Patricia A. O'Malley
Social Policy & Programs Consulting
Training and Services for agencies working toward social and economic justice
These essays do what our schools fail to do.
They teach civics properly.
It's not your boring high school civics class.
Pat uses current events and the U.S. Constitution to explain what's happening, and why.
With these tools, you can better understand current events,
be an informed voter, and influence your government officials.
You can help make the world be what you want it to be.
America will work for you
when you know how to make it work.
American politics are in turmoil because most Americans don't understand how their government works.
Those who understand how government
works know how to influence it.
Through Community Matters, I use the U.S. Constitution and current events to teach American government – civics.
I don't report the news. I explain it.
Community Matters Article Categories
FEATURED ARTICLE
The same old issues keep re-appearing on our political landscape.
This is an update on a recurring issue.
Defective Teaching Methods Produce American Political Ignorance
What’s wrong with our civics education and how to fix it.
Civics courses are supposed to teach how our government works in real life. Americans' anger at government has been growing for 30 years. We've seen griping, grumbling, ranting, and raving about government's size and its role in our lives. False information causes much of the noise. Civil, healthy debate is valuable, but it's impossible when the participants are uneducated.
Patricia A. O'Malley
Social Policy & Programs Consulting ~ Community Matters
P.O. Box 97803 ~ Pittsburgh, PA 15227 ~ 412-310-4886 ~ info@patomalley-consulting.com
Copyright Patricia A. O'Malley ~ All rights reserved
Established 1993
Civics is
the study
of the structure and function
of government,
and the rights and duties
of citizens.
- It looks at the ways that our governments are organized, how they're supposed to work, and how they really do work.
- Civics is an essential, but neglected, area of our education.
- The government operates by a set of rules.
- We have the right and responsibility to participate in our government.
- However, we can't participate fully if we don't know those rules.
I've been writing Community Matters since 2008.
Here are my most recent articles.
Committees Hold the Real Power
in Congress
The most powerful people in Congress
aren’t elected.
Since the Democrats took the majority of seats in the House of Representatives in the 2018 elections, congressional committees are big news.
While the Senate, which is still majority Republican, languishes,
House Democrats are busy.
What Does the Vice President Do?
The federal government is trying to keep his salary a secret.
On January 20, 2017, former Indiana Governor Mike Pence took the oath of office as the 48th vice president of the United States. He brought his baggage as a strident LGBT civil rights and women’s choice opponent but, unlike Sarah Palin, at least he understands the job.
The campaigns hide this information from the voters.
For more than 30 years,
I’ve volunteered for election campaigns, calling thousands of voters.
The campaigns and the parties hide this information from you.
Please share it widely.
Political Ignorance Breeds Political Impotence.