Civic Education: Ensuring Government Works for Everyone
Unlike nations where power flows from the top down, our democratic government was established to ensure that power flows from the bottom to the top: our nation was to have a government “for and by the people.”
But when the people don’t fully understand how government works, when they believe it’s rigged to favor those with money and influence, when they feel it’s so distanced from themselves that they forfeit their right to participate, our democracy is broken.
And if we don’t find a way to re-engage our citizens, we risk our democracy being fundamentally and permanently distorted beyond repair.
CIVIC Concern was created for the purpose of reconnecting the people to their government, to make what happens in our legislature more accessible, to show our citizenry that the government does in fact work for them. But it is also crucial to our mission to ensure that citizens understand that if they don’t participate and hold government accountable, others (namely, special interests) will fill that void and reap the benefits at the expense of the public good.
And that’s where civic education comes in.
For our government to work, we, “the people,” must understand it. And more than just understand it, we must engage it and make it work for us. But more and more, we don’t.
Especially in challenging times like these, our full attention is on just making it day-to-day. There is not time to worry about government and what it’s doing. Many citizens want government to implement policies that would help our families – like providing health care for all, investing in technologies that will produce high-paying jobs, ensuring that our schools have the resources they need to prepare our children to compete in the global marketplace – but we don’t have the time or the tools to demand those policies and hold government accountable for their effectiveness.
Many of us no longer believe it’s even possible to make government work and hold it responsible. We’re not sure who it works for and whether or not there’s any way to make it listen, make it respond to what we want, what we need.
But there is.
Civic participation remains the single most important factor in whether or not we have a democracy that reflects our interests and values, whether or not we have a government that works for each and every one of us.
And to help foster that participation, CIVIC Concern will begin to highlight a wide and diverse range of individuals, groups and programs committed to civic education and participation.
One such resource is a new book written by former Florida governor and US Senator Bob Graham: America, the Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work for You.
In his new book, Senator Graham confronts directly the question of how a single person can make a difference by outlining a detailed roadmap to show any citizen how to become engaged.
Senator Graham suggests that the “health of our country is at risk” as participation and interest in our government wane. In his book, he shows how engagement can bring change, and he offers a step-by-step manual for engaging effectively and getting results.
Each chapter tells the story of what a single person can do. From Cindy Lightner who responded to death of her daughter, Cari, at the hands of a drunk driver by forming Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to Rick Reilly who formed Nothing But Nets when he learned that 3000 children a day were dying from malaria, Senator Graham highlighted individuals who chose engagement and involvement and changed our world.
Using their stories, Senator Graham walks us through the specific actions and strategies any of us can employ to achieve change the same way these everyday heroes did. He shows that moving the bureaucracy is possible, and makes clear why politics and our involvement does matter.
America, the Owner’s Manual gives us the tools we need to be fully participating citizens and to ensure that our government works for us.
And that’s also the goal of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Foundation’s Justice by the People program, a program designed to increase civic awareness and educate young people about their Constitutional right to trial by jury.
Like Senator Graham’s book, the Justice by the People program understands that the Constitution is a living document and that the rights it protects remain protected only if the citizenry understands them.
Justice by the People is a free program meant to augment middle school civics curricula and has been made available by Scholastic Inc, the world’s largest educational publisher at www.scholastic.com/americanjustice.
Already more than 20,000 teachers have visited the site and utilized parts of the Justice by the People program as our schools look to promote a more engaged student population. If you are a middle school teacher or principal, or the parent of a middle school student and would like more information about the curriculum and access to the online activities, visit www.scholastic.com/americanjustice.
At CIVIC Concern, we believe civic education is indispensable to building the future we want for our state. We want Florida citizens to know how to have an active and effective role in what happens in Tallahassee.
But for that to happen, all of us must believe that engagement is possible and that it works. We must believe that we government will listen and respond if we do our part. We must believe that change is always possible.
And we need to know how to make it happen.
And that’s why Senator Graham’s book, America The Owner’s Manual, and ABOTA’s Justice by the People are such important resources. Both provide the information and tools citizens need to make government work for them.