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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.
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.
to Cancel Student Debt
It sounds great, but it’s not that easy.
Senator Bernie Sanders has been saying for months that he will make college free and cancel all outstanding
student debt.
Now, millions of Americans think that their student debts will suddenly vanish. Don’t get too excited.
This is why language matters.
Political Ignorance Breeds Political Impotence.
Patricia A. O'Malley
Social Policy & Programs Consulting
Training and Services for agencies working toward social and economic justice
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
Strict construction is wishful thinking.
The United States Constitution
has been in the news more in the last twenty years than at any other time in two centuries.
The dispute boils down to whether the Constitution is a “living document”.
You can end this.
New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was one of the first to use the term “concentration camps”. Republicans went nuts. We exercise our luxury of quibbling over language. Meanwhile, America’s captives are drinking from toilets.
And dying.
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.