George L. MehaffyCitizenship and Democracy
George L. Mehaffy
Vice President for Academic Leadership and Change
American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)
Commencement Address
May 16, 2005
The University of Texas at Arlington

Good Evening and welcome to graduating students, families and friends.  Buenas nochas y bienvenidos a los graduados, familias, y amistades.

Tonight we recognize and honor the work that you have done, the great accomplishment that you have achieved…tonight we celebrate your graduation from the University of Texas at Arlington.  In one magic moment tonight, you will become part of the educational elite of the United States, the 25% of Americans who hold baccalaureate degrees…and for those of you receiving master’s degrees, you are joining an even more elite group.  What does your new status require of you?  What obligations do you have now that you are part of the educational elite?  I’m old-fashioned…I think that higher status requires greater service.  

Tonight can’t be another class, for you are finished with classes.  It really can’t even be another lecture.  So I think of this as a few last words, advice really, as you begin your careers.   I’ll make the advice in the form of a list.  Everyone’s making lists these days.  Perhaps the best-know is Robert Fulgham’s list, Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.  You know that list:  hold hands when crossing the street, take naps, be kind to one another, tell the truth.  If you haven’t read Fulgham’s list recently, take a look…it contains great wisdom. 

I read that list, and I thought about each of you.  As you graduate this evening, I wonder what list you have in your own mind, a list that might be entitled: Everything I Need to Know.  I think we must each carry in our heads a list like that…a set of ideas and principles that guide our actions.  I suspect that the list is constantly changing, constantly evolving, as each of us interacts with our environment, learns more, and grows through experiences.  Some parts of the list come from parents, some from kindergarten, from K-12 schooling, from friends, from life experiences, and perhaps most importantly, at least from my perspective, from college.  So what is your list?  What are the 3, or 4, or 5 things you need to know to be successful, especially in your work in the years ahead?

As I thought about the list I might give you, I looked around to see if any good lists already exist.  It turns out, as you might suspect, that there are lots of lists modeled on Fulgham’s.  For example,

  • There is the Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from the Boy Scouts list, which includes, as you might expect, the advice: Be Prepared. 
  • There is the Everything I Needed to Know I Learned at the Race Track list.  It includes the following:  Saying you’re right doesn’t make you right.
  • But perhaps my favorite list is Everything I Needed to Know I Learned From My Dog.  This list includes the following:  When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.  On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.  When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit by them, and nuzzle gently.  Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

So what is your list?  As you complete your degree and commence the rest of your life, I thought I might use my few moments tonight to give you my list, my advice to you as you as you begin your career. 

First, however, a list isn’t useful in the abstract…it’s always specific to a place and a time.  So let me take a moment to talk about this place and this time… The United States in 2005.  I think we live in very dangerous times.  There’s the threat of terrorism, global warming, outsourcing of jobs, new epidemic diseases, stock market decline, and a host of other concerns…but the greatest threats to our country are not those threats, real as they are.  The greatest threat to our democracy is not foreign enemies, but our own failings as citizens, our own apathy and ignorance.  Pogo was right.  We have met the enemy and he is us.

229 years ago, we embarked on a revolution, and 218 years ago, we formed a new government.  We began our statement of design, the Constitution of the United States, with bold words:  We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.  Listen to the goals:

§         form a more perfect union

§         establish justice

§         insure domestic tranquility

§         provide for the common defense

§         promote the general welfare 

How are we doing?

Note especially the first word…We.  Our founders intended that we would be engaged, involved in those noble goals.  Democracy depends for its very existence on an informed, connected, and skilled citizenry. 

My simple thesis is this:  Our democracy is in trouble … not because of external dangers but because we are not doing our part as citizens.

What do you need to be doing?  What especially should you be doing as a teacher?  Here is my list for you…five simple ideas: 

  1. Become more knowledgeable yourself; teach your students about the history and principles of democracy. 
  2. Become more informed yourself, and teach your students current events and issues.
  3. Become more connected to your fellow citizens, and connect your students to others 
  4. Develop your own citizenship skills, and teach citizenship skills to your students.
  5. Become an engaged citizen, and teach active and engaged citizenship to your students.  

Let’s begin with knowledge:   To be effective citizens, all of us must know the meaning of three important words:  democracy, government, and politics.  If we’re going to defend democracy, or export democracy to other countries, shouldn’t we know what it is?   I hear a lot of talk about democracy, freedom and voting.  But democracy isn’t the same as freedom.  Democracy is a covenant that we make with each other, where we have both freedoms and responsibilities.  Democracy is often exercised as voting.  But voting requires that we educate ourselves about current issues and our national history.  Democracy requires informed voters.  But democracy is more than voting, democracy is also about the rule of law, about the protection of minorities, about having a constitution at the heart of our government.  Democracy above all is about a way of life, about a commitment to live together in a society with certain rules and regulations. 

We hear a lot about government, especially how big or small it should be, how many services it should provide, and how much it ought to intrude or not intrude into our lives.  The founding fathers also thought of government as a means of controlling power.  They knew that power is corrosive, that it can corrupt governments, politicians, and even citizens, that power must be controlled.  That’s why there are checks and balances between state government and the national government, between different branches of the national government, and yes, even limits to citizen power.  That’s why we have a constitution, the supreme law of the land, which not only gives rights to majorities but also, always, protects the rights of minorities.  That’s why we can’t simply have a majority vote to eliminate the Bill of Rights.  Government, in the founding fathers’ view, was not only to provide fundamental services, government was also a way to limit power so that power doesn’t turn into tyranny.    

Finally, we must think about the word politics in a democracy.  For many, the word politics connotes dirty work, sleazy behavior.  Too many Americans have contempt for politics.  But politics doesn’t always have to be viewed that way.  Politics ought to be the art of listening to different approaches, finding common ground, arranging for compromises that produce the most good for the most people.  Somehow, in recent years, we have lost that idea of politics…as a positive force that reconciles differences…today, politics threatens to destroy us, leaving us polarized and divided.  

So what can you do?  Learn about democracy, its history and its principles.  Your formal coursework may have ended but your education is a life-long commitment.  There are wonderful books recently published, such as His Excellency, George Washington by Joseph Ellis and The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zacarias, to name but a few.  School may be over, but learning is just beginning.  Read widely, and encourage your students to read as well.  Teach your students more than just the stories of Columbus discovering America and Washington chopping down a cherry tree; teach them the concepts of democracy, and the complicated story of America as a place that continues to strive to reach its principles.  Teach them that democracy means working out differences with others, not destroying them.   In a survey last year by the Knight Foundation of 112,000 high school students, 36% said that the government should approve newspaper articles before they are published.  How can we be effective citizens if we don’t know and understand the purpose of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights?   

    The second item on my list is become more informed yourself, and teach your students current events and issues.  How can you inform yourself in order to be an effective citizen?  Far too often, we as citizens do not have the information we need to make good decisions, to raise the right questions, to challenge distortion and mis-representation.  Let me give you some examples.  In the US, daily newspaper readership among 18-22 year olds has fallen from 46% in 1972 to 21% in 2001.  But it’s not just young people.  Among 43-47 years olds, newspaper reading has dropped from 80% to 33% in the same 30 years.  Why is that of concern?  Because newspapers offer in-depth descriptions of news events not possible in television news.  A typical half hour news program contains 3,600 words; the best newspaper contains 100,000 words.  How can we make sense of current issues like the social security debate or judicial appointments if we don’t have the basic facts?  In 1994 surveys on world events conducted in seven leading democratic nations, the United States scored last.  How can we make judgments about what foreign government constitutes a threat to our country, if we don’t even know where other countries are, much less know about them and their goals, ambitions, and desires? 

Why is being informed so important?  Not only must we be informed to be good voters, but research has found that more informed citizens are more accepting of democratic norms such as political tolerance, are more efficacious about politics, are more likely to be interested in, follow and discuss politics, and are more likely to participate in politics in a variety of ways, including voting, working for a political party, and attending local community meetings.         

So what can you do?  What must you do?  First, become informed yourself.  Read a newspaper every day…and not just the sports section.  Read editorials. Watch television news.  Read news magazines.  Stay informed.  Beyond your own responsibility to stay informed, make sure your students stay informed.  Bring the news into the classroom.  Help students make sense of the world around them by connecting them to events and issues in the larger society.  Help them build a life-time habit of reading newspapers and news magazines, watching television news, staying informed.  

The third item on my list is to become more connected to your fellow citizens and connect your students to others.  Robert Putnam in his classic study Bowling Alone documented the decline in a whole series of community organizations in the latter part of the 20th century, organizations that were created between 1890 and 1910, grew to a point of greatest strength about 1960, and have been declining ever since.  Putnam identifies several possible reasons for this decline, including television, both parents working, and a variety of other factors.  He notes, for example, that every extra 10 minutes of commuting decreases community involvement by 10%. 

The problem with declining service and community organizations is that those organizations build connections between citizens who ordinarily would not know one another.  Putnam’s studies of the United States and Italy underscored the need for those connections, something Putnam calls bridging social capital, as a foundation for strong democracy.  As we become a more diverse society, how do we learn to work and live together?     Democracy requires that we all agree to a set of common rules.  In a very fundamental way, we must trust one another.  Building connections between citizens who are different connects us together, reveals our common goals and aspirations, and builds trust and understanding.  

So what can you do?  Be open to new ideas and new ways of thinking about issues.  Join organizations that will link you to people who are not like yourself.  Work to create a sense of community where you live.  Create a classroom that celebrates differences.  Create a powerful sense of community in your classroom and school.

The fourth item on my list is to develop your own citizenship skills and teach citizenship skills to your students.  Democracy depends on a special set of skills.  We must be able to think critically, to analyze issues and consider solutions.  We must be willing to listen to others, to consider new approaches and ideas.  We must be willing to compromise, to find solutions that are good for all of us, not just good for us.  We must be able to express ideas clearly, and to argue for a point of view.  We must be able to work with others, and to organize to accomplish a goal.  Too often, we defend views that we have not considered carefully, we adopt positions without adequate information, we accept some popular view without considering consequences.

So what can you do?  Work on your own democracy skills.  Dig harder to learn more about an issue.  Listen to someone with whom you disagree.  Organize some friends to accomplish some civic goal.  Develop the democracy skills of your students.     

Finally, the fifth item on my list is to become an engaged citizen, and to teach active and engaged citizenship to your students.  American men and women have died to create free democratic elections in Iraq, yet in the United States, we vote in discouraging numbers.  In the last presidential election, less than 63% of registered voters voted, which is less that 50% of the voting age population; among 18-25 year olds, the numbers were worse, only about 44% voted.  In local elections, of course, the numbers are far worse.  In a list of 172 countries in the world, the United States ranks 139th in terms of the number of voters compared to voting age population in elections since 1945.

Other warning signs of our lack of engagement come from a June 2004 task force report of the American Political Science Association.  The report, entitled Task Force on Civic Education in the 21st Century, stated:  “…current levels of political knowledge, political engagement, and political enthusiasm are so low as to threaten the vitality and stability of democratic politics in the United States” A member of the Task Force commented that “disparities in participation ensure that ordinary Americans speak in a whisper while the most advantaged roar.”    

What can you do?  First, you should register and vote, not only in national elections but in local elections.  You should learn about candidates and the issues.  But beyond that, you should become active in political campaigns, volunteering time and even money to support causes you care about.  You should speak out on issues of concern in public forums, write letters to elected officials, and become engaged in the issues of the day.  You should conduct mock elections in your classrooms, so that students learn about voting.  You should connect your classes to local issues, even get students involved in local issues of concern to them.  You must teach your children to roar.  

Conclusion

So here again is my list for you, and for the children you teach.

  1. Become more knowledgeable yourself, and teach your students about the history and principles of democracy. 
  2. Become more informed yourself, and teach your students current events and issues.
  3. Become more connected to your fellow citizens, and connect your students to others 
  4. Develop your own citizenship skills, and teach citizenship skills to your students.
  5. Become an engaged citizen, and teach active and engaged citizenship to your students.  

Right now, you probably just want to walk across the stage, be with family and friends, go out and have a party.  You want to find a job, start paying off student loans, join the real world.  But as you do all those things, remember that graduation is more than simply than a beginning of the rest of your life…it‘s also the beginning of your role as a citizen.  Our country is in trouble because Americans are not living up to their responsibility as citizens.  If citizens do not take their citizenship duties seriously, then democracy is threatened.  We can encourage democracy around the world but what good will that do if we do not have a strong democracy at home?  Democracy is both freedom and obligation.  If this country is to remain a shining beacon of hope to millions around the world, you must work to become more informed.  If this country is to remain a place of tolerance and respect that is the envy of the world, you must develop the skills of democracy.  If this country is to remain the oldest democracy on earth, you must be active and engaged.  And because you are educators, you must teach the practice of citizenship to the students who will be entrusted to your care. 

At the end of the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin was stopped by a woman as he left Constitution Hall.  “What kind of government have you given us, Dr. Franklin?” he was asked.  Franklin replied:  “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.”  That’s the question.  Can we keep it?  Can we protect, defend, and preserve the oldest democracy on earth?  Among the citizens of this great land, you have a special privilege and obligation.  After all, you are not only educators…you are defenders of democracy, and your work with students every day is the greatest defense we have in this country in the war on apathy, ignorance, and disengagement.  For my sake, for your sake, and for the future of our country, I wish you much success.