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…
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.
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 could be useful for talking about the election results. These are 26 charts compiled by (GWU professor) John Sides. Link to US Civitas Facebook Thread
With the adaptive learning system, I now receive lists of students falling under one of three categories: high engagement/low performance; low engagement/low performance; low engagement/high performance. The idea is that each of these categories of students faces different challenges and potentially can benefit from different kinds of interventions. I will Read more…
This might be something good to discuss when covering chapters on Public Opinion and the Media. Link to article Link to US Civitas Facebook Discussion Thread
I think this could be useful for generating discussion about the freedom of expression. Do we really have a right to say whatever mean and hateful things we want to others? If, even as he seems to admit, we don’t have a moral right to do so, then why should Read more…