Category Archives: Uncategorized
Asset-Based Community Development
Although civic actors should think critically and address problems, it is also valuable to be able to identify and appreciate the existing assets of any community, no matter how disadvantaged. Lesson 8 of Longo 2023 entitled “Asset-Based Community Development,” helps … Continue reading
Frontiers of Democracy 2022: A Festival of Cases
Draft agenda, subject to change June 24, 2022 at 145 Harrison Ave., Boston MA (Tufts School of Medicine), room 114, or online *Marshall Ganz is Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Organizing and Civil Society at the Kennedy School … Continue reading
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Taking the Action Out of Civics?
“Taking the Action out of Civics?” is a case study from the Justice in Schools initiative. The case examines the debate over a form of project-based civics education called Action Civics, in which students research a topic of their choosing … Continue reading
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Polycentrism
Vincent Ostrom, Charles Tiebout, and Robert Warren wrote that a “polycentric political system” exists when “many centers of decision- making which are formally independent of each other . . . take each other into account in competitive relationships, enter into … Continue reading
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Grade Inflation and Teaching: The Private School Marketplace
“Grade Inflation and Teaching: What Should Teachers do in a World of Entitlement?” by Meira Levinson and Ilana Finefter from Justice in Schools is a case that poses classic questions about a problem of collective action and values. From the … Continue reading
Naming and framing issues
In order to convene people to discuss an issue, someone must “name” it. The meeting or discussion must be about something that can be named in its title or in the subject line of an invitation. Naming an issue can … Continue reading
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Ideology
The “word” ideology is used at least three different ways in different intellectual communities or traditions: It can mean the politically relevant opinions that any person holds. In that sense, we all have ideologies, even if we happen to hold … Continue reading
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The “Christmas Tree Crisis” at Sea-Tac Airport
The management of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) decided to remove plastic holiday trees “after a rabbi asked to have an 8-foot-tall menorah displayed next to the largest tree in the international arrival hall.” The removal of the trees became a … Continue reading
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Republicanism
Recent political theorists have retrospectively categorized some historical authors as “republicans.” Their lists of authors vary, but they typically include Cicero, Machiavelli, and John Adams, among others. Melvin Rogers (2020) argues that Black American thinkers before the Civil War (notably, … Continue reading
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Authorship and contact information
At its launch (January 2022), this site has essentially been written by Peter Levine, the Academic Dean and professor in Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. He is solely responsible for any errors or other issues. Over … Continue reading
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