Illustrates the relationships between John C. Calhoun's slavery-era political philosophy regarding minority rights within a democratic political organization and the actions of Daniel P. Moynihan as United States' Ambassador to the third-world-dominated General Assembly of the United Nations. (JDH)

Maintains there is a positive correlation between the study of ideologies and democracy, stressing that political theorists should teach political ideologies. Examines the current debate over the study of ideologies and the history of ideology. Suggests ways studying ideologies teaches students democratic values, and defines democratic thinking as…

Explores psychological reasons why educators and parents resist dealing with the issue of nuclear war. Describing individual resistance (avoidance) and collective resistance (commitment to a nation's economic and political assumptions), the author discusses implications for nuclear education. (SK)

Economic and political issues in Kazakstan (and most former Soviet republics) are clear barriers to achieving the schools and programs envisioned during the 1980s. Reform costs were underestimated, and educational fiscal crises are severe. Kazakstan cannot afford to heat school buildings, much less buy equipment. Secondary schools suffer from two…

The Analysis of Public Issues Approach to ethics education assumes that controversy is inevitable within a society committed to human worth and made up of diverse groups. This cognitive approach is based on the Oliver and Shaver book, "Teaching Public Issues in the High School." Controversy ensures that societal problems are brought to…

This volume reports the results of the first phase of the Civic Education Study conducted by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). During 1996 and 1997, researchers in 24 countries collected documentary evidence on the circumstances, contents, and processes of civic education in response to a common set of…

Research examining students' moral attitudes toward Watergate is described. Three hundred and seventy-eight junior high and high school students from both metropolitan public and private schools in a mid-Southern state participated in the survey. Students judged the degree of rightness and wrongness of six motivations for the break-in. The results…

To improve social studies instruction and curriculum content in the United States, Northwestern University and the North Central Association Foreign Relations Project conducted 14 experimental seminars (1964-69) in which 894 teachers and administrators from 25 states took part. To determine the effectiveness of the seminars, two surveys were…

This seventh grade unit is one of a sequential learning series of the Focus on Inner City Social Studies (FICSS) project developed in accordance with the needs and problems of an urban society. A description of the project is provided in SO 008 271. This unit studies ways in which political parties are both the source of many of our values and the…

Traditionally, the social studies have been defined as the social sciences adapted and simplified for pedagogical purposes. This definition assumes that the criteria for curriculum selection and development in social studies should come from the social sciences and not from an independent view of what the social sciences should be about. Hence,…

This ERIC Digest reports on the origins, purposes, and methods of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study. In 1993, the General Assembly of the IEA decided to carry out a two phase study of civic education. The goal of the two phase study was to identify and examine in a comparative…

The biannual Newsletter, directed to secondary school teachers, now has a supplement, Bill of Rights Today, for student use. The student newsletter contains materials intended to stimulate discussion and class work on the subject of change in the school, community, and nation. In this issue articles on Common Cause, National Rifle Association, and…

A survey of student attitudes and knowledge vis a vis the American political system is presented. Student performance in the areas of social behavior, political attitudes, political knowledge, and political education is described for 13- and 17-year-olds for seven variables--geographical region, sex, race, parental education, size and type of…

In this interview social scientist and professor, Seymour Martin Lipset discusses those aspects of U.S. culture and character that make it unique. Considers a broad range of influences and phenomena, including divine providence, social stratification, the absence of radicalism, and shifting ideological positions. (MJP)

This brochure presents highlights from "What Democracy Means to Ninth-Graders: U.S. Results from the International IEA Civic Education Study," a report that analyzes the U.S. results of the 1999 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study, Phase 2. The study was designed to assess…