top of page
Resources for Citizenism: Re-Claim the Role of the Citizen
The resource section provides documents, courses, books, articles, and other material to inform our Re-Imagining Project. We divide the section into the following categories: 
1. Human Nature:  Psychology, history, philosophy 
2. The world before the US constitution 
3. The constitution convention and the ratification process 
4. US Constitution 
5. Challenges and opportunity in the 21st century
6. Complexity and system change
7. View of the emerging future  

 

1. Human Nature:  Psychology, History, Philosophy 

Tamar Gendler: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Politics and Economics (Click on title for 26 lecture course)

 

Who gets what and who says so? These two questions underlie and inform every social arrangement from the resolution of schoolyard squabbles to the meta-structure of human societies. They are also the basis of political philosophy. Professor Tamar Gendler uses the work of three titans of the discipline, Thomas Hobbes, John Rawls, and Robert Nozick, as a lens to guide us through the taut debate about the role of government in society, asking "Will we embrace the radical state of nature or will we surrender our freedom to the leviathan of the state?"

 

Courses in Political Psychology Ryan Denos 

That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science": David Hume, James Madison, and the Tenth Federalist

2. The World Before the US Constitution 

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis returns to the National Constitution Center to give the unexpected story of why the 13 colonies, having just fought off a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. Ronnie Polaneczky of the Philadelphia Daily News moderates.

 

John Adams,  “Thoughts on Government: Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies; In a Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend” April 1776

 

 

Historic Notes on the Formation of the Constitution (PDF)

The continental Congress 1774-1789 (Wikipedia)

 

United States Declaration of Independence

 

The Age of Jefferson UVA Coursera Course

 

 

Vices of US Political System (1787)

 

 

Zephyr Teachout is a professor of law at Fordham University. In her PDF 15, she takes us into a secular church with her invocation of "civic love" and the pursuit of happiness.

Our Declaration Danielle Allen 

Danielle Allen talked about her book Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, in which she talks about the Declaration of Independence.

 

 

3. The Constitutional Convention and the Ratification Process 

 

The U.S. Needs a New Constitution—Here's How to Write It

 

Let's face it: What worked well 224 years ago is no longer the best we can do.

ALEX SEITZ-WALD The Atlantic NOV 2 2013

 

Joseph Ellis talked about his book, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789, about why America’s newly independent states opted into a centralized government following the American Revolution.

 

Challenges and Opportunity in 21st Century USA

Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System

 

The systems analysis community has a lot of lore about leverage points. Those of us who were trained by the great Jay Forrester at MIT have all absorbed one of his favorite stories. “People know intuitively where leverage points are,” he says. “Time after time I’ve done an analysis of a company, and I’ve figured out a leverage point — in inventory policy, maybe, or in the relationship between sales force and productive force, or in personnel policy. Then I’ve gone to the company and discovered that there’s already a lot of attention to that point. Everyone is trying very hard to push it in the wrong direction!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Complexity and the Emerging Future 

7. The Century of the Self 

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed our perception of the mind and its workings. The documentary explores the various ways that governments and corporations have utilized Freud's theories. Freud and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in public relations, are discussed in part one. His daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in part two. Wilhelm Reich, an opponent of Freud's theories, is discussed in part three.

8. View of the Future 

Seeing the Future: Joi Ito at TEDxMidwest

 

The internet has had a profound effect on the evolution of business and innovation across the globe. The paradigm shift created by the internet has changed the way that we interact with one another, how start-ups go from idea to market, while the philosophy of "build first, think later" has become the rule rather than the exception. Joi Ito pulls from his vast experiences in the trenches of the "Tech Revolution" to take us on a thought provoking journey introducing the audience to the world . . . "After Internet." 

 

Reimagining Capitalism: Bold Ideas for a New Economy

True economic recovery will require creative solutions to deeply rooted problems. Our first great task is to change the way we talk about what's possible.

By  William Greider June 8, 2011

 

Slide Show: 16 Bold Ideas for a New Economy

By The Nation  June 9, 2011

The Rebirth of American Constitutionalism: The Political Thought of Martin Diamond and Herbert Storing

James Madison Program Constitution Day Event

September 25, 2017

 

Colleen Sheehan, Director of the Matthew J Ryan Center at Villanova University, participated in the 2016 Principles of Federalism Conference hosted by the Center for Constitutional Studies at UVU. Colleen Sheehan defines the foundation of Madisonian Federalism. She refers to how Madisonian Federalism was formed and established.

bottom of page