements: Mission statements,
• Accreditation documents, promotional
• Materials, etc.
• Policies
• Administrative structures
• Budget
• Rewards and recognition
2. Civic Engagement in the Curriculum and
Co-Curriculum
Knowledge: Teaching democratic values, traditions,
history of democracies, U.S. history
Skills: Teaching communications, critical thinking,
collective decision-making, organizational skills, etc.
Experiences: Designing campus and community
experiences for knowledge and application
Reflection: Creating explicit connections between
experiences and civic obligations
Where is it found in the curriculum?
In first year programs
In capstone courses
In the general education curriculum
In majors and minors
Where is it found in the co-curriculum?
In student government
In student organizations
In residence halls
In joint academic affairs/student affairs programs
Skills
Communications: writing, speaking, etc.
Critical thinking: analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing,
etc.
Collective decision-making: deliberating, listening,
working as a team, making collective decisions,
compromising, identifying and solving public problems
Organization: organizing, planning projects, influencing
policy decisions, implementing policy decisions, taking
collective actions
Hypothesized Skill Acquisition Sequence
Collective decision making sequence
• Write and speak*
• Understand, explain and take positions+
Organize tasks and acquire resources**
• Express own preferences/Opinions*
Identify constructive ways to improve complex
Situations+
• Understand other’s preferences++
• Compromise (if necessary) for collective good++
*Communication **Organization +Critical Thinking
++Collective Decision Making
Adapted from Kirlin, Mary 2003. Acquiring Civic Skills: Towards a Developmental Model of Civic
Skill Acquisition in Adolescents. International Conference on Civic Education Research, November
16-18, 2003 New Orleans, LA
Another view of skills:
What makes something a problem, not a situation?
What makes it a public problem?
What is the agreement/disagreement about underlying
values?
What is the degree of certainty about the facts?
How can alternative policy solutions be identified?
What are the opportunities and obstacles?
Adapted from Dave Robertson, University of Missouri-St. Louis, personal correspondence
3. Measuring Results:
NSSE and ADP Consortium:
Three questions-13,000 students
1. What do you care about and how much (education,
healthcare, environment, national security, etc?
2. What activities did you do and why (fund-raise, sign a
petition, participate in a boycott, run for office, vote)?
3. Where do you get information about news,
volunteering, etc?
What was found in that survey?
• Not much difference among many types of
institutions.
•
Differences in gender and ethnicity.
•
50% of students get their news from television.
What else is needed?
• More info on sources of information
•
More info on number/duration of activities
•
Information on sense of political efficacy
•
Qualitative as well as quantitative info
ACCOMPLISHMENTS FIRST TWO YEARS
American Democracy Project
200 institutions, 1.5+ million students
Meetings
• 2 National meetings
600 + participants
•
Programs
• IUPUI meeting on Civic
Engagement
9 Regional meetings
105 participants
500 + participants
Conceptual Design Process
• Wingspread Conference
40 participants, publication
•
“Inside The Times”
270 participants, 2 years
•
Civic Engagement in
Action Series launched
Assessment Project
• National Survey of Student Engagement questionnaire
32 institutions, 13,000+ students
Hundreds of Campus Projects

Campus Audits

Campus Conversations

Voter Education/Registration Projects

Curriculum Revision Projects

Library Projects, Student Affairs Programs

First Year Projects, Capstone Courses

Fine Arts Projects, Graduation Pledges

Speaker Series, Democracy Day

Recognition and Award Programs
Western Washington University @ www.wwu.edu/depts/adp/index.shtml
SUNY Geneseo @ www.geneseo.edu/~adp/
University of Central Oklahoma @ http://bronze.ucok.edu/AmericanDemocracyProject
Fort Hays State University @ www.fhsu.edu/adp/
Indiana University South Bend @ http://ee.iusb.edu/index.php?/adp/blog/
Libraries
Service Learning
Teacher Education
Faculty Development
Assessment
Opportunities
For Action
Campus
Culture
First Year Programs
Voter Registration
Education
Co-Curriculum
General Education
A New Series
Civic Engagement in Action
5 already launched
• Stewardship of Public Lands
• First Year
• Jury Service
• Voting
• Other Lands
2 under development
• Teaching Civic Engagement
• Teacher Education
The Stewardship of Public Lands
Issue: How are controversies over public
lands resolved in a democracy?
Partner: Yellowstone Association
Activities: Presidents/CAOs meeting in June
for the Design Seminar; Faculty Seminar in
August
Civic Engagement in the First Year of College
Issue: How can civic engagement be fostered and
encouraged in the first year of college?
Partner: Policy Center for the First Year of College;
Justice Talking
Activities: Pre-Conference seminar on Thursday,
June 16th in Portland to plan activities for the 20052006 academic year
Jury Service as Democratic Participation
Issue: How can colleges and universities support
federal and state court systems in encouraging jury
participation?
Partner: American Judicature Society, National
Center for State Courts; Council for Court
Excellence
Activities: Pre-conference meeting with
cooperating organizations on Thursday, June 16th
in Portland to plan activities for 2005-2006
academic year
Electoral Voice: Organizing for Voting
Issue: What lessons did our ADP campuses and
others learn about the best ways to provide voter
registration, voter information, and voter
participation ?
Partner: Indiana University, Purdue UniversityIndianapolis
Activities: Pre-conference meeting on Thursday
June 16th in Portland to design activities for the
2005-2006 academic year
Civic Engagement in Other Lands
Issue: How can universities in other countries
support their emerging democracies?
Partner: Association of Universities for
Democracy (AUDEM)
Activities: Initial meeting in November 2004 in
Hungary; ADP campuses to be paired with nonU.S. institutions to exchange ideas, programs, etc.
Teaching Political Engagement
(To be launched late 2005)
Issue: How can courses and pedagogies
encourage civic and political engagement?
Partner: Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching
Activities: The Carnegie Foundation will
organize a group of 10-15 ADP schools that want
to pilot campus-wide dissemination efforts. Still in
development phase.
Preparing Teachers to Teach Civic Engagement
(To be launched late 2005-early 2006)
Issue: How can P-12 teachers be prepared to teach
civic engagement?
Partner: Public Achievement, Center for Democracy
and Citizenship, the University of Minnesota
Activities: Design and funding activities are currently
underway to develop a project that will prepare future
teachers to teach civic engagement in P-12 settings
So How Are We Doing As A Democracy?
Here’s a 6 part test.
“We the People of the United States, in order to
1.
2.
3.
4.
Form a more perfect union
Insure domestic tranquility
Establish justice
Provide for the common defense
5. Promote the general welfare
6. Secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity
…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.”
The bad news…
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated what
happens when government doesn’t
work…when we’re not all in the same boat.
Janadas Devan, Straits Times columnist:
[But] it is not only government that doesn't show up
when government is starved of resources and
leached of all its meaning. Community doesn't show
up either, sacrifice doesn't show up, pulling together
doesn't show up, 'we're all in this together' doesn't
show up."
The Good News…
The ages 15-25 are the critical period for the growth of
civic skills and habits.
There is growing evidence that educational interventions
make a substantial difference in knowledge,
understanding, and participation of students in civic life.
We can make a difference…
The death of democracy is not
likely to be an assassination from
ambush. It will be a slow
extinction from apathy,
indifference and
undernourishment
Robert Hutchins