Should the six points below be part of civic education, for people of all ages?
Write to us at team@cffad.org and let us know what you think.
1. There will always be people who disagree on what the problems are and how to solve them.
2. Most of us operate under a consensus bias, which is the tendency to overestimate how much others share our beliefs and behaviors.
3. If most Americans want a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then we should expect our elected officials to mirror our disagreements.
4. Consensus bias leads us to expect that solving society’s problems ought to be easy and fast. If legislators can’t do that, then we often assume they must not care or must be corrupt. In fact, our legislators are wrestling with technical complexity and our competing and different needs.
5. Debate and compromise are not bad things. Both are necessary if our elected officials are to find acceptable ways to resolve society’s conflicts.
6. Legislative debate and compromise are far more likely to produce solutions acceptable to most Americans than dictates from absolute monarchs or military juntas.
The first five points were originally advanced by two political scientists, John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, back in 1996. We added the sixth.
Hibbing, J. R., & Theiss-Morse, E. (1996). Civics is not enough: Teaching barbarics in K-12. PS: Political Science & Politics, 29(1), 57-62.
