Utah Democracy Project
Democracy is both a form of government and a way of life. As a form of government it means a government formed by consent of the governed and deriving its authority continuously via popular sovereignty from the people – where the ordinary citizen both directly and indirectly through chosen representatives, exercises the powers of government. Those powers are mediated through a constitution, which both specifies the purposes, functions, divisions, and limits of government as well as provides a framework for the rule of law and for the basic rights which each person should have equal privilege to enjoy.
As a way of life, democracy is the recognition that the true governing class of society is the ordinary citizen. Ordinary citizens who are regularly engaged in the development of political literacy and who live with the expectation of frequent and meaningful participation in self-government at the neighborhood, local, state, and national levels. Where who rules and who is ruled frequently and regularly rotates among all citizens, and where exists diverse and many public spaces where citizens come together to talk about issues of public importance.
The Utah Democracy Project is a three-year project designed to cultivate political literacy and encourage of political engagement through a variety of educational programs. The project will be housed at the Center for the Study of Ethics at Utah Valley University. It is a result of a Congressionally-directed grant awarded to the Center as a federal appropriation. The location of the Utah Democracy Project is primarily the service-area of Utah Valley University, namely, Utah County and the Third Congressional District. The Utah Democracy Project will include a series of on-campus public forums and a variety of opportunities for students, faculty, and members of the local community for engaged learning. The project is also intended to support faculty and student scholarship. The grant director is David R. Keller, and grant personnel are Brian Birch, Elaine Englehardt, Neil Evans, Don LaVange, Will McKinnon, Michael Minch, Karen Mizell, and Jeffrey Nielsen.
Political Responsibility
A key aspect of the Utah Democracy Project is to foster political responsibility in Utah Valley (the project's target area) citizens. The Project is founded on the premise that democracy cannot function well without considerable effort and sense of shared responsibility of the citizenry. It is presupposed that strengthening democracy locally requires an understanding and engagement in global issues. This places a huge burden of responsibility on individuals in terms of self-directed education and engagement, yet the education and engagement of the citizenry often falls seriously short of the minimum requirements of substantive political engagement. Thus a lack of understanding regarding the mechanics of the democratic process and apathy are the greatest threat to the health of the democratic system.
Political Literacy
A precondition of political responsibility is political literacy. Political literacy is the ability to understand and discuss intelligently the following:
- The meaning and origin of democracy, especially the moral meaning and foundations of democracy;
- The nature of the authority to govern in a democracy (sovereignty of the people as mediated through the rule of law), the role of constitutions in democracies, and the regulative ideals of democracy; namely, liberty, equality, rights, and justice;
- The basic forms of democratic government: direct democracy and indirect democracy (or representative democracy): presidential/congress and parliamentarian, along with an understanding of the nature and functions of the separate branches of government; such as, executive, legislative, and judicial;
- The levels of government from the local community level all the way up to the federal level and how law and regulation are made, and how together they form the public policy of the various governing institutions; and how to be engaged as a citizen lobbyist to demand real participation in the creation of public policy;
- Basic critical thinking skills (how to evaluate arguments, evidence, and information sources including the media);
- Basic communication skills, both speaking well and listening sincerely to different viewpoints, along with conflict resolution skills;
- Peer-based deliberation skills to be able to form consensus in groups and arrive at well-reasoned decisions;
- The diversity of cultural, religious, and ethnic traditions present in the community;
- How to network and get involved with local community groups in order to participate actively in public life and find new ways to be engaged at the grassroots level;
- A basic understanding of—or how to get information on—the important issues facing our common lives as we live together in a genuine democracy.