Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal begins with Jack Miller Center President Hans Zeiger’s review of Richard Haass’s new book, “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens.” According to Zeiger, Haass, who serves as President of the Council on Foreign Relations, notes that “in the face of declining trust in our public institutions and a waning sense of shared identity as fellow citizens ... Americans need to recover a sense of obligation.” Arguing that Americans unduly focus on rights at the expense of duties and obligations, Haass rightfully “celebrates values like civility, compromise, norms, and a respect for the common good.” Zeiger praises Haass’s “concept of public good,” because it “includes a strong dependence on private character” and urges him to focus much more on the subject of “voluntarism as a component of active citizenship” in the future. Zeiger closes by writing that Haass’s book should be an important “reminder to its readers of their own obligations in our beloved republic, and of how ... we might each do our part.” In an extended essay at National Affairs, Brenda M. Hafera argues that America’s founding principles undermined the patriarchal norms of the Old World and that an adherence to them throughout generations made women equal citizens. She writes, “Declaring ‘all men are created equal’ set America” on the course of ensuring that the nation would be “a republic of equal citizens under the law – a process that affected not only men and women, but the whole family.” Women made important contributions throughout American history “by influencing their children and husbands and promoting the vitality of civic associations.” According to Hafera, their “crucial role in this effort led Americans to recognize women as contributors to our experiment in self-government – an advancement that was itself a result of republican ideas.” Though Hafera notes that women receiving “their full civil rights and duties as equal citizens was a project of later generations,” she nevertheless argues that we should “look back with gratitude at the founding generation of men and women whose principles and actions set this development in motion.” Essential Reading Brenda Hafera, National Affairs Sexual revolutionaries often complain that America is currently, and has always been, a patriarchy. Our systems are... In the News Hans Zeiger, Fulcrum Elliott Drago, Jack Miller Center Jonathan Draeger, RealClearPolitics Clarice Smith, Philanthropy Roundtable George Landrith, Constituting America William Haupt, Center Square Ellen Tucker, Ashbrook Max Greenwood & Ana Ceballos, Tampa Bay Times Kris Johnson, Chronicle Randell Trammel, George W. Bush Presidential Center Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics Brenda Hafera, Public Discourse Eric Sands, Constituting America Robert Barnes, Washington Post C. Bradley Thompson, Substack RealClearPodcasts Hans Zeiger, president of the Jack Miller Center, discusses the state of civics and history education in... RealClearPodcasts Chairman Jack Miller and president Hans Zeiger of the Jack Miller Center for teaching America's founding principles... American Idea Jeff is joined by Bob Elder, Professor of History at Baylor University, to discuss John C. Calhoun... CNN Former President Barack Obama called our current democratic institutions "creaky" in an interview with CNN host Christiane... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories It's Friday June 30, the day of the week I pass along quotations relating to American political life -- lines ... Good morning, it's Friday June 23, and the day of the week I pass along elucidating quotations relating to American ... It was on this date in 1948 that a TV show called "Toast of the Town" debuted on CBS. Its ... |