MM 2003 - Courtney Roberson

 Courtney Roberson

Reporting/Writing for the Mass Media

Dr. Reppert

11-02-2021

Civics

        The definition of civics is the study of the rights and duties of citizenship. When I saw that definition, I instantly thought of Declaration of Independence. There are civic participations. Some of them include: voting, volunteering, participating in group activities, etc. A standard course in high school is civics and it includes: provide instruction on American democracy and other systems of government, the history of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, an explanation of mechanisms for public participation, etc. The father of civic is Benjamin Franklin and he acknowledged the complexity of cross culture, diverse and anticipatory actions. The four main aspects of civics are: Political Knowledge, Normative Values, Individualistic Civic Behavior and Communal Civic Behavior. 

  

    The Articles of Confederation is a civic document that is taught in middle and high school history. The purpose of this document was to establish the functions of the national government of the United States after we got our independence from Great Britain. On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation "created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak controlled government", leaving the most power in the state. Some weaknesses of the Articles were: Each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size, Congress did not have the power to tax, Congress did not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce, there was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by Congress, there was no national court system or judicial branch. Some strengths of the Articles were: Congress could declare war, and start an army and navy, they could make peace and sign treaties, they can borrow money they can organize a post office, etc.

    Every middle school, high school, and even college history curriculum talks about the Articles of Confederation. It allows us as students to see the flaws America had starting out and shows how we got so strong. It has strong insight on how government can be and if you think critically it gives insight on how some businesses and jobs should be based on position of power. The Articles of Confederation was the rough draft of the Constitution. It also shows us that even powerhouse states can fail.     

        As I was writing this I began to think, What does this have to do with Mass Media? It allows us to analyze different pieces of history and its flaws in order for us to know how to fix and analyze our mistakes in history. Civics has different important points to make it what it is and our work in Mass Media should have important points so we can know why we are doing our work because if we don't, it is useless.