I have long been fascinated, and sometimes amused, by the different definitions given by political scientists, political theorists, political leaders and other commentators of the word “politics” (or “the political”). I have decided to start compiling these definitions here. For now, they will be in no particular order, but I Read more…
This brings together a lot of topics: public opinion, polling, media, polarization, and the duty of citizens and opinion leaders to be responsible consumers and producers of political information (news literacy).
How can truth prevail in an information environment flooded with deception, including now deep fakes? The reporter in this video segment suggests (1) check the source and (2) Google it. This parallels what I see as the two most essential skills citizens need for navigating today’s incredibly complex information environment. Read more…
‘Senators, I’m asking you, put the stones down, and let’s trust the women who are in this room.’ — This pastor used a Bible story to speak out against a law that would ban early-term abortions in her state pic.twitter.com/I6kP0QFD5a — NowThis (@nowthisnews) March 27, 2019 State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz Read more…
We need to update our lecture notes, lesson plans, textbooks, etc. The Supreme Court has incorporated another right: the prohibition on “excessive fines” from the Eighth Amendment. As Ruthann Robson write: Now the only rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights that are not incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment to Read more…
I’ll be posting a lot about media and news literacy in the coming months, but I wanted to share now some of the best resources I’ve encountered. The News Literacy Project, which is a wonderful resource in itself, produces a weekly newsletter called The Sift. Through it, the NLP, in Read more…
This Slate article by Jamelle Bouie offers an interesting empirical account of why youth vote at lower levels and also an interesting claim about the legitimacy of voting when uninformed about issues. Two factors are offered for explaining low turnout among youth: instability experienced by many under 25 at that stage Read more…
Stan Lee’s 2007 comic from the Atlantic about what he says is the “one noble idea” America is based on could make for a good discussion on American political culture and the idea that there is a unifying “American Creed.” For the rest of the comic, follow this link.
This is from a recent study by Sean Kates, Jonathan M. Ladd, and Joshua A. Tucker. As they sum it up: … while a large majority of Americans think democracy is the best form of government, nontrivial portions of Americans disagree. They believe that democracy as a form of government Read more…
If, in a unit on Political Participation, you like discussing the potential for government-led reform efforts to increase democratic participation, you could discuss recent experiences in Brazil as demonstrating both the promise and shortcomings of such efforts. Link to article Link to US Civitas Facebook Discussion Thread
In case you have a student tell you — as one just did to me — that they are interested in running for office, here’s an incredibly useful list of training opportunities for new political candidates. I’m going to replace an old link in Ch. 2 with this and add Read more…
This is an important (although not yet published) study on the impact of Citizens United in leading to nomination and election of more extreme candidates on the right, thus driving (asymmetric) polarization. Link to US Civitas Facebook Discussion Thread