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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Margaret Chase Smith Essay: The Right Of Independent Thought, Jonathan F. Fanton
Margaret Chase Smith Essay: The Right Of Independent Thought, Jonathan F. Fanton
Maine Policy Review
This essay by Jonathan F. Fanton investigates the relationship between the humanities and the right of independent thought, as described by Senator Margaret Chase Smith in her “Declaration of Conscience” speech. The author suggests that independent thought must be renewed continually and cultivated at every turn, or it becomes fixed ideology that cannot adapt to changing circumstances.
Margaret Chase Smith Essay: The Urgency Of Democracy, William D. Adams
Margaret Chase Smith Essay: The Urgency Of Democracy, William D. Adams
Maine Policy Review
In primary and secondary schools in Maine and across the country, classroom time devoted to civics and American political history, along with many humanities subjects, is under increasing pressure. William D. Adams argues that failure to teach these subjects is related to a decline in meaningful political participation and civic engagement of all kinds in the United States. He draws connections between a healthy democracy and democratic citizenship and the ability to think critically, to imagine alternatives, to advance the common good, and to feel empathy and respect for others that a robust humanities education encourages.
The Perils Of Voice And The Desire For Stealth Democracy, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
The Perils Of Voice And The Desire For Stealth Democracy, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
Maine Policy Review
This article is an address given at the May 2002 Maine Town Meeting sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. Elizabeth Theiss-Morse takes issue with each of the alleged beneficial effects of increased participation and deliberation in politics. She presents evidence from her own research with colleague John Hibbing that suggests a more participatory democracy does not necessarily result in better decisions, a better political system or better people. Rather, most Americans would prefer not to have to participate in politics at all. Theiss-Morse explains where this view comes from and, in the end, argues for a civic …
The Project Of Democracy, Alexander Keyssar
The Project Of Democracy, Alexander Keyssar
Maine Policy Review
This article is an address given at the May 2002 Maine Town Meeting sponsored by the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan. Alexander Keyssar chronicles the advances and contractions of democratic political rights in American history. While on balance, this is a story of progress, it is not, Keyssar argues, unilinear, nor one that is completed. Although arguably late for the world’s “greatest democracy,” by the 1970s the United States had achieved universal suffrage. Today, however, the tug between democratic and anti-democratic forces continues. The contest is no longer over voting rights but over the procedures and rules governing elections …