Abstract In this article, the writer notes that an examination of civicengagement in global public policy demonstrates that citizens have increasingly joined transnational networks to try to influence policy and bring about change. The writer points out that some of these campaigns have been very successful, some have had mixed success, and some failed to achieve their goals altogether. The writer discusses that in the 1980's, the civicengagement of millions of people to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union was a mixed success, for significant nuclear arms reductions were achieved, but nuclear war is still a threat to the survival of humanity. The writer maintains that many aspects of this civicengagement need to be examined and analyzed, not only because these efforts helped to end the Cold War, but because similar efforts are needed today to prevent new nuclear arms races from developing, both regionally and globally.
The writer concludes that examining civicengagement in global public policy demonstrates that concerned citizens have increasingly participated in transnational efforts to try to influence policy and effect change. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.
From the Paper "Criteria such as the signing and ratification of these treaties confirms the success of this civic engagement campaign, as does documented evidence that the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers were reduced by fifty-percent in many strategic and tactical weapons categories, while other categories such as short-range and medium range nuclear ballistic missiles were eliminated entirely. This was all achieved without any direct participation by citizens in international decision-making forums, and was produced primarily through domestic political pressure."
"This campaign was legitimate, for the nuclear arms race had escalated for decades after the first atomic bombs were developed, and the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers consisted of more than forty-thousand nuclear warheads by the early 1980's."
Abstract This paper states that its research on the issue of civicengagement in global public policy confirms that citizens and peace activists all over the world have organized transnational networks in order to influence arms control policies and bring about change. Their efforts have produced mixed results, from remarkable success to complete failure. Ultimately, their influence on arms control policy depends upon their ability to generate public support for arms reductions, for public support translates into political pressure on government policymakers. The paper brings historical examples from the Cold War to illustrate this, such as the Cuban missile crisis, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union, the Salt I Treaty, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the START treaty. The paper concludes by stating that arms and militarism have been an inseparable part of every major empire or culture throughout human history and that this is a dilemma peace activists may not be able to resolve. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.
From the Paper "Civic engagement on arms control policy emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War in response to the development and deployment of nuclear weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union. After the fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union amassed huge arsenals of atomic bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic jet bombers, and ballistic missile submarines, and it seemed that conventional battles fought by massed armies of tanks and infantry would never occur again. The general consensus among government officials and the public as well was that possession of nuclear weapons was the new measure of any nation's military power."
Abstract This paper examines how America has been characterised by a dramatic decrease in civicengagement and how this decrease is not only illustrated by low turnouts at presidential elections, which reveals a fall in electoral political participation, but also by lower civicengagement through active participation in social and political organisations. Robert Putnam suggests that American society's civic disengagement is, in large part, due to the development of the television. The paper argues that, if the American society is indeed characterised by a significant decrease in civicengagement, the development of television and other forms of media technologies does not lead necessarily to a more 'politically cynical' society.
Outline:
Putnam's Thesis: The Loss in Social Trust is Responsible For Less CivicEngagement The End of America's Republican CivicEngagement?
Conclusion
From the Paper "Mouritsen questions Putnam's concept of social capital by interrogating the 'civil' in Putnam's conception of 'civil society'. Mouritsen insists on the fact that Putnam puts largely the emphasis on a civic community that emerges almost spontaneously from the people, "from the microcosmos of society" (MOURITSEN, 2003: 651). Putnam's considerations on the forming of social capital are thus based on the assertion that voluntary forces emanating from the people, from 'below', constitute the foundation of a civic consciousness. Mouritsen therefore criticises a conception of civil society that appeals to a narrow sense of republicanism: in this logic, many social scientists used to see the civil society as a civic space emerging independently from state forces, according to the "classical republican ideology of self-governing citizens" (MOURITSEN, 2003: 652). "
Abstract This paper examines how the rules of American social engagement come into play, not simply on a personal level, but are codified and defined on multiple levels. Through a review of the books, "Bowling Alone" by Robert B, Putnam, William K. Tabb's "Unequal Partners", and Alan Dawley's "Changing the World", it looks at how the changing and evolving rules of social engagement in America invariably relate to how, as a society, a complex nation such as America is constructed on a socially stratified level. It also explores how America functions on a globally stratified level among other nation states in a social and civic fashion and discusses how, although social engagement with one's peers, with one's fellow nationals, and with one's fellow human beings may have grown increasingly atomized and absent in recent years, it does not mean such laws have been erased.
From the Paper "All authors see a fundamental lacking in the way that Americans relate to other Americans, how America relates to the world community, and how America perceives its political responsibility to those in need within its borders and abroad. However, all three authors, because of the different paradigms they use to view this lacking of civic engagement, offer quite different solutions. Putman takes a sociological paradigm to examine American post-war Baby Boon social trends, Tabb uses the environmentalist and international relations paradigm of America's location in a global society, and Dawley takes the historian's point of view, contrasting the Progressive movement of the turn of the century with American social movements today, stressing the contemporary lack of political movements to cohere and achieve similarly internationalist and civic political ends."
Abstract This paper considers the case of Tillamook County, Oregon and reviews the civic life of the community in terms of its local economy and social institutions. In order to research a question of public administration -- that civic welfare relies on local capitalism and civicengagement, the county life and government are outlined and an analysis conducted.
From the Paper "In 1995, members of Congress and the Clinton Administration visited a number of communities in the state of Oregon looking for progressive government and viable local economies that could serve as models for reinventing government and civic welfare and accountability. Among the communities they visited were Tillamook County, a rural farming and fishing community in northwest Oregon. They reviewed the county's governance and found that it tied all aspects of government together in such a way that child care and education, for example, were effectively delivered in a systematic and synchronized manner, so that all government offices worked together to increase civic life (The Institute for Educational Leadership, 1996, p 22)."
Abstract This paper discusses how social capital is the currency of civil society by demonstrating the role of its mobilisation within social movements. It proposes that social capital is the currency of civil society in much the same way that financial capital is a component of the market sector. The first section briefly outlines three integral elements of social capital, networks, norms and social trust. It is followed by a discussion of the mobilisation of social capital as it pertains to social movements and promotes civicengagement. The conclusion reflects that the social capital/civil society and the financial capital/market sector analogy is justified, as social capital acts as civil society's bargaining tool.
From the Paper "The final continuous element of social capital is social trust. As an attribute of social capital trust encourages society to overcome quiescence and to take part in political activism by instilling confidence. Underpinning this confidence is a sense of mutual supportiveness of each other and for the cause, that has united them. Interwoven with social trust is the notion of reciprocity, or the implicit assumption that those participating will get something in return for supporting any form of civil action (Onyx, 2000:60-1). This assumption also motivates social movements, the link between social capital, civil society and bargaining becomes apparent. Davis argues that the public has a distinct lack of trust in government and its processes, he goes on to say that those possessing social capital are better equipped to initiate civic engagement (2001:2-4). Which brings us to one of the most common mechanisms for collective action, that of social movements."
This paper addresses the current movement to create civics education within the classroom through contrasting existing political philosophies on the subject of conformity against the initiative to teach civics within the classroom.
3,900 words (approx. 15.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 142.95
Abstract This paper addresses the current movement to create civics education within the classroom through contrasting existing political philosophies on the subject of conformity against the initiative to teach civics within the classroom. This demonstrates how civics education rather than government education is a form of propaganda that promotes conformity.
This paper addresses the current movement to create civics education within the classroom through contrasting existing political philosophies on the subject of conformity against the initiative to teach civics within the classroom.
3,900 words (approx. 15.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 142.95
Abstract This paper addresses the current movement to create civics education within the classroom through contrasting existing political philosophies on the subject of conformity against the initiative to teach civics within the classroom. This demonstrates how civics education rather than government education is a form of propaganda that promotes conformity.
Tags: EDUCATION / CURRICULUM THEORY AND ISSUES, concept civics education
Abstract This paper examines the interrelated issues of civic pride and identity and the challenges of retaining big league sports teams in Canadian cities. The paper argues that the sources of civic pride are changing, such that hockey is no longer the chief or only source of a sense of civic pride and identity in Canadian cities. Moreover, the paper argues that this is a good thing, as hockey has become increasingly commercialized and public money should not end up in the private pockets of franchise holders.
From the Paper "Fortunately, as we have seen, civic identity and pride is no longer tied exclusively to hockey in Canada. People have grown up and moved on. This is a good thing, as hockey at the same time has morphed into a big-money sport that makes only a very few people richer - mainly just the franchise owners. It is untenable and unconscionable for people to be denied food, healthcare and housing, while taxpayers' money is poured into the pockets of already wealthy franchise owners. This will mean that more Canadian cities will see the departure of their teams to the big, wealthy cities of the USA's sunshine belt. It seems that Canadians will simply have to root their civic pride and identity in benefits for all, and learn to watch the games from afar. Fortunately, most of us have television!"
Tags: franchise, identity, league, commercialization
Abstract This paper describes the ways that the Athenians practiced a polytheistic religion which expressed itself through civic festivals and cults. The paper attempts to create an overview of the most important Athenian civic festivals. It describes the way in which each festival provided a basis in Athenian worship, gave Athenian's a sense and a meaning in life and provided them with a sense of identity as human beings.
Table of Contents:
The Panathenaia
The Anthesteria
The Dionysia
The City Dionysia
From the Paper "The Dipolieia was a very strange Athenian festival that took place two days after another important festival, the Skira (Parke 162). It comprised of a ceremony called the Butaphonia in the honor of Zeus (Parke 162). They celebrated a special aspect of Zeus by this festival, i.e. Zeus as the God of the city and the festivities took place at his altar from the Acropolis (Parke 162). The ceremony implied the sacrifice of an ox and a mock of its restoration to life. The ritual had become antiquated and so did the festival (Parke 166).
In conclusion, the calendar of the ancient Greeks was full with both the specific Athenian festivals and the ones referring to the entire Attica. However, they did not serve only the scope of entertainment, but they supported the development of the sciences and the art while encouraging people to travel and try new things."
Abstract A discussion of the new concept civil society vs. civic community and a series of fresh debates about how it should be defined. A discussion of the following questions: What is the citizen's proper role within the state's structure? How should citizenship be determined and defined?, What degree of interaction should take place between the citizen and the state?. These are just a few questions that plagued philosophers and theorists such as Locke, Hegel and Kant in the many years that followed the transition from subject to citizen.
From the Paper "As the sixteenth century drew to a close, great intellectual and technological advancements triggered winds of change that swept through Europe, forever changing the region's social and political landscape. Gradually, absolutist monarchs whose royal lineage had ruled for centuries saw their power erode in the face of an emerging merchant class and revolutionary philosophical ideas about government. The enlightenment had arrived and with it came a groundbreaking notion: citizenship. No longer were the masses subject to the arbitrary rule of an omnipotent autocrat. Instead, they now possessed some degree of political self-determination."
Abstract The paper reviews the article by Peter Skerry, "Citizenship Begins at Home: A New Approach to the Civic Integration of Immigrants", in order to assess the extent to which institutions should be responsible for the integration of new immigrants into American communities. The paper argues that institutions should act formally and informally as support systems for new arrivals, but individuals still must determine where they wish to go with their own lives.
From the Paper "At the present time, some American universities are arguing that it is part of their mandate to provide "a diverse community" of career professionals with the opportunity to transform themselves so that they might transform society for the better. Indeed, some universities have made such sentiments part of their over-arching mission statement. While some people may feel uncomfortable with such assertions - there are perhaps too many "social engineers" in America as it is - there is definitely something to be said for institutions stepping forward to help groom young people, especially young people from immigrant backgrounds, into productive and faithful Americans. Certainly, Peter Skerry (2004) is correct to point out that what America needs most is for institutions and communities to step forward and provide the structure and guidance necessary for newly-arrived individuals to take full advantage of what America has to offer."
Abstract The paper explains that in order to make informative decisions through voting and political activities, citizens need to understand the workings of policy choices and the responsibility and authority of their public servants. The paper looks at the types of civic educations present in Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia, El Salvador and Japan.
From the Paper "Civic education is the process when public citizens of a democratic country acquire knowledge through different methods of learning that deal with their social and political rights and responsibilities. Because democratic countries depend on their citizens to make decisions that contribute to the operation of the government, citizens need to be informed and understand the workings of their government and the politics that go along with it. Ideally, citizens will use their knowledge to vote and voice their concerns in a collective format that elects public servants into office as well as holds them accountable. In order to make these kinds of informative decisions through voting and political activities, citizens need to understand the workings of policy choices and the responsibility and authority of their public servants."
Tags: democracy, citizenship, government, constitution, electoral, college
Abstract The purpose of this discussion is to explore academic engagement and the effects of a token economy on students with emotional and behavioral disorders. This discourse will contain a literary review that will compare and contrast various studies that have been conducted pertaining to this topic. Academic engagement is defined as a combination of classroom activities, which include asking and answering questions, participation in tasks, writing, reading, and discussing academics.
Contents
Introduction
Literature Review
Academic Engagement Token Economy
Discussion
References
From the Paper "A study conducted by Bean et al (1999) found that engagement in reading and writing improved overall academic engagement skills. Studies have also found that peer relationships impact academic engagement. Watkins and Wentzel (2002) found that peer acceptance motivates students to behave appropriately in academic settings. The authors found that academic environments in which peers were encouraging of academic success, students were more likely to experience successful academic engagement. (Watkins and Wentzel (2002) Greenwood et al (2002) explains that behavior is a significant factor in determining the amount of academic engagement that can be achieved."
Tags: school, teacher, curriculum, reading, writing, study, system
