civics :: essays research papers

What is Civnet? Civnet is a website of Civitas International for civic education practitioners (teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum designers), as well as scholars, policymakers, civic-minded journalists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting civic education all over the world. Objective Any healthy, fully functioning democracy requires a political culture composed of active participants who understand what it means to be democratic citizens. Though there may be free and fair elections in new and emerging democracies, there might not yet exist a democratic culture; i.e., people may be unaccustomed to voting, running for elective office, understanding how their government works, seeking out different sources of information to make informed choices, forming advocacy and public-interest groups to influence political outcomes in a consensus-building, non-coercive political system, and creating voluntary organizations to meet societal needs not met by government or the commercial sector. "Civil society" may be thought of as the third sector, and a foundation on which free, non-coercive, democratic polities must rest. Moreover, well-established democracies often witness increased apathy, atomization, and a dilution in citizen participation and civic behavior, as civic values are not properly reinforced and are allowed to go stale. Therefore, civic education at the pre-collegiate and collegiate levels is vital both to newer and older democracies, to ensure that future generations of citizens understand the values, mechanisms, and skills necessary to develop and maintain a democratic political system. Accordingly, an international coalition of concerned academics and representatives of non-governmental and governmental organizations formed Civitas International association and helped establish Civnet to address these needs by raising the profile of civic education, promoting civic education on the agendas of government policymakers throughout the world, enriching the debate on teaching methodology, establishing teacher-training programs, creating and distributing civics lesson plans, syllabi, curricula, text books, and teaching materials, and enabling civic education practitioners to network and share information, ideas, and resources. In addition to teachers, educators, and policymakers, many believe that journalists also have a role to play in highlighting solutions and citizen success stories, rather than merely reporting on societal problems. While Civitas International has many activities to achieve these aims, Civnet is unique in that it provides an international electronic resource where teachers may instantly receive and download teaching resources, scholars may read articles of thought and opinion, and use Civnet's links to find a world of other civic Web resources, and civic educators may read what their colleagues are up to in Civnet news, network with their counterparts in other organizations, and learn about upcoming civic events on the Civnet calendar.