You The People-Empowering Citizens, Building Communities

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The Democracy
Works

The Citizenship
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ADULT COMMUNITY PROGRAM

YOU THE PEOPLE NOURISHES OUR DEMOCRACY

Participants discuss and resolve real issues that mean something to them and in so doing learn:

The design of the U.S. system of Government
Interpersonal values, not linked to any specific religion or political political orientation, but instead to the U.S. Constitution
Leadership and conflict resolution skills
A pro-active group process

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The widsom handed down by our founders is that one person rule is to be avoided at all costs, yet that is where non-participation of the citizenry inexorably leads.

—Charles Heberle
founder, YTP

AN EXERCISE-EVALUATING THE MEDIA
A YOU THE PEOPLE CHALLENGE
YOU THE PEOPLE AND AMERICA'S DEMOCRATIC EXPERIMENT
USEFULNESS OF YOU THE PEOPLE TO YOUR COMMUNITY
YOU THE PEOPLE HAS THE TOOLS OF DEMOCRACY

1. EVALUATING THE MEDIA

This is a sample exercise. Try it out- you can do it! And this exercice is even better and easier as a group.

Informed citizens need to understand the the role of the Media in the American Governmental System. They are often referred to as the fourth estate for good reason. They are separate from yet essential to the republican governmental process. Since the You the PEOPLE process mirrors the real thing they have an important role here too. Here is an exercise to help you see how the Media are really part of the system and not separate from it:

Take 2 or 3 different media sources and follow the story. The internet gives you practically every national newspaper on line. Read many different newspapers from cities all over the nation, but at least the Washington Post and Times, The New York Times and Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Denver Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune plus your local major papers, Time, Newsweek, U. S. News, all the network and local news telecasts, Cable news channels, PBS (radio and TV), and local and national radio. Take written notes on what you find and focus on the differences in the coverage of the same story, and where it was placed ( Was it the lead story or on page 2, did the TV newscasts hype your interest by inserting teasers about it or just drop it in, was it the cover story on one of the news magazines, etc.). Note what other stories were playing at the same time and how they seemed to fare vis a vis the assigned story (coverage, placement, etc.).

Answer these questions for yourselves:

1. What differences were there in the coverage?

2. Can you think why these differences were there?

3. How did the coverage differ among the types of media?

4. How important do you think this issue really is to the nation?

5. Were there any other issues you consider important that didn't get covered?

6. Which type stories seemed to get the most coverage?

7. What does this tell you about the Media coverage in this nation?

8. Why do you think the Media are this way? Are they likely to change?

9. What does this mean to someone seeking to be an active informed citizen?

10. Did this exercise help you to see what you have to do to become truly informed on an issue? Would it have been easier if you did it as a group?

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If everyone participates in the ultimate authority, the government will be safe, because corrupting the whole mass will exceed any resources available.

—Thomas Jefferson

2. A YOU THE PEOPLE CHALLENGE

Research and answer the following questions (not in any particular order):

- How many other countries have freedoms like those of the United States?

- How many other countries are ruled by their citizens? Which others do not but are somewhat ruled by their citizens and how do they differ?

- How many countries can you find that have freedom in name only?

- How many other democracies/republics can you find in history and why did they fail?

- Would this have been easier and the answers better if you did it as part of a group.

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A people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

—James Madison

3. YOU THE PEOPLE AND AMERICA'S DEMOCRATIC EXPERIMENT

Our government is based on the notion that people can rule themselves without Monarchs or Dictators. This idea was established through our Declaration of Independence. The Constitution was designed to give the American people guidance and structure designed to make this idealistic notion of government work.

Because in our government power is vested in the individual citizen, we are perhaps the most radical political experiment functioning in the world today. Being a citizen is the highest political office in our Nation. As citizens, we spread our power among several entities: the President and the Cabinet, members of Congress, and the justices of the Supreme Court.

In essence, our government pits human nature against itself while helping them learn to improve their natures over time. Humans crave power and, once having it, will use that power to stay in power. It's human nature not to share power. We see this happening in most countries throughout the world (including our own).

History has yet to say whether a government based on self-rule and power-sharing is successful or not. Our government, like others who have tried this idea called democracy before us, is an experiment in human behavior. And, because we are one great big experiment, we are being closely watched by other countries throughout the world. Some want to copy us, some think they are copying us, some are afraid of our success so they criticize us, and some countries have a completely different form of government (like a dictatorship), in many ways to test whether ours will work.

Our citizens have a great responsibility to the future of the world to make this experiment work. That's why the "You the People" educational series was developed--to help this experiment succeed! The only way our government will continue to succeed is if we, as individual citizens, are willing to help make it work.

What happens to an organization with a lazy uncaring boss? This type of organization is also lazy and uncaring, mirroring its boss. We are "the boss" of this Nation. We need to set the example for our employees--our elected officials. How can we do this?

Our government operates under a "representative" form of democracy. We vote for our government representatives (council persons, legislators of all kinds, board and commission members, etc.) every few years. These representatives then make decisions for us by discussing and voting on issues that are brought before them.

However, we tend to have very little involvement in our government other than through these elections. In essence, the only voice we have is through the people we elect to represent us. This is our choice, of course, but we tend to stay out of government business until an election. Sometimes it can be years between elections. Thus, we citizens are not directly involved in our government most of the time.

Many people now seem to want to exercise their power, to watch and influence their government effectively. They just don't know how. The You the PEOPLE trains people to accomplish this goal regularly, responsibly, and effectively. To show people how and why they should and can be more effectively involved in their government. This is done through a group process that allows all to know what is happening while sharing the work it takes to do this. As a group it can be done easily and reasonably. People become more aware of their governmental process and current issues through the use of this process. They also learn to become better at the seven citizenship skills of You the PEOPLE. With this training they will be able to participate effectively in their local government process when they become eligible to vote.

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The less government we have the better. The antidote to the abuse of power is the influence of private character, the growth of the individual.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. USEFULNESS OF YOU THE PEOPLE TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Is citizen apathy a problem in your community? Does that apathy cost you money? Would you be better off if the people in your community took more of an interest in their government? Suggested solutions to problems? Were knowledgeable voters? Helped out in solving the problems because they had a stake in the solution?

The You the PEOPLE program shows people how and why they should and can be more effectively informed and involved in their government. This is done through a group process which establishes a simple organizational structure for doing this. Citizens then use this self-teaching process to inform themselves and hopefully get involved in their government and communities to help out. They are given the skills they need to work together as part of a community problem solving team instead of being apathetic or part of a divisive process.

This group process allows everyone to share the work it takes to do this. This takes away the "too much for one person" fear of that most people have when they think of becoming informed about and involved in their government. As a group it can be done easily and reasonably. People become more aware of their governmental processes and current issues through the use of this process.

The You the PEOPLE program trains people to accomplish this regularly, rationally, and responsibly. Equally important, they learn the skills of civil discourse by using seven "citizenship skills" in their work which are self-evaluated during each meeting. These "citizenship skills" are Cooperation, Patience, Fairness, Respect, Strength, Self-Improvement, and Balance. They also learn what it takes to be a good representative first hand so that they can make good choices. It helps local officials immensely.

The laws of physics are universal laws. They work everywhere. One such law is the law of cooperative effort. It is a fact that one horse alone can pull about 3000 lbs maximum. Two horses working together can pull about 21,000 lbs. A government by itself can run a community with reasonable efficiency. Imagine what a government and the citizens of a community could do if they cooperate and pull in the same direction? The group process used in You the PEOPLE is designed to produce regular, rational, responsible community decision making- that shifts standard decision making and responsibility from outside or at the edge of a community to its center.The goal here is to recruit and form groups that start to cooperate and communicate with their representatives regularly, responsibly, and rationally to make a better community.

The group's purpose is to forge agreements on common issues using seven citizenship skills- cooperation, patience, fairness, respect, strength, self-improvement, and balance. These seven skills essential to good group decisionmaking are self taught and self-reinforced in this process. A discussion of them is the first part of every meeting. An evaluation of how well they were done happens at the end of every meeting. Homework is assigned to help people improve themselves in these seven skill areas. In this process, how a group arrives at a decision is just as important as the decision they make.

The groups must be neighborhood based. Each one should incorporate a range of issues and thinking or they will simply multiply single issue politics. The process naturally empowers the center of the citizenry and marginalizes and many times converts the extreme elements. This process is conflict prevention, not conflict resolution.

The whole process mirrors and illustrates our Constitution so that people can start to really understand it and their vital role in it. The following principles apply: This is a republic, not a democracy. They learn the skills and the difficulties of being a representative. Power is shared. No one gets to be the "group guru" because the leadership rotates. There is an amendment process and a veto process. What the groups do is decided by majority vote but they must be unanimous in determining that the skills were properly used before the votes count. Thus to be effective, to come to agreement, they have to learn to use the citizenship skills properly and to be mutually supportive.

The hardest part of creating a functional society is working together in relative harmony to agree on what it will look like and do. That requires us all to overcome the problem of citizen apathy and citizen anger. The problem of citizen apathy and inaction is everyone's problem. This process solves this problem by attacking its two root causes: One, it's too much work for one person, and two, they don't know their role or how to do it. The group process used here, and tested now for four years in schools nationwide, parcels out the work so that no one person is overworked. It also trains people to develop the seven civility skills that allows them to learn from each other and keeps meetings peaceful. Citizens quickly learn that what their government is doing is not rocket science and they can grasp the basics quite easily. There is an old saying in Washington that "where you stand depends on where you sit." Once citizens realize that they are responsible for their government and its actions, they quickly see that insuring domestic tranquility is essential to promoting the general welfare, that respect for others is essential to maximizing the common good as well as protecting individual rights.

The idea here is not new. George Washington once wrote about the use of small groups in a republic, " Chapters in every community, committees to study and present in simple terms the laws under consideration, including court decisions, examine the candidacy and fitness of all aspirants for public office to make sure they would advocate and protect the fundamental principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Such small groups can overcome party politics and special interests and educate other voters, train youth for community service, and public spirited representatives. ...The indolent attitude of the citizens has brought us down to a moment in history that only facing ourselves, the one thing Americans shun above all else, will bring about any change for the better."

To paraphrase, times don't change, people do. You the PEOPLE seeks to help citizens, and through them their communities, change for the better.

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The cause of America is in great measure the cause of mankind.

—Thomas Paine

5. YOU THE PEOPLE HAS THE TOOLS OF DEMOCRACY

Mission: To redefine citizenship in the American culture.

We have all the power we need. Here are the tools to use it and use it wisely,

You the PEOPLE needs to provide the common sense, the long term view, and the balance in this country. That is your job. Most people's priorities go something like this: God, Country, Family,Job, Community, Clubs, etc. That means your duties as a citizen should rank high, but to most people it is something the will get to "next week". That is because they have wrong idea of what citizenship is. It is much more than voting now and then and picking up trash. We must redefine citizenship to solve our governmental problems.This is our government. When was the last time you checked on it? What if you owned a McDonalds and you never checked on it? The success of any venture depends on the boss checking on it regularly. Why is our nation any different? The fact is that everyone has a huge responsibility to humanity to make sure this nation works. All the other previous experiments in popular self-rule failed. The founders trusted you to make it work, you will tell history whether they were right or wrong.Everyone has a piece of the truth within them. Listen for it.

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