William T. Bianco is professor of political science at Indiana University, Bloomington. His research focuses on congressional institutions, representation, and inequality. He is the co-author (with David Canon) of a Norton textbook, American Politics Today, as well as numerous journal articles and books.
Image Credit: Paul B.
One of the priorities in the Intro to American Government class is to help students develop their ideas about what government should be doing. In a polarized world where students typically enter the class with strongly held (albeit poorly informed) opinions, discussions often devolve into partisan food fights; doubly so in an election year.
The solution I implement in my classes is to move beyond the reality that everyone has an opinion. That’s not a bad thing. Opinions express our ideas about what we would like government to do. Even so, opinions are only one of the things worth talking about. Why not focus on information and data that describes the world as it is, letting students draw their own conclusions?
My approach is derived from teaching American politics for over three decades, from a state university in a bright red state to an elite private university below the Mason-Dixon line. I am also research director for Policy vs Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civics education organization.
In truth, Americans are polarized. Republicans and Democrats disagree on many things. Most people focus on information that confirms their preconceptions. They evaluate events through a partisan lens. Under these constraints, policy debates in the classroom often devolve into discussions of good and bad. I find these discussions are not very useful. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s quote in the article title notes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Students may learn about alternate viewpoints but relatively little about why these opinions are held. Also, it is difficult to lead a discussion about preferences without sounding like an advocate for one side or the other.
A better strategy comes from the second half of the Moynihan quote: Policy is complex, and few people are well-informed. Why not fill that gap? In a diverse nation, we may disagree on how information should be interpreted or weighted, but we should be able to agree that more information is better than less.
Our team at Policy vs Politics (policyvspolitics.org) is building a library of policy briefs: 1200-word documents on topics ranging from immigration to inflation. Many of the topics are drawn from the list of key terms in our textbook, terms for the AP American Government and Politics exam, and a similar list derived from state civics exams. These resources are free and currently used in various classrooms, including public and private high schools, community colleges, and universities throughout the United States.
Our goal is to deliver information about a policy topic in an easy, nontechnical format, so that readers can decide what they want government to do—or that they need to learn more about the topic.
For example, our brief on unauthorized immigration details trends in the number of unauthorized individuals living in the United States, including the recent influx of asylum seekers. The brief also details the consequences of reforms that would limit refugee admissions, as well as increased enforcement efforts with our borders. What would happen if we ended the parole system for asylum seekers, or gave Dreamers a path to citizenship? The emphasis is on helping students understand the circumstances from a 360-degree perspective, including the on-the-ground consequences if their preferences were made into policies.
These briefs can be used to introduce topics to students or to help them prepare for the AP American Government and Politics exam or state-mandated civics tests. They are also used in small-group assignments where students build slide decks to present content to their colleagues or use data to develop policy solutions. We are also developing class content for each topic, including multiple-choice tests, in-class exercises, and (soon) videos, to lower barriers to learning.
Student feedback has been strongly positive. Writing about our budget deficit materials, one high school student noted, “By completing this assignment, I realized the national debt is much more difficult to fix than it may seem. Going into this assignment, I believed I would be able to slightly increase taxes, cut some discretionary spending, and solve every problem our country has. In reality, it is difficult to balance the desires of American citizens with the interests of the national economy.”
Teacher feedback is also positive. As one put it, “The briefs provided by Policy vs Politics are perfect for the classroom—they’re concise yet reach the appropriate depth needed to develop a full understanding. The briefs heightened the level of our classroom discourse—students were making connections between policy and current events. The different perspectives included in the short briefs really helped students frame the political debates they hear related to these complicated issues. These briefs are an ideal approach to the most complex or divisive issues.”
The guiding principle of our effort is that when it comes to information and insights, more is better than less. The briefs are ruthlessly nonpartisan and nonideological. We (myself, Nate Birkhead from Kansas State, and Nick Clark from Susquehanna State) organized a team of undergraduate interns as a social science data lab. Our workflow relies on recognized subject matter experts (both academics and practitioners at the front lines) to guide our investigations. We are writing for students, but our standards are drawn from academic research: follow the data regardless of where it leads.
Our policy briefs are not going to turn students into Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, or anything else. Rather, they give students relevant data and information on a topic and let them decide. It is a free country, and everyone is entitled to their opinion.
If you are interested in learning more or using our materials in your class, our published policy briefs are on our website, policyvspolitics.org. The supplemental materials, including in-class exercises, lesson plans, and quizzes, are available by contacting me (william.b@policyvspolitics.org) for details.
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