Law and Civic Engagement: The Written, Unwritten and Unspoken
Thank you to all who attended today’s Civic Thursday event!
We had some great conversation today, and certainly could have continued to talk. Please use this site to do exactly that – keep talking. Please post relevant sites, resources, comments, and especially questions to keep the dialogue going.
Key points from today’s discussion:
- How is various interpretations of “law” impact the ways in which laws are created, understood and enforced
- The importance of Culture and Custom in society and how these “unwritten laws” may work with and/or conflict with the “written laws”
- The ways different conceptualizations of citizenship and engagement with this concept effect the lives of individuals and groups
- The role of public perception, public debate, and civic engagement plays in the creation of law and policy
- A clear understanding of Co-being and the debate about ‘how do we live together’, is a very important reason for developing a legal framework
The interest group effect on citizen contact with Congress
Thomas T. Holyoke tholyoke@csufresno.edu
California State University, USA
Abstract
To what extent is citizen political participation, such as electronic or personal contact with members of Congress, stimulated by membership in organized interest groups? I use data from a nationwide survey conducted by Zogby in 2007 to assess the extent to which Americans contact congressional offices, and whether membership in more activist-oriented groups, such as citizen groups, stimulates greater rates of contact than membership in professional associations or no group membership at all. I also examine whether this group ‘effect’ on participation breaks down by the method used, low-effort electronic contact (mail, email, web-based contact pages, on-line petitions) versus high-effort contact such as personal meetings with lawmakers. I find that the role played by interest groups in facilitating communication can be substantial. In the case of members from lower socio-economic backgrounds in particular, membership in a citizen group helps compensate for lack of knowledge and resources regarding how to contact Congress.
A very interesting and relevant TED talk:
In politics, it seems counterintuitive to engage in dialogue with violent groups,
with radicals and terrorists, and with the states that support them. But Jonas
Gahr Støre, the foreign minister of Norway, makes a compelling case for open
discussion, even when values diverge, in an attempt to build greater security for
all. Jonas Gahr Støre is the Norwegian Foreign Minister, charged with working
for Norway’s interests internationally.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jonas_gahr_store_in_defense_of_dialogue.html