Item 3: Reformers must clearly articulate their goals and ideals I originally included this in the model because in order for a movement to be successful, it must grow beyond its original core. During this process, some people may get involved with the movement who do not understand the goals and methods that the movement […]
In my memory of 1993, four albums stand out as the essential soundtrack: R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People, Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, dada’s Puzzle, and Toad the Wet Sprocket’s fear. (Anti-capitalization was apparently a big thing in 1993.) I would play my cassettes of those albums over and over on my Walkman as I rode the […]
Item 2: Reformers must adopt a generational time frame. If we accept the idea that we need to change our educational system to give more students the skills and perspectives they will require in order to be active citizens in a robust democracy, then we have accepted the premise that many of the schools in […]
Item 1: Reformers must prioritize reform of attitudes over changing policies. The main point of this item is that reformers frequently get caught up in particular policy goals, and don’t do enough to change the way that the public thinks about an issue. That makes the policy successes vulnerable if the public officials who enacted […]
For my doctoral dissertation, I constructed a ten-point model framework for a democratic reform movement. My goal was to take John Dewey’s vision of a robust democratic culture and try to come up with some specific principles that people should follow if they wanted to make that vision more of a reality. I deliberately tried […]