The federal government spends $50 per student per year on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, while spending only five cents per student per year on civics.
And it shows.
According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, only 39% of Americans could name all three branches of the U.S. government; 22% couldn’t name any branch. Only about one in four students reach “proficient” scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress.
Civics education studies the rights and obligations of citizens in society by teaching politics, law, American history, and related subjects and disciplines. In its broadest sense, civics is a lifelong process that leads to active, responsible and knowledgeable community members who are engaged in their schools, towns, neighborhoods—engaged in the whole nation and even the world. Civic learning occurs everywhere: in families, religious congregations, associations, political campaigns, news websites, and other venues.
Civics and democracy are different sides of the same coin. According to Thomas Jefferson, the role of education is: “to give to every citizen the information he needs…to understand his duties to his neighbors and country…to know his rights.”
Jefferson put a citizen’s duty to the community and country before his rights because rights without their attendant responsibilities are simply demands for personal whims. Benjamin Franklin famously said in response to Elizabeth Willing Powell’s question of whether we have a republic or a monarchy: “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
In 2016, the League of Women Voters launched the League-wide Campaign for Making Democracy Work®. This comprehensive program engages Leagues nationwide in advancing core democracy issues. It includes ensuring a free, fair, and accessible electoral system for all eligible voters by focusing the organization on the following issue areas:
Voting Rights
- Voting is a fundamental right; all eligible voters should have an equal opportunity to exercise that right. The League is dedicated to ensuring that every eligible voter has the freedom to vote.
Improving Elections
- Everyone deserves access to information about the votes that will shape their communities. The League engages millions of voters annually, ensuring Americans have the information they need to participate in elections that determine our future.
- Election Services (registration programs, debates & forums)
- VOTE411, our digital guide to election information such as polling locations, candidate info, and registration deadlines
Campaign Finance/Money in Politics
- Elections should be about the voters, not big money interests. It’s time to limit SuperPACs and secret donors to protect representative democracy.
- Reducing the influence of big money in our politics makes our elections fairer. Voters have the right to know who is raising money for which political candidates, how much they are raising, and how that money is spent. Our elections should be free from corruption and undue influence. They should work so everyday Americans can run for office, even if they aren’t well connected to wealthy special interests.
- We fight to reform money in politics in Congress, with state legislatures, the executive branch, and, where appropriate, the courts. We are deeply committed to reforming our nation’s campaign finance system to ensure the public’s right to know, combat corruption and undue influence, enable candidates to compete more equitably in public office, and allow maximum citizen participation in the political process.
Redistricting
- Congressional districts and government legislative bodies should be apportioned substantially on population. We oppose partisan and racial gerrymandering that strips rights away from voters. We promote transparent and accountable redistricting processes and work to end hyper-partisan practices that don’t benefit constituents. We believe responsibility for fair redistricting should be vested in an independent special commission with a membership that reflects the diversity of the state.
- The League works in states nationwide to pass ballot initiatives to institute independent redistricting commissions.
Direct Election of the President by Popular Vote
- The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that the direct-popular-vote method for electing the president and vice president is essential to representative government.
- The League of Women Voters believes that the Electoral College should be abolished.
- We support the use of the National Popular Vote Compact as one acceptable way to achieve the goal of the direct popular vote for the election of the president until the abolition of the Electoral College is accomplished.
If you share our concern with the lack of civic knowledge and its devastating impact on democracy and want to become part of a nationwide effort to Make Democracy Work, then join us on January 16th at 6 p.m. at the Grand County Library to learn about who we are, what we do, how we do it, and where you might fit in.
We’d love to hear what you are thinking.
Carrie Dabney
League of Women Voters
