In the opening section of this class - the one where I try to explain why the state of Texas has mandated that you take two classes in government - you would have seen the following quote from Jeanne Kirkpatrick, an official in the Reagan Administration, and a leading neo-conservative. (The quote is actually only in the GOVT 2305 section - but it should make sense if you are only taking GOVT 2306.)The quote comes from an article she wrote for Commentary in the late 1970s. Click here for the article, and here is the quote:
In his essay on Representative Government, John Stuart Mill identified three fundamental conditions which the Carter administration would do well to ponder. These are: "One, that the people should be willing to receive it [representative government]; two, that they should be willing and able to do what is necessary for its preservation; three, that they should be willing and able to fulfill the duties and discharge the functions which it imposes on them."
Fulfilling the duties and discharging the functions of representative government make heavy demands on leaders and citizens, demands for participation and restraint, for consensus and compromise. It is not necessary for all citizens to be avidly interested in politics or well-informed about public affairs–although far more widespread interest and mobilization are needed than in autocracies. What is necessary is that a substantial number of citizens think of themselves as participants in society’s decision-making and not simply as subjects bound by its laws. Moreover, leaders of all major sectors of the society must agree to pursue power only by legal means, must eschew (at least in principle) violence, theft, and fraud, and must accept defeat when necessary. They must also be skilled at finding and creating common ground among diverse points of view and interests, and correlatively willing to compromise on all but the most basic values.
In addition to an appropriate political culture, democratic government requires institutions strong enough to channel and contain conflict. Voluntary, non-official institutions are needed to articulate and aggregate diverse interests and opinions present in the society. Otherwise, the formal governmental institutions will not be able to translate popular demands into public policy.
I want you to pay special attention to what's in bold.
As opposed to the Personal Responsibility Assessment where I'm asking you to consider how much work you have to do on your own to be the type of citizen a democratic republic requires, here I want you consider how what want must mesh with the what other's want.
One of the problematic things about living in a diverse society based on mass participation is that sometimes our side loses, or at least has to compromise. It seems that Ms. Kirkpatrick's point is that part of our social responsibility to is to recognize this - though she also states that we do not have to compromise on basic values, with out defining what these are.
I'm not sure I know exactly what this means, so I'd like you to comment on it. What responsibilities do you have - as a citizen - to compromise and accept defeat? Maybe you don't. Establish a position on this, give specific examples and justify it.
This is due at the end of the semester.
Make it as long as necessary to make your point.
Turn it in in Blackboard.
