The Communitarian Update
Number 53
April 23, 2003
Tell us what you think!
With numerous journalists "embedded" with U.S., British and Australian troops in the war zone in
and around Iraq, the news media faces the daily challenge of balancing journalistic opportunity
with concern for the security of military personnel. The dilemma is not new. In 1989, ABC's Peter
Jennings and CBS's Mike Wallace were asked, "In a future war involving U.S. soldiers, what
would a TV reporter do if he learned the enemy troops with which he was traveling were about to
launch a surprise attack on an American unit?" Wallace responded that, ideally, journalists would
"regard it simply as another story that they are there to cover." Jennings at initially indicated that
his first move would be to "do what I could to warn the Americans." But after hearing Wallace's
comments, he changed his response, admitting, "I think [Wallace is] right... I chickened out." For
additional perspectives and commentary on this issue, see http://www.amitai-notes.com/blog/.
What are your thoughts?
Please respond briefly and tell us how to identify you. We do not run anonymous responses
because we hold that true identities make for better dialogues. Please also provide some details, if
not your affiliation, at least your town and nation, to help us understand your perspective.
Communitarians at the AALS
The Communitarian Network has been accepted as a proposed section of the American
Association of Law Schools (AALS). At the '04 AALS annual meeting, which will take place in
Atlanta, January 2-6, we will hold a panel on "Norms, Mores and Law in a Communitarian
Perspective." Professor Tom Morgan, George Washington University Law School, will chair the
panel. For more information, please contact Jennifer Ambrosino at the Communitarian Network
(jambro@gwu.edu), or visit our website, www.communitariannetwork.org.
Recent Events
The Ways We Celebrate: Holidays and Rituals as Seedbeds of Social Values
On April 11-12, '03, scholars from a variety of disciplines met to explore the importance of holidays and rituals in society and as a field for academy study. The conference is part of a larger ongoing project on holidays and rituals; an edited volume of essays and articles on select holiday-related themes is currently in the works, and the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies will be sponsoring a panel on the topic at this year's meeting of the American Sociological
Association. For additional information, please contact Elizabeth Tulis at the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies, 2130 H Street, N.W., Suite 703, Washington, D.C. 20052; 202.994.8167; etulis@gwu.edu. Also visit our website www.communitariannetwork.org.
The Diversity Debate Continues
A recently published study casts doubt on the argument that racial diversity improves quality of education. After surveying 4,000 students, faculty and administrators at about 140 universities,
Stanley Rothman, a professor emeritus at Smith College, concluded that increased racial diversity did not correlate with more positive perceptions of the school's educational quality or campus race relations. Indeed, Rothman found, on campuses with greater racial diversity, quality of education was perceived to be lower, and perception of racial tensions was higher. According to Rothman said, though, that his study did not actually prove that racial diversity harms quality of education. The study, which was published in the International Journal of Public Opinion and The Public Interest, has received additional attention in light of the Supreme Court's
consideration this week of a case challenging the legality of affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan (NY Times, 3/20/03). Read an abstract of the study at
http://ijpor.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/1/8.
Trust of World Institutions in Decline
A survey released by the World Economic Forum in November '02 suggests a worldwide decline in trust in democratic institutions, international and large national companies, and even non-governmental organizations, trade unions, and media organizations. According to the multi-national survey, the institution currently most trusted to "work in society's best interest" is the "Armed Forces." Least trusted is "Parliament/Congress." The survey was conducted by Gallup International in cooperation with Environics International, and included telephone or live interviews with 36,000 individuals in 47 countries. For full survey results, see www.voice-of-the-people.net.
American Community Survey: Bad News
The U. S. Census Bureau's plans for the new American Community Survey (ACS), have been
stalled because Congress has not acted on the federal budget bill that would fund the survey.
Every year, the ACS would collect data every year on the demographics of states, cities, towns
and metropolitan areas, replacing the Census Bureau's Long Form, which is distributed only every
ten years. Because the data yielded by the ACS would be more current than the several-years old
statistics gathered in the Long Form, the ACS results would be a useful information base for
government officials and city planners evaluating community programs and policies (Footnotes,
Feb. '03). Read the full article at http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/feb03/fn3.html.
Support for National I.D. System
Sixty-four percent of Americans favor the adoption of a national I.D. system for all U.S. citizens according to a February '03 Harris poll, down only four percentage points since September '01.
For more information visit, http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=362.
Town and Gown
Cleveland, Ohio's Case Western Reserve University has taken the lead in a movement to improve relations between urban universities and surrounding communities. Case Western's outreach efforts have included sending dental students to offer services to children in Cleveland's struggling public schools, and negotiating an agreement that would allow the Cleveland Health Department to be housed at Case Western. In January, Case Western's president, Dr. Edward M. Hundert, hosted a colloquium on "partnerships between universities and their cities,"which drew presidents and administrators from several major universities. "Our philosophy is that the external things we're doing are things that will set our university apart," Hundert explained to the New York Times. "If we look outward... we can create something greater than the sum of the parts." (NY Times, 3/12/03).
Publications of Interest
Information-Age Populism: Higher Education as a Civic Learning Organization by Harry C.
Boyce (Council on Public Policy Education, '02)
-Explores the possibilities and challenges for higher education as a tool to advance democratic
society, and to cultivate a sense of civic responsibility and empowerment in a wider citizenry.
Books of Interest
The Empty Throne: Democracy and the Rule of Law in Transition by Sophie van Bijsterveld
(Utrecht: Lemma Publishers, '02)
-Analyzes how the "internationalization of public decision making" and transitions from the public to the private sector have affect the function of liberal democracy and rule of law in contemporary
societies.
The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family by William J. Bennett
(New York: Broadway Books, '01)
-Explores the breakdown of the "American family" as the foremost crisis for this generation, and comments on ways the American family can be reinvigorated to the benefit of society as well as
individuals.
My Brother's Keeper: A Memoir and a Message by Amitai Etzioni (Rowman & Littlefield, '03)
-Autobiography of Communitarian Network founder and director Amitai Etzioni. Etzioni details the story of his life, and relates this story to his vision of a society in which people are willing to
take on responsibilities as well as assert their rights, and are committed to advancing the common good, not just pursuing personal interests.
Websites of Interest
For a compelling discussion of anti-Americanism, multiculturalism, and the global community, please see http://www.amitai-notes.com/blog/.
New in The Responsive Community
The Spring 2003 issue of The Responsive Community features critiques of the Diversity Within Unity position by Rainer Baubock, David Hollinger, and Ruth Rubio Marin. Amitai Etzioni presents a rejoinder. The issue also includes a major article by Richard Coughlin which provides a communitarian rationale for wanting to limit socio-economic inequality by focusing on how such inequality undermines community. For more information about The Responsive Community, visit
www.communitariannetwork.org. To receive a FREE sample issue, please e-mail your mailing
address to comnet@gwu.edu or call either 800-245-7460 or 202-994-4355. Same to subscribe.
Ordering information is also available online at http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcq/rcq_order.html.
Recent Contributions
We gratefully acknowledge generous donations made by Norton Garfinkle, Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling, Max Thelen, Jr., and Amitai Etzioni for the work of The Communitarian Network, a 501(c)(3) organization. 100% of these and all funds received are dedicated to our
work projects; the director draws no salary or fees of any kind.
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