HOW DEMOCRATIC IS AMERICA?
BY HOWARD ZINN
½ of the questions on the first quiz will be about the information in this essay.
(INTRO portion only)
I. ESSAY SETTING
Shortly before his death in 2010 at age 87.
Zinn during World War II.
Howard Zinn
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY**
Subject: Zinn, your last name, per. #
DUE before class on the day of the first quiz.
**E.C. can add 2-3% to your overall grade
After doing a little online research, write a two-paragraph answer in the body of an email to this question:
Who was Howard Zinn?
Email to: rhall@opusd.org
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY
*The ANSWERS (NOT the questions) are what Zinn refers to as the “standard” definition of democracy.
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY (CONT.)
#1 Q: Who makes decisions?
A: Elected officials in a representative system.
(a.k.a., a Republic
or an Indirect Democracy)
people vote on the laws themselves.
Direct democracy =
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY (CONT.)
#2 Q: Who can vote?
A: All adult citizens.
(a.k.a., Universal Suffrage)
Original obstacles to voting in U.S.:
White,
Male,
Wealthy,
21
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY (CONT.)
#3 Q: Does the government protect individual rights?
A: Yes. A Bill of Rights is backed up by government action.
First 10 Amendments to the Constitution.
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY (CONT.)
#4 Q: Is there open competition for office?
A: Yes there is. There are no arbitrary restrictions* on who can run.
*Examples of arbitrary restrictions:
Race, gender, religion, political beliefs,
sexual orientation, gender identity, etc..
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY (CONT.)
1) It doesn’t tell you nearly enough about a country.
II. STANDARD DEFINITION OF DEMOCRACY (CONT.)
2) Democracy is too complex to be a simple YES/NO question.
YES
NO
Don’t ask “IS?”
ask “HOW?”
III. METHODS OF COMPARISON
1) Other countries.
BETTER THAN BAD
GOOD
III. METHODS OF COMPARISON (CONT.)
2) Our own history.
Comparing to things you already know you’re better than leads to:
= DEATH
OF PROGRESS
COMPLACENCY
III. METHODS OF COMPARISON (CONT.)
3) Perfection, utopia,
the ideal democracy.
REVEALS
FLAWS!
BREAK TIME!!!
Assemble into your groups during the break (take ALL of your stuff with you).
Take the next 7 minutes to compare with your group members & discuss what y’all wrote in the 4 boxes on the frayer doc about your numbered part of the Howard Zinn essay on “How Democratic is America?”
– Quickly choose one person to be your group’s SPOKESPERSON, and someone else to be your group TECH MASTER.
– Chromebook up (Classroom)
– Read all of the instructions for the assignment titled: “Zinn Group presentation slideshow”
– Don’t do anything with the assignment yet, just read the instructions.
Warm-up #1
a) Briefly describe the 4 parts of what Howard Zinn refers to as the “standard” definition of democracy.
b) Explain one reason why Zinn does NOT like using this definition.
c) To what does Zinn think we SHOULD compare our country to determine HOW democratic it really is and WHY?