Skip to Main Content

Civil Discourse: A Book Discussion with Joe Schmidt & Nichelle Pinkney | Constitution Day 2023

How does civil discourse contribute to our understanding of politics? What is important about its role in a free, constitutional society? In this special Constitution Day segment, BRI Director of Teacher & Student Programs Joe Schmidt joins his co-author Nichelle Pinkney to discuss their book 'Civil Discourse: Classroom Conversations for Stronger Communities" and touch on why communication and conversation is key for the success of a self-governing society.

Related Resources

Essay

Civil Discourse and Petitioning

1193 Words

Debating matters of public concern is essential in a free, self-governing society. If citizens were not free to decide after listening to opposing views self-government would be distorted. At the core of the Declaration of Independence is the principle that government exists to protect individual rights for us, not that we exist to serve the government. Therefore the people are the master and the government is the servant. If the government can dictate what we can and cannot discuss, then it would imply that the servant can tell the master what to do.