Lesson on Democracy
Democracy: From its Greek Origins to Modern-day
Main
reading materials
Part
1: Warm Up Questions
·
What do you think are the three most
important aspects of today’s democracies?
·
If you change one thing about your democracy,
what would it be?
·
How do you think wealth inequality affects
people’s ability to participate in democracy?
Part
2: Conversation
Speaker 1
|
Hey (name of speaker 2)! You look so happy. What’s up?
|
Speaker 2
|
Haven’t you heard? Big Mouth just won the election and now everything’s
going to change for the better.
|
Speaker 1
|
Every 4 years, politicians make promises of how they’re going to
change this and that, but in the end, nothing changes. Do you see notice
anything getting better for the average person?
|
Speaker 2
|
This time is different. Big Mouth promised to raise the minimum
wage and lower the cost of houses for first-time buyers. Furthermore, we’re
not going to have to worry about what we eat anymore, because Big-Mouth says
that he’s serious about food safety.
|
Speaker 1
|
Hmm! That sounds just like what Big Mouth’s predecessor has said
four years. He promised to narrow the income gap between the rich and poor
and make it easier for young people to a house. Has any of that happened? I don’t think so…
|
Speaker 2
|
Wow, (speaker 1’s name)! You are such a pessimist. You should be
thankful that we live in a democracy where people make the decisions instead
of an emperor or a king.
|
Speaker 1
|
I am not a pessimist or an optimist. I am just a realist. Moreover,
just because it’s called a democracy doesn’t mean it always works in the best
interests of the majority.
|
Speaker 2
|
What do mean? Of course, it works in the best interests of the
majority, that’s what a democracy does.
|
Speaker 1
|
Yea, if it were a democracy of the people by the people and for
the people, it might work that way. Unfortunately, in today’s democracies,
money talks and...
|
Speaker 2
|
Are you crazy? Anyone can become president and everyone has an
equal opportunity to do so.
|
Speaker 1
|
Really? Let’s say that both you and I want to be the president
and I have five billion dollars in my bank and you have zero, who do think is
going to win the election?
|
Speaker 2
|
You would, I guess.
|
Speaker 1
|
That’s correct and this is why the wealth-gap keeps getting
wider. Because, when someone gives a politician a huge amount of money to
help him or her get elected, that someone is going to expect something in
return.
|
Speaker 2
|
Are you saying that politicians are not interested in helping
the average person?
|
Speaker 1
|
It is not that politicians don’t want to do what’s best for the
people. It is just that, in many cases, their hands are tied because, if they
don’t look after the people who donated money to them, how are they going to
get the money they need to get reelected?
|
Speaker 2
|
You know what? I think our democracy needs an upgrade, one that
takes money out of the equation. But, how are we able to change anything? We
are just students.
|
*Complete
the conversation (with your solution) and then practice it with a partner.
Speaker 1:
Speaker 2:
Speaker 1:
Speaker 2:
Part
3: Reading Passage
Democracy:
From its Greek Origins to Modern-day
As far
as most historians are concerned, democracy first showed-up on the scene around
508 BC. Athenians of Greece apparently
came up with the idea that, adult-men should be the ones who made decisions for
all of society. In terms of people participation, this limited form of
democracy was a step in the right direction of democracy of the people by the
people for the people. However, as it only permitted adult male-citizens to
participate in the decision-making processes of society, it was therefore not a
democracy of the people of Athens, but a democracy of the adult male-citizens
of Athens. Fast forward from the days of ancient Greece (wherein a minority made
the decisions for the majority of society) to modern-day democracy and you will
find that, our biggest problem in terms of democracy is still the absence of
people participation.
The Problem with today’s
Democracies
The
problem in terms of modern-day democracy is that it is out of touch with the
people and out of touch with technology. Take for example representative
democracy. What is this centuries old design of public administration still
doing in the age of information communications technologies? Certainly, in the
days of horse travel and communications by printed-news and word of mouth, this
form of limited people's participation – wherein a very small minority make all
of the most important decisions for the majority – perhaps made sense because it
was not technology feasible to include all the people's voices in the decision
making processes. Nowadays however, humanity has the communications technology
and the infrastructure of the Internet, which enables us to instantly
communicate with one another while openly sharing all information to enable all
of the people to equally participate in a new form of democracy, open source and direct.
In which form of Democracy
would you most Care to Participate?
Imagine
that you lived in a community of 100-people enclosed in an environment (like
earth, but much smaller) with the most modern information communications
technologies and enough resources to sustain all of you forever as long as you
all cooperated to manage all of the resources wisely. How would choose to
participate in such a community; or more specifically, how would you as one of
the 100% care to relate to the other 99% and how would you care to have them
relate to you? Would you choose (A) to participate in a hierarchical-based
system wherein one or a few live like kings and queens in control of most of
the resources, making all of the most
important decisions and all of the most important rules while the rest of the
community spend their lives competing against one-another just to survive? Alternatively,
would you choose (B) an equality based system wherein each member of the
community is afforded an equal opportunity to participate in all of the
decision making processes – within as many or as few as each one cared to
participate? Take some time to think this about question and perhaps discuss it
with your friends and classmates. Then, make your decisions as though your
future and future of humanity depend on what you decide.
If you
chose (A) the hierarchical-based system wherein a few live like kings and
queens in control of most of the resources, making all of the most important decisions and all of the most
important rules while the rest of the community spend their lives competing
against one-another just to survive, congratulations you’re in luck. Because, on a much larger scale, you are just
where you care to be in terms of modern-day democracy in the community of
humanity in an environment called the biosphere on the planet called earth.
However, if you chose (B) an equality based system wherein each member of the
community is afforded an equal opportunity to participate in all of the
decision making processes (within as many or as few as each one cares to
participate), unfortunately, you’re not so lucky, but that doesn’t mean you
have to accept the status quo.
Quality of Democracy = Equality
of Opportunity
Debating
what constitutes real democracy is like debating what constitutes real air and
real water. Like the air that we breathe and the water that we drink, what
really matters is the quality of the components that contribute to the quality people’s
lives. Likewise, when it comes to a
system of democracy of the people, what really matters is the quality of the
democracy, i.e., the degree to which the democracy provides each member with an
equal opportunity to expressly participate in determining the quality of the
collective. Herein, just as the quality of water is determined by its components
in relation to one another, the optimal state being relationships of equality
as in an ecosystem, so too is the quality of a democracy determined by its
constituents in relation to one another, the optimal state being relationships
of equality as in an equality-based system.
Democracy: the Collective
Expression of Equality
Accordingly,
we can say that, democracy of the people by the people for the people is simply
a collective expression of equality, the equality being each constituent’s
equal opportunity to participate in the decision-making processes that
determine the collective expression of the democratic community. Therefore, when
it comes to assessing the quality of democracies around the globe, the
determining factor (within the population) is simply the equality of each
constituent’s opportunity to participate. In other words, a higher level of
equality within a population corresponds to a higher level of democracy. Question: What single aspect of day to
day living do you think could, more than anything-else, determine and/or limit
the extent of people’s opportunities to participate in the decision-making
processes within a community, city, state, nation or all of humanity?
Equality of Opportunity to
Participate
If you
guessed money (or one’s financial resources) to be the one aspect of day-to-day
living that, more than anything else could determine and/or limit the extent of
people’s opportunities to participate in the decision-making processes, then
you guessed correctly. Why money? Because money is what defines and binds all
of humanity’s systems (such as transportation and education) together into and
as one dominate system called the world system of money or money system.
Consequently, the extent to which one has an equal opportunity to participate
in the decision-making processes is limited by his or her access to the
financial-resources or money that he or she needs to survive and participate in
the world system. For example, imagine there are two identical twins of the
same physical strength and the same IQ who both want to participate in the democratic
process of the community. One of them has millions of dollars to play with, while
the other one has to work ten hours a day just to pay the bills. Which one do think is going to have more opportunity
to participate in the decision-making processes? From this example, we can see
that, the wealth of an individual is the one-aspect of daily living that, more
than anything else, enables or limits a person’s opportunity to participate in
the democratic process. Accordingly, if wealth-inequality within a nation decreases
(as the gap between the rich and the poor gets smaller), the quality or
equality of that nation’s democracy will also improve due to more people having
greater opportunities to participate in
the democratic process.
The Solution
In
understanding that, democracy is the collective expression of equality, we as
global citizens are now able to begin designing solutions targeted at upgrading
democracy while also reducing the level of inequality within societies. As for the question of which comes first,
democracy or equality? It does not really matter because real democracy and
real equality are the same. Therefore, as equality
within a society increases, so too will the quality of its democracy and vice versa. Question: How are we able to utilize modern technology to upgrade
democracy by expanding the decision-making processes to all of the people?
Part
4: Vocabulary
predecessor (n):
|
a
person who held a job or office before the current holder
The
new president is different from her predecessor.
|
growth- hormone (n):
|
A hormone
that stimulates growth in animal or plant cells, especially (in animals).
Ractopamine is a growth hormone that is used in animal feed.
|
pessimist (n):
|
One who has a tendency to expect the worst in everything
Thomas is not a pessimist; he just does not ignore the negative.
|
realist (n)
|
a
person who can look at things as they are and deal with it in a practical
manner
Bernard
was realest who saw things as they were, not as people imagined them to be.
|
hierarchical
system (adj.):
|
a system
in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to
relative status or authority
|
equate (v):
|
consider
(one thing) to be the same as or equivalent to another
100% equality of opportunity to participate equates to 100%
democracy.
|
surmise (v):
|
suppose
that something is true without having evidence to confirm it
We can
surmise that nations with higher inequality also have a lower degree of
democratic participation.
|
aspect (n):
|
a
particular part or feature of something
There are many aspects of a problem to consider when designing a
solution.
|
biosphere (n):
|
the
regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth
A healthy biosphere is critical to human
life.
|
infrastructure (n):
|
The
basic physical and organizational structures and facilities such as buildings,
roads, and power supplies needed for the operation of a society or
enterprise.
America’s
infrastructure is in serious need of repair.
|
constitute (v):
|
be (a
part) of a whole
Each
human constitutes an equal part of humanity as a whole.
|
component (n):
|
a part
or element of a larger whole, especially a part of a machine or vehicle
A
system is composed of two or more components.
|
Constituent (n):
|
being a part of the whole
There ten million constituents who are eligible to vote in the
election.
|
collective (n):
|
a cooperative project or enterprise
Democracy is the collective expression of the population.
|
bind (v):
|
tie or fasten (something) tightly together
The hierarchical money system of inequality
binds all of humanity’s other systems to the same corruptness.
|
destitute (adj.):
|
extremely
poor and lacking the means to provide for oneself
I have never seen a president who was destitute.
|
ballot (n):
|
a
system of voting secretly and in writing on a particular issue
This year, there were three names on the ballot for the
presidency.
|
ecosystem (n):
|
a
biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment
We call the rainforest an ecosystem because of the relationships
of equality that exist among the plant life.
|
open source (adj.):
|
denoting
software or information which is made freely available and may be
redistributed and modified
All of
the information is open source; thus you can use it as you like.
|
expressly (adv.):
|
explicitly;
clearly
The equal opportunity to express/participate in the democratic
process is a key component of real democracy.
|
Status quo (n):
|
state
of affairs, regarding social or political issues
Some politicians
may want to keep the status quo in order to stay in power.
|
Part
5: Supplementary Materials
·
Your Dictionary (yourdictionary.com)
·
Understanding the Current form of Democracy
for the Purpose of Redefining and Redesigning it:
·
Democracy Awareness: http://democracyawareness.blogspot.tw/2014/10/understanding-current-form-of-democracy.html
Questions
and Activities
Part
1: Comprehension Questions
1.
In the reading passage, why do you think the
author states that, today’s democracies are out of touch with the people and
out of touch with technology?
2.
Why do you think some people would prefer to
live in a hierarchical-based system wherein a few live like kings and queens in
control of most of the resources?
3.
In terms of humanity today, would you say that
we live in a hierarchical based system or a system based on a foundation of equality?
Why?
4.
What aspect of the world system most
determines how much one is able to participate in the democratic processes?
Part
2: Vocabulary Questions
Choose
the most appropriate word from the list of vocabulary to complete the
sentences.
1. How
you could have forgotten? I ____________
asked you to remember to buy groceries.
2. The
new CEO is much kinder to us than her ____________
was.
3. In
nature, the ____________ maintain a
balance that supports life.
4. From
the evidence so far, we can probably ____________
that equality and democracy are directly correlated.
5. If
you do not want to pay for an upgrade, you can probably download some ____________ software on the internet.
6. Don’t
be such a ____________! Look on the
bright side of things for a change.
7. High
levels of ____________ in meat
products have been known to cause cancer in humans.
8. This
year, there were several candidates on the ____________
running for mayor.
9. In
designing solutions to the problems of humanity, we should try to look at as
many different ____________ of the
problem as possible.
10. He
used to be ____________, but now he
has loads of money.
11. If
we do not care for the ____________
of earth, humanity may not be able to survive on this planet.
12. With
roads and bridges falling apart, the ____________
of the USA is in serious need of repair.
13. As
mayor of the city, I represent the one-million constituents living in the city.
14. A democratic
____________ can be as small as a
local community or as big as all of humanity.
15. We
are the ____________ that make up the
world system of humanity; therefore, in order to change the system, we first require
changing ourselves.
Part
3: Answer the following questions with short answers.
1.
What is one way we are able use technology to
improve democratic participation in societies?
2.
Why do you think that some people would prefer
to keep the current form of representative democracy rather than upgrade it to
include more people in the decision-making processes?
3.
When it comes to global citizens’ abilities
to upgrade democracy, would you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist?
4.
How do you think humanity would change if all
the information of humanity were open source and available to everyone?
5.
What
form of democracy do you live in?
6.
What
single aspect of day-to-day living do you think could or would more than anything
else determine and/or limit the extent of a person’s opportunity to participate
in the decision-making processes within a community, city, state, nation or all
of humanity? Why?
7.
In terms of the wealth of most politicians in
the USA, which category do you think most of them would fit into, lower class,
middle class or upper class?
8.
In terms of the wealth of most politicians in
your country, which category do you think most of them would fit into, lower
class, middle class or upper class?
9.
How does the amount of money politicians have
access to, affect their ability to get reelected?
10.
If you were running for president, what is
the first thing you would promise to do as soon as you became president?
11.
What is the second thing you would promise to
do once you became president?
12.
Do you think that it is possible to reduce
inequality without improving the quality of democracy? Why or why not?
Part 4: Group Discussion Questions
(Activities on Global Citizens’ knowledge and Literacy)
1. What
would say are the biggest problems facing humanity today?
2.
If
you could redesign democracy, which aspects would you keep and why?
3.
Which
aspects of democracy would you get rid of?
4.
Now
that we understand that, wealth inequality limits the democratic expression of a
nation, how are we as global citizens able to go about redesigning the
democratic system?
Part
5: Online Reading:
·
Understanding
the Current form of Democracy for the Purpose of Redefining and Redesigning it: http://democracyawareness.blogspot.tw/2014/10/understanding-current-form-of-democracy.html
·
What's
the Correlation between Real Democracy and the Distribution of Money?: http://democracyawareness.blogspot.tw/2015/10/whats-correlation-between-real.html
·
TED:
How to Upgrade Democracy for the Internet: https://www.ted.com/talks/pia_mancini_how_to_upgrade_democracy_for_the_internet_era?language=en#t-309581
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