DEMOCRACY vs DEMOCRATISM

PURPOSE: This assignment is designed to have you critically explore our shared, common (socially standard) sense of democracy, determined mostly by how we were taught it in school.

TASKS: To do this you are asked to:

1. Consider the main tenets of democracy, those provided you and those in your own thinking, raising challenges and support for them. Making arguments pro and con as integrated with task 2.

2. Compare standard democratic tenets with those of democratism which differ greatly and are posed directly to contrast with those of standard democracy, as commonly believed. For feasibility and quality purposes, this means focusing on two or three tenets, then critically analyzing, explaining (making sense of), and justifying them. The various strategies you should use here are explained in your syllabus--comparative interpretation, conceptual analysis, critical evaluation, fundamental explanation, justification, tracing implications, illustratios.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS ABOUT WHAT THESE INVOLVE SAY SO IN CLASS AND TIME WILL BE DEVOTED TO ILLUSTRATING AND EXPLAINING THEM

3. NOTE: The easiest way to accomplish conceptual research of this sort of to focus on a specific or concrete topic, thereby assuring illustration and being able to trace implications back to their supposed source. In this case it might be a policy question like healthcare, the budget, social programs, taxation. What does tenet x of democracy inply for this type of policy, what does the relevant tenet of democratism imply? Which implications are most democratic.

4. For helping set standards on which comparative tenets are truly democratic, it helps to refer back to the basic definiteions of democracy as self-government, government of by and for the people, social self-determination, government by the consent or agreement of the governed, social compact or contract. Here one can ask the test question, Would policy X versus policy Y in a policy area be most likely to express the will/legitimate will of people joining in a system of mutual and trusting cooperation aimed at their mutual affiliation and benefit through means of mutual respect and equal concern for each individual and relationship.

4. You will be evaluated/graded on the degree of thinking and self-teaching that you SHOW in the paper. This is the only part of paper quality you can control and which is not promarily determined by your education before this class in particular and your native intelligence. Quality counts and where you can;t reach high quality, high quantity counts where it clearly shows more efforts.
--Do not cut out your working or researching process, showing only your conclusions. It's not even key that you show clear conclusions on one side of the issue.
--You should be trying to set up kinds of debates in which you strong together criticisms and supporting arguments fro more than one side on any issue.
--When you reach a roadblock and don;t know which way to turn, when you feel confused, write out what is going on. These states are called LEARNING.  If you went along without them you be merely be demonstrating what you already know.

PAPER DUE DATE: THurs Feb 23 and Monday Feb 27th Papers handed in on the first date will get a happy-face grade, determined under festive conditions. Papers handed in on the automatic extension date will be graded more accurately with the normal amount of generosity befitting a fellow social member of good will.