Souter: Republic is Lost Unless Civic Education Improves

[usregimechange]

In a speech at Georgetown University Law Center today, retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter made a powerful plea for re-educating the American public about the fundamentals of how government works.

The republic, Souter said, "can be lost, it is being lost, it is lost, if it is not understood." He cited surveys showing large majorities of the public cannot name the three branches of government, something he said would have been unheard of when he was growing up in rural Weare, N.H. What is needed, Souter said, is nothing less than "the restoration of the self-identity of the American people."

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/05/souter-republic-is-lost-unless-civic-education-improves-.html

[AllentownJake]

1. He's right

Rome wasn't exactly the pillar of a society but the republic died when people stopped caring about their laws and institutions.

Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to avoid prosecution under Roman Law.

[Thothmes]

26. Caesar was not authorized to cross the Rubicon

with his legions behind him. Gaul was the limit of his consular authority. He violated that restriction and marched on Rome. Who broke the law?

[blaze]

2. Amen!! nt

[rurallib]

3. That is why we need more home schoolin' and

textbooks written for Texas and teaching to the test and allowing religious education and prayer in school. All these Republic ideas need to be passed immediately so I have a reason to move to Canada.

[Maat]

25. Uh ... I homeschool my daughter ...

and I'll stack her knowledge of our government against any kid her age from a conventional classroom.

Not that one is better than the other - but people who disparage homeschooling by making broad generalizations need to educate themselves, to avoid sounding like Miss California.

[ShadowLiberal]

4. Indeed, you have a serious problem when 1/3 of kids drop out before graduating high school

Yes, that's 1/3, that's the national dropout rate. In some cities it's especially bad, like in Detroit I've heard it's as low as 24% of students graduating high school.

Our drop out rate is so high that some countries think we won't be a serious economic force in the future.

[rwheeler31]

5. This is true the republican war on education has been

devastating. It will take massive effort to improve.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

6. Thank you, Justice Souter!

You have served this country with the utmost in honor, dignity and truthfulness yet again.

[Historic NY]

7. Thats what happens when civics, government & history aren't in the main course.

Schools need to go back to the basics instead of teaching for performance tests.

[SpartanDem]

8. So true

good citizens aren't just born.

[Clear Blue Sky]

9. Great idea. Surprising how little the average person knows about this.

[MBS]

10. Yup, he's absolutely right.

Since the 2000 election on, I've been shocked at how few people truly understand the legislative process, the Constitution, or anything else about the workings of American government. And Souter is right that this is about our core identity as a nation.

[Thothmes]

27. you have obviously never talked to folks in the 60s , 70s, 80, or

the 90s. They do not truly understand the legislative process, the Consitution or anything else about the workings of American Government. This did not orginiate with Bush. It has been there for a very long time.

[MBS]

29. oh, you're absolutely right.

It's just that all the wheels started to come off from 2000 on. . but I agree with you that the dumbing-down of the electorate has been evident since 1980, at least. .
(And, as you note, earlier, too: those ever-popular polls on statements in the Bill of Rights -- where a depressingly strong majority not only doesn't recognize them as part of the Constitution, and thinks they're dangerous "communist" documents-- have been circulating since the 60's)

[Mopar151]

11. Thanks, neighbor! n/t

[trayfoot]

12. Absolutely AGREE!

I've been screaming about this for 3 decades! The emphasis has been solely on science and math, to the detriment of history/government. If we do not educate the people in this nation in history and government, it won't make much difference about science or math!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby

I'm reading this now, and thoroughly agree.

From the book, I'm seeing not only a need for civic education, but also the need for a refocusing on education in the sciences, arts, logic and critical thinking. From an early age, not just in college.

Jacoby explains anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism, both components of fundamentalist religions and their appeal to emotional comfort over intellectual inquiry and the need to maintain social order. This emotion driven authoritarianism is in response to the fears and uncertainties of survival among the poor and poorly educated (rooted in the American frontier movement, and in the South, the culture of slavery). (And I'd like to add my own note here; Authoritarianism requires both sides of the coin--those needing to control, and those seeking to be controlled.)

This has been a strong thread in American cultural history since the early days of the republic. (In other words, the surge in aggressively conservative fundamentalist religions is not new to our time.)

Habits of critical thinking need to be a part of life at the earliest age possible.

I REALLY recommend this book.

[TheKentuckian]

14. The Justice couldn't be more correct.

I've been talking about this for years. I'm not sure if anyone much younger than me even had basic Civics. At least around my neck of the woods. In fact, I'm thinking kids don't get a lot more than test prep in any subject, in many cases.

[rasputin1952]

15. I was educated in the NYC Public School System and a private

Lutheran school. In both of these systems, Civics was incorporated at an early stage. None of the students could move forward if they failed Civics, it was considered as important as Math, Reading and Writing. There was no compromise, either you learned how the country was supposed to work, or you were left behind.

Over the years, Civics has been pushed to the side or deleted from education. This is indeed a travesty, as the simple question comes to the front, how can one participate in democracy, if one doesn't even know how a democracy is supposed to work?

I learned that we are not a true democracy, we are a Democratic Republic, we elect individuals to represent us in various government positions, to support the positions of the majority. I even learned why the Electoral College exists, what the Connecticut Compromise was and how it brought about the Constitution and that the Declaration of Independence was an act of treason against the British Crown. I learned what Jury Nullification is, I learned how a Bill becomes Law and how it can be vetoed by the president before it becomes Law as well as how Congress can override the veto. I learned what a "pocket veto" is, I know that it is the House of Representatives that is the Congressional initiates tax legislation...as well as tons of other things about the government that people should, but don't know.

Civics was an ongoing learning experience. I watched as Eisenhower delivered his "Military Industrial Complex" speech. I watched the Kennedy/Nixon Debate on TV. I saw and heard Joe McCarthy scare the American people half to death with lies and broad-based smears, destroying lives in an attempt to keep his job.

Civics goes beyond the national level, it is local as well, and that is where we have the most power, but use that power the least. Far too few people show up at their city council meetings and yet these same people complain about some new ordinance. one of the best lessons Civics gives is that a Democratic Republic is at it's best when citizens question authority, when citizens get involved on the local, state and national levels, making sure their point of view is heard and being aware that at any given moment, if they do not exercise their Right to speak out when they see injustice, they could lose it all.

Souter is right...but it our responsibility to bring Civics back into the mainstream of education.

[Doctor_J]

16. This is the way the wingers planned it

Ignorant people believe propaganda more readily, so poorly educated citizens are more likely to buy the Fox "News" lies.

[anonymous171]

31. Actually it probably started during the cold war when we became obsessed with the sciences.

[Sirveri]

17. What's civics?

I'm only 28 and I have no idea what that is.

Maybe I should get a dictionary.

Do I need to say this is :sarcasm:

Unfortuantly this isn't the case for a number of my peers.

[Seedersandleechers]

18. Actor Richard Dreyfuss

is teaching civics, and is supporting the movement to bring civics back in schools.




http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=2696871&page=1

[gauguin57]

20. A more in-depth article about Dreyfuss's crusade. Go Max Bickford (I miss that show!)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/02/07/the_education_of_richard_dreyfuss/

[surrealAmerican]

19. Every new initiative to improve children's ...

... test scores in math and reading takes class time away from civics, history, science, etc.

[Muttocracy]

28. why can't we have them reading history and civics? sigh. nt

[rvablue]

21. This is true. And it is both a sad commentary and inspiring that the last two Justices to have

retired have taken this on as their cause.

I remember seeing Sandra Day O'Connor on the Daily Show not too long ago talking about the website that she has started to try to bring back civics education.

It's a noble effort. Don't know how much good it will do, though....

[old mark]

22. The RWers, the GOP, the "religious" right. LOVE ignorance -

It provides fertile soil for their lies and deliberate twisting of America's real nature and purpose. They hate and fear intelligence, real education, even common sense like poison.

mark

[Uncle Joe]

23. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, usregimechange.

[amborin]

24. there's a huge, established literature arguing this very point

[anonymous171]

30. I realized that when Obama nominated Hillary for SoS

And DU was all abuzz with how Obama was "giving Hillary control of his foreign policy."