XLIX - Political Engagement: Getting Informed and Involved

        This post is a summary of two reports. The first with the title of, "Civil engagement and particularized trust." Published at http://www.bsos.umd.edu/. Written by Eric M. Uslaner, University of Maryland and Richard S. Conley, University of Florida. The second with the title above, published at http://www.luc.edu/.

         More than 150 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859, French political thinker, best known for his book, "Democracy in America", that today is considered an early work of political science), found that Americans always came together to make their lives better. More recently Robert Putnam (American political science and profesor of public policy at Harvard University) has extolled the benefits of joining, he said, "participation in civic organization inculcates skills of cooperation as well as a sense of shared responsibility for collective endeavors." Putnam and other exponents of social capital argue that communities and nations with high levels of civic engagement are more trusting, happier and prosperous. Social capital, as Putnam sees it, is an interlocking and mutually reinforcing set of values, norms of behavior, civic engagement and cooperative behavior that constitute a virtuous circle. Together these components lead people to cooperate with each other and to produce a better society. The values and social connections underlying social capital help build bridges across diverse groups. When people interact with each other, they can work together to solve common problems. To gain the benefits of social capital, people do not have to work hard in civic associations. All sorts of social connections will do the job, including informal social ties and apolitical groups. We argue that this argument misses an important dynamic of social interaction. The social capital is important because it leads to cooperation among strangers. The confidence in others is an essential part of social capital leading to widespread cooperation.

         Democracy thrives when individuals are engaged in matters and participate in public life. The building blocks of daily life; schools, workplaces, houses of worship, businesses, roads, places of entertainment and government buildings are maintained by fellow citizens. It is important to appreciate where these resources come from and how they are sustained. Democracy means rule of many. It invites members of the community to participate in the decisions that affect them. A healthy democracy allows for debate and invite everyone into the process of reaching conclusions about policies and investments. Democracy gives people a voice in public matters, if they take advantage of it. Citizens committed to democracy are prompted to uphold the values that benefits the common good. They are motivated by principles of fairness and they believe in equal opportunity for all. Democracy is dependent upon the willingness of citizens to get involved and informed about public matters.

        How can people participate in public life?

 - Reading the newspapers and voting.

 - Volunteering in projects.

 - Sending emails to politicians, organizations and media.

 - Participating in demonstrations or local council meetings.

 - Visiting government offices.

 - Talking about public policies.

 - Donating ( money, time, advice, etc )

XLVIII - Referendums: Arguments For and Against.

       This post is a summary of two articles. The first one, with the title above published at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/. The other with the title," National initiative for democracy ". Published at http://www.vote.org/.
         

       Witnesses referred to arguments that referendums enhanced democracy by giving voters greater opportunities for involvement. Referendums could be seen as "pure democracy" a symbolic reminder that democratic finds its legitimacy in the consent of the people. Referendums offer the potential to reshape the political division between citizens and legislators. The government acknowledge the arguments that referendums could ensure that the public are consulted on significant issues.

       Peter Browning argued that, "at a time when public trust in this system is probably lower than ever, referendums could help restore faith in British democracy." The government stated that it could be argued that referendums could provide the government of the day with a mandate to undertake change, or it could legitimate a significant change. Witnesses saw the value of referendums as a safeguard against controversial decisions being taken, other opined that referendums enhanced public engagement with the political process, as they understand that their participation has real policy implications. Other recommend referendums for the debate that they could engender to promote political knowledge. It allow the people and political class to focus on an issue thus enabling citizens to learn deeply about the topic. A number of witnesses states that referendums could complement representative democracy. In Switzerland, it is used not to replace but to supplement representative democracy. In Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, referendums and representative democracy successfully coexist.

        A principal objection to referendums was that they may be used as a tatical device by the government. Steve Richards political commentator of "The independent", said that "a leader does not dare hold a referendum unless they are convinced that they are going to win it". Some argue that referendums tend to be dominated by media, political parties, employer and employee associations, rather than ordinary citizens. Others negative feature are that referendums fail to deal with complex issue and that they are costly.

       Led by former U.S. senator Mike Gravel, national initiatives ( referendums ) empower us, similar to ballot initiatives in 24 states. It gives us a "plan B" whenever representatives do not represent us (or debt, domestic spying, and bailouts for criminals represent you?). Direct democracy like this is both, a strategy and a goal of the movements everywhere, like Occupy Wall Street and others. This vote is not poll. It is legal.

      Why ballot initiatives ( referendums )?

    Put the people in the drivers seat. Responsibility brings more responsible people: more people vote in states with referendums. In Switzerland, often national referendums since 1891 result in the highest newspaper readership in the world.

     National referendum break the monopoly congress has on national legislative power.
    One of the U.S. founders, James Madison said, " the people is in fact, the fountain of all power, and by resorting to them, all dificulties got over."

      

XLVII - Human Rights Activists Taught Online Tactics

       This post is a summary of two articles, the first one with the title above, published at http://www.bbc.co.uk/, on November,5th 2012 and written by Sean Coughlan. The other has the title " The joys of online activism," published at http://www.guardian.co.uk/, on January,18 2011, and written by Jonathan Glennie.

     An international training institute to teach online tactics for human rights campaigners is being set up in the Italian city of Florence. This training centre, set up by the European wing of the U.S. based Robert Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, wants to combine academic study with practical skills, with an appropriate simbolism is based in a former prison building, donated by the city of Florence. Frederico Moro, the director says,"the intention is to use technology to promote democracy, human rights, and justice." He adds, "campaigners might have passion and belief in their struggle, but they also need practical knowledge." These students will be blog writers and campaigners. Recruiting will be complicated by the need to protect the privacy of people who might be put at risk even by applying. Mr. Moro says that the institute will not be partisan in supporting either right-or-left wing causes, but will act in defence of individuals facing violations of their human rights whether it is political oppression or violence.

      But what does a digital activist need to know?  There are some websites that allow for anonymous internet access. There are also means of circumventing censor`s attempts at blocking websites. There are also "work around" to make online video and phone calls more secure from surveillance. A NGO from NY called Witness is working with YouTube on a dedicated human rights channel, it is already hosting hundreds of videos from a wide number of countries. Rana Husseini, a Jordanian activist and journalist who uncovered stories about killings, says the internet has given voice to public opinion. She also concerns that digital tech can be used as tool for surveillance and control as well as openness and investigation.

      There are many worrying trends in this modern era of globalisation, most notably the ease with which companies can operate, apparently outside any democratic parameters set by international community, but I never been part of the "anti-globalisation" movements because there are so many positive aspects to globalisation. The most important are those related to the incredible improvements in communication that the world has witnessed in the last two decades, largely down to the internet. If governments are falling to keep the excesses of capital and corruption in check, these new global communities could be an important part of the answer. There are many examples today of when people in one part of the world realise that suffering and injustice thousands of miles away is of concern to them. Nowhere is this more evident than in an internet campaigning phenomenon that in the space of four years has announced a new vision for what kind of world community is possible: Avaaz. I have clicked in this website in support of campaigns ranging from banning cluster to boycott Ivory Coast until Laurent Gbagbo steps down. Some have criticised this kind of "clicktivism", claiming that this is a shallow form of protest compared with the interlocked arms of marchers of the last century. But Avaaz gives its 6.5 million members a chance to say we care as well. Last year, the Brazilian congress voted on a measure to bar politicians convicted of corruption from standing for office, most thought the measure would fail, as so many of those in congress were themselves corrupt ( estimated at 25% ) but in the largest internet campaign in Brazilian history, 2 million people signed a petition supporting the legislation. It passed. What is attractive about engaging in this way is that it combines surprising perspectives ( not the same old gripes ) with a stark understanding of the reality of politics. This is not about giving, is about participating. While charity fatigue is a well-known phenomenon, I have yet to come across solidarity fatigue.

      I have signed  four petitions at Avaaz: 1) Defend the human rights in the Americas.   2) Congressmen to reject the PEC 37/2011, limiting the power of public ministry.   3) Save the Guarani-Kaiowá tribe.    4) The end of secret vote in the congress. Today Avaaz has more than 21 million members being Brazilians its greatest  community with more than 3,6 million. Besides Avaaz, there is also Change.org

      Thanks to the good job done by the police, my motorbike has returned to me. 

The Social and Personal Benefits of Learning

       This post is a summary of a report published at http://www.learningbenefits.net/ on October 2008. The title is above.

      The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning ( WBL ) was set up in 1999 at the Institute of Education in the University of London. But its researches represent a variety of disciplines, including sociology, psychology and economics. 

      Unsurprisingly, the research found that more highly qualified individuals generally earn more and make a bigger financial contribution to society. Education can affect virtually every aspect of our lives, as the report have shown. However, its wider benefits, are often indirect and subtle. This centre has developed new ways of thinking about these issues. The wider benefits of learning are realised through two major channels: Personal characteristics and skills, and also social interactions.

       It has been estimated, for example, that a student who completes high school in the U.S. contributes with approximately of $139,000 in taxes revenue, $40,500 in public health cost savings, $26,000 saved in law-enforcement and prison costs, and $3,000 in welfare savings. But the benefits of education go far beyond this equation. Educated individuals are more likely, on average, to interact more positively in social networks, from voluntary work to local government. Education is therefore socially, as well as economically, productive, as the following finding demostrate.

      People with better qualifications are more likely to have healthy lifestyles, to be fitter, and such health advantages can be transferred to the next generation at the earliest age. One more year of education has been shown to increase life expectancy in the U.S. by as much as 1.7 years. An important U.S. study estimated that a 10% point rise in the rate of high school graduation would cut the murder rate by between 14% and 27%. A 1% point increase in the graduation rate would lead to a reduction in crime of between 34,000 and 68,000 offences per year. A WBL study published in 2007 showed that children from disadvantages backgrounds who are given a good grounding in numeracy in infant school are more likely to succeed in English as well as Maths at age 11. Learning can promote societal cohesion and strengthen citizenship. Such a system can extend and deepen social networks and support the development of not only shared norms, but the values of tolerance, understanding and respect.

     Other research has shown that the more students are engaged in their education, the more willing they are to play a positive role in public life. If we use the idea of human capital to include skills valued in the labor market, then identity capital can be used to describe the skills valuable in negotiating other aspects of life that matter to individuals, families, communities and nations.

     The development outcomes of an educational experience may emerge during learning or soon afterwards. The wider benefits, on the other hand, emerge from a complex and lengthier processes that occur over the lifecourse, this is a dynamic process. Education is, or should be, about more than developing skills that have economic value. It is also one of the primary means of promoting individual well-being and a key 'civilising' influence on communities and nations. Our research confirms that education has wide-ranging and sizeable effects that extend well beyond the labor market. While these wider outcomes may also have knock-on economic impacts ( through reducing costs of health care and crime, for example ), it is important to remember that they enhance the quality of life, not only for individuals, but also for society.

      Another key message is that the chances of children of an educational success are significantly increased if they have parents who support their learning. Developing skills of parents as the "first teacher" will therefore do a great deal to reduce inequalities.