A Curriculum for the Implementation of Direct Democracy
_____One challenge in the implementation of a direct democracy is the method or curriculum for dispensing the information in cultural institutions such as schools. Computer and Internet technology can supply the forum for the voting of citizens to occur and schools and community and governmental organizations can supply the knowledge, information, and training for the implementation and continuing use of a direct democracy.
_____Following is a possible curriculum that could be revised, amended, and expanded to accommodate changing instructional requirements and changing new technology as well as changing and evolving nformational content:
Pre-kindergarten: Flash cards with pictures depicting basic concepts and people and places associated with democracy. Voting by raising hands, clapping, shouting, or placing balls in a basket to show what they like as shown from pictures of the objects (such as apples, cake, hamburgers, lemons, music, etc.)
Kindergarten: Vote by placing softball size balls in a container. Flash cards with pictures and words of basic concepts of democracy.
First grade: Vote by placing ping pong balls in a container. Vote by writing letters. Flash cards with words of leaders of history, places and events associated with democracy. Elect students for class duties for each student such as erasing the board, closing the windows, turning off lights, sweeping, etc. These duties can be rotated monthly.
Second grade: Vote by writing letters, numbers, and then names.
Third grade: Vote by writing names of the students and of objects voted on. For instance, for the question: “What do you like?”, the students write what they like such as “ice cream”, etc. Eventually, entences are used.
Fourth grade: Vote for class officers and class duties. Students write sentences on what they want to vote for and why. Read political news for children in Weekly Reader, Yahoo Kids’ page, etc. Draw pictures and write paragraphs about democracy in the U.S.
Fifth grade: Vote for class officers and class duties. Voting by printed forms or writing names of people or objects voted on. Introduction of the early history of democracy, around 500 B.C. in Athens, Greece. Draw pictures about fora in ancient Greece. Read Political news in Weekly Reader, Yahoo Kids’ news, some newspapers and read about the history and practices of democracy in the students’ social studies
text books.
Sixth grade: Vote for class officers with ballots. Introduction to computers, software, using the Internet for searching and researching information, introduction to Internet for voting. Write essays and draw pictures about democracy, history related to democracy, and political topics in the U.S. and the world.
Seventh grade: Vote for class officers and duties with computer and Internet technology. Study issues to be voted on. Vote for issues of the past. Vote for some current issues. Write essays on democracy, history, political topics, current invents, and new ideas of how society should be constructed. Read the Declaration of Independence and a summarized version of the United States Constitution. Memorize some
quotations associated with democracy.
Eighth grade: Political Science and History readings and discussions about direct democracy. Magazine articles, newspaper articles, and Internet searches about direct democracy. Find an international pen pal to discuss direct democracy with via the Internet.
Ninth grade: High school clubs established: Democracy Club; Political Science Club; Political Philosophy; clubs for Democrats, Republicans, Green Party, Independents, etc. Develop Internet surveys to find public opinion on various topics. Find books and articles about direct democracy and write reports on them.
Tenth grade: Civics discussion of the responsibilities of the voting citizens. U. S. History and Democracy. U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence. Terminology relevant to democracy explored, direct democracy explained, duties and responsibilities of the voters. Computer voting Tutorial I.
Eleventh grade: Learn to vote via the computer and Internet. World History of Democracy. Discussion and essays about forms of government throughout history. Continue corresponding with your international pen pal and ask your pen pal to find an additional join your correspondence group to have three way discussions. Find one additional penpal to correspond with via the Internet and discuss all current event topics including direct democracy. Summarized readings of Plato’s Republic and Politics by Aristotle. Read and write essays on Democracy and Education by John Dewey and The Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Computer voting Tutorial II.
Twelfth grade: Vote via the Internet. Vote on current and historical national and international issues. Direct democracy procedures examined, explained, discussed. Political Philosophy and duties of and preparation for the voting public. Discussions comparing representative and direct democracy, totalitarianism, Marxism, capitalism, and socialism. Read and write essays on: Direct Democracy: The Politics of Initiative, Referendum, and Recall by Thomas Cronin; Direct Democracy in Switzerland by Gregory Fossedal; Elections in Cyberspace by Anthony Corrado and Charles Firestone and more essays on Democracy and Education by John Dewey. Computer Voting Tutorial III.
Online tutorials:
The history of democracy
The philosophy of democracy
Glossary of terminology related to democracy and government
Navigating the computer and Internet for online voting
Computer Voting Tutorial I, II, III
Voting on Referendums, Initiatives, Elections for representatives, and Recalls
Preparation for certificate examinations for becoming a voting member of the Public Assembly
Writing and submitting legislation
Links, resources, publications, and organizations concerning direct democracy
Technical skills for the use of the computer and the Internet related to direct democracy
______Below are listed university, post-secondary, adult, online courses, some of which are required, in addition to taking the certificate exams, to become a voting member of the (newly created) public legislature or Public Assembly. One certificate is for the local level, one for the state level, and one for the national level (laws and and an amendment would need to be enacted to create such a voting body). The certificate would require at least a high school education or a recognized equivalent, for the person to be a registered voter, All registered voters are able to vote in initiatives, referendums, elections, and recalls but the Public Legislature would require a licensed certificate, similar to obtaining a driver's license or a specialist's license, renewable periodically with minor exams, to become a nonelected member of the Third House of Congress, which will count for 1/3 of the votes of the United States Congress.
University, college, online, and adult courses (with majors in political science with an emphasis on
direct democracy and related subjects, some required for a voting certificate):
The growth and development of direct democracy
Writing and submitting legislative bills for a direct democracy
Topics covered in the voting certificate examinations
Designing instructional material for direct democracy
The procedures for voting in a direct democracy
Political philosophy and direct democracy
The use of direct democracy in Switzerland
Procedures and precedents for amending the U.S.Constitution
The world history and use of direct democracy
The use of direct democracy in governments and organizations worldwide
Referendum, Initiative, Election, and Recall
Methods of informing the public on legislative and direct democracy issues
Security issues of online voting
The governmental structure for direct democracy
Theories and uses of democracy
University, advanced and adult learner reading list for courses in direct democracy:
Adult Education for Social Change: From Center Stage to the Wings and Back Again (1996) by Thomas Heaney.
The Americans: The Democratic Experience (1974) by Boorstin, Daniel J. Boorstin.
America's Crisis: The Direct Democracy and Direct Education Solution (2000) by D. B. Jeffs and V. Hugo.
Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy (1975) by J. M. Moore.
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project (2001) by the California Institute of Technology and The Massachusetts
Institute of Technology Corporation.
Citizens As Legislators: Direct Democracy in the United States (1998) by Bowler, S., Donovan, T. & Tolbert, C.
Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook: A Resource for Adult Educators by A. Nash.
Collected Writings of Thomas Jefferson.
A Constitution of Direct Democracy : Pure Democracy and the Governance of the Future ~ Locally and Globally (2000) by Michael Noah Mautner.
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World (2000) by S.R. Anderson & P. Ray.
The Communicative Ethics Controversy (1990) by S. Benhabib and F. Dallmayr.
Democracy: Real and Ideal, Discourse Ethics and Radical Politics (1999) by Ricardo Blaug.
Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting, and Direct Democracy (2001) by Bowler, S, & Donovan, T.
Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (1997) by John Dewey.
Democracy and Education and Prospects for Democracy (1994) by N. Chomsky.
Democracy, Citizenship and the Global City (2000) by E. F. Isin.
Democracy in America (2000) by Alexis de Tocqueville.
Democracy in the Digital Age : Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace (2000) by Anthony G. Wilhelm.
Developing e-Citizens and e-Consumers, an Irish e-Commerce Case Study (2001) by John MacNamara.
Direct Democracy: The Politics of Initiative, Referendum & Recall (1999) by Thomas E. Cronin
Direct Democracy in Switzerland (2002) by Gregory A. Fossedal.
Direct Democracy or Representative Government?: Dispelling the Populist Myth (2000) by John Haskell.
The Economist: A better way to vote: Why letting the people themselves take the decisions is the logical next step for the West (1993) by Brian Needham.
Electronic Democracy: Using the Internet to Transform American Politics (2002) by Browning, G. & Powell, A.C.
Electronic Media and Technoculture (2000) by John Thornton Caldwell.
E-Democracy, E-Governance, and Public Net-Work (2003) by Steven Clift.
Elections in Cyberspace: Toward a New Era in American Politics (1997) A. Corrado & C.M. Firestone.
E-democracy in Practice: Swedish Experiences of a New Political Tool (2001) by T. Rosen.
Electronic Voting: Benefits and Risks (2002) by Russell Smith.
Electronic Voting -- Evaluating the Threat (1993) by M. I. Shamos.
Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Two Treatises of Government by John Locke.
E-topia (2000) by William J. Mitchell.
The Examined Life (2000) by Stanley Rosen.
The Future of Teledemocracy (2000) by T. Becker & C.D. Slaton.
The Handbook of Qualitative Research (2000) by J. Frow & M. Morris, M. (2000).
Leviathan (1998) by Thomas Hobbes.
Megatrends 2000 (1996) by J. Naisbitt and Aburdene P.
The New Challenge of Direct Democracy (1997) by Ian Budge.
New Schools for a New Century (1997) by Diane Ravitch and Joseph P. Viteritti.
Political Parties and Constitutional Government: Remaking American Democracy (1999) by S. M. Milkis.
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.
Republic (1998) by Plato.
Rethinking Democracy and Education: Towards an Education of Deliberative Citizens (2000) by T.Englund.
The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu.
Stealing the Initiative: How State Government Responds to Direct Democracy (2000) by E. R. Gerber, A. Lupia, M. D. McCubbins & D. R. Kiewiet.
Technoscience and Cyberculture (1996) by S. Aronowitz, B. Martinsons, M. Menser, and J. Rich.
The Third Wave (1984) by Alvin Toffler.
United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers.
Virtual Environmental Citizenship: Web-Based Public Participation in Rulemaking in the U.S. (2003) by Schlosberg, D.
The World in 2020: Power, Culture, and Prosperity (1994) by Hamish McRae.
Conclusion:
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