The importance of the credibility of and participation in voting and elections (enfranchisement) in representative constitutional democracies. Racism and racial justice, inclusion and diversity, treatment of and opportunities for minorities in democratic multicultural societies. Hope and need for young people to participate in democratic institutions.
The age for voting enfranchisement in Europe is between 16 (Austria and soon Germany) and 18.
Gaining and specifying the knowledge of the subject that the teacher wants to teach.
Citizens behaviour approach:
1st phase of the Approach (preparation of lesson):
In class, the teacher discusses the topic of societal divisions and lack of trust in democracy and elections. But also the responsibility of citizens to participate in electoral democracy if they want a government that represents their interests and not only the interests of the wealthy, powerful and/or older generations’ interests.
Eg. In the past, the fact that many young people seemed disaffected with democratic processes and failed to participate (vote as an expression of their citizenship) in important elections and referendums (e.g. Brexit Referendum, 2016 US elections and other European elections), this led to decisions being made that were not in their interests. In order to increase participation, some countries have lowered the voting age (enfranchisement) to 16 (e.g. Austria and soon Germany). But the question remains if young people will vote (exercise their rights of enfranchisement), if they do not understand its fundamental importance to modern democracy.
Furthermore next to lowering barriers (e.g. voting ages), there have also attempts to raise barriers to participation, making voting in elections more difficult. Some powerful groups have contested fair elections (e.g. 2020 US Election, 2022 Brazilian Elections, Israeli elections) and have stormed and vandalized governmental buildings symbolic of democracy in their countries (e.g. US Capitol, Brazilian Parliament, German Reichstag, etc…). This lesson will focus on the importance of all forms of participation in democracy, speaking out, criticizing, protests, but also the right to vote.
2nd phase: Teacher prepares the topic in detail.
— What does the official curriculum say about representative constitutional democracy and the right but also responsibility to vote (enfranchisement).
— What is happening in democratic countries with elections? Is democracy the same everywhere? Are there degrees of democracy? Must democracy be ‘perfect’ to function for the common good? Should we accept ‘imperfect’ institutions but work to reform or improve them?
— Are all citizens in these democracies allowed to vote or are some barriers erected to prevent some groups from voting, e.g. groups based on race, gender, religion or social class? E.g. days that elections are held, number and places of polling stations, time polling stations close, voter registrations easy or difficult, etc…?
Is this fair?
Should non-citizens be allowed to vote and if so, are there limitations? What does the Constitution (if there is one) say=
What’s going on in your country? Are there any forms of voter intimidation? Do political parties try to encourage or register people to vote (voter registration campaigns)?
(Finding an art work) – The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
Background to the Poem for Teacher:
The Hill We Climb is an Poem was written and performed by Amanda Gorman for the occasion of the Inauguration of Joseph Biden as the 46th President of the United States and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, as the first black female holder of the office, on 20 January, 2021 The poem is written as a spoken word poem in free verse with no regular rhyming scheme; nevertheless, she adeptly uses rhythm and cadence to emphasize its message: although racial justice has not been fully achieved in the United States, the country continues to march forward towards a ‘more perfect’ but not yet perfect union (Preamble of the Constitution). This is a union of diverse “cultures, colours, characters and conditions” of humanity. The irregular cadence of the poem strengthens the sense of marching – at an uneven pace – towards the goal and up a ‘hill’- symbolic of social justice and fulfilment of the American ‘purpose’. Gorman addresses the destructive legacy of slavery, segregation and the yet to be fulfilled, yet hoped for promises of full civil rights granted by the Constitution for all citizens of the United States.
In the poem, the ‘hill’ could be an allusion to Capitol Hill upon which the United States Capitol sits and where the United States Congress does its business. On 6 January 2021, a few weeks before the Inauguration, a group of white nationalists and other election deniers of Joe Biden’s election to the Presidency, ‘climbed the hill’ and attacked the Capitol building in an effort to stop the certification of his election. But the ‘hill’ could also be a reference to the idea that the United States itself is ‘a shining city on a hill’ (cf. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Mt. 5:14ff). Her poem is filled with Biblical imagery; hence, the ‘hill’ could also be an allusion to the heavenly Jerusalem, that sits on a hill. While unattainable, it still serves as a beacon of hope for a better world. Although Gorman is most concerned about the state of democracy and divisions within American society itself, she certainly doesn’t limit her hopes to the United States. She implies that justice, mercy, harmony and love are universal truths that are affirmed by the ‘globe’.
Underlying Gorman’s poem is a concern with the rise of autocratic, anti-democratic forces that seek to undermine the credibility and integrity of democratic institutions and activities in the United States but also around the world. Often these challenges are clothed in nationalist and populistic language, ‘we vs. them’, and sometimes even based on their ‘interpretation’ of the Constitution. The end of her poem makes use of references to the great civil rights activist Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream Speech’ and Maya Angelou’s poem “And still I rise”. Gorman is implying that although it might seem like ‘they’ are being ‘battered’ and even facing a ‘catastrophe’, in the end, and to paraphrase the famous civil rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” (see “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” Speech given at the National Cathedral, March 31, 1968). Although bad things have happened, Gorman tells us to not be afraid and give up hope for a better world and country. It will eventually happen. We must be brave enough to continue marching on into the light and out of the darkness – in other words – to participate in democracy, which also means to reconcile with each other and extend the arms of friendship towards each other.
(Shaping or editing of the artistic material)
Divide the poem into enough segments to give each student at least one segment. See separate sheet of divided poem.
(Points of interest and discussion in Class)/ Step 5
Discuss the importance of voting and elections – shows some clips
TEACHER: Today we will be dealing with the issue of voting and elections.
- Teacher preps class with some questions and allows discussion and debate:
- Why do you think that elections are important (in a democracy)?
- Can you vote and if you can (age/citizenship, etc…), do you?
- Why or why not?
- Is voting a right for everyone or only for citizens? Why should it be or why shouldn’t it be? Who should have this right?
- What does the Constitution say?
- Are/Were there places where people do/did not have the right to vote, but should have? (women, blacks, etc…)
- Are there ways to make it difficult to vote – even when people have the right to vote? Put up barriers like gerrymandering, days, times, number of polling stations, only in-person voting, making registration difficult…
Artistic Activity
The teacher gives an introduction to the poem in class (see point 2) and some background to the lesson.
Most experts now say that the greatest threat to European stability, unity and democracy is coming from far-right nationalist groups, who want to exclude refugees, but also migrants and citizens of migrant backgrounds.
These groups feel themselves to be the ‘rightful’ leaders of their countries (birth, colour of skin, social class) and see migrants, refugees as a threat. They contend- whether they actually believe this or not – that elected governments are not legitimate. Some of these groups advocate more authoritarian forms of government (dictator, autocrat, even a monarch, e.g. Reichsbürger movement in Germany).
Not happy with election results, some of these groups have contested elections, calling them ‘fake’. They attacked important buildings that ‘house’ and are symbolic of democratically elected governments (e.g. Parliaments, Reichstag or Capitol).
Here are some photos of the important buildings that have been attacked.
Reichstag, Berlin Germany – August 29 2020
Capitol, Washington, DC USA – January 6 2020
Congress, Brasilia, Brazil – January 8 2023
The teacher can also opt to show students some video reports about the attacks.
August 29, 2020 – Berlin, Germany https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBhOtP3h_kA &
January 6 2020 – Washington, DC, USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_O91gyj9o
January 8 – 2023 – Brasilia, Brazil: https://www.cfr.org/article/images-show-extent-brazils-capitol-riots
The attack on the Capitol in Washington on 6 January (seen in picture and in video) was meant to stop the certification of the election of Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States by the followers of the previous President, Donald Trump. Trump alleged that the election was ‘stolen’ by his opponent (Stop the Steal) and that he had actually won the election. He encouraged his supports to go to the Capitol and ‘fight like hell’. Trump’s followers violently stormed the Capitol building, where the election results were being ratified by the members of Congress, screaming slogans like ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) and ‘Take our Country Back’. These are racist tropes (figures of speech) that imply that people of colour (e.g. Black Americans, South and Central Americans, Asians) do not belong and should be excluded from the rights of American citizenship. One of these rights is voting.
14 days later, on 20 January, with the memory still fresh, the poet Amanda Gorman read her inauguration poem, The Hill We Climb, with references to the violent insurrection on 6 January. For example, the ‘Hill’ is a reference to the Capitol building which sets on a hill, hence, Capitol Hill, but also a metaphor for a longer struggle for equal rights and social justice for all citizens, not just a few.
See material:
YouTube Amanda Gorman at the Inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joseph Biden, on 20 January 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ055ilIiN4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hill_We_Climb
On Youth and Voting Rights:
https://aceproject.org/regions-en?set_language=en
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2018/623556/EPRS_ATA(2018)623556_EN.pdf
Play the scene (first reading – Teacher)
Teacher reads the entire poem to the class. Later teacher divides up sections of poem to the students in the class.
Amanda Gorman: The Hill We Climb
Student 1
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast, (cf. Book of Revelation)
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn’t always just-ice.
Student 2
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken,
but simply unfinished.
Student 3
We the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.
Student 4
And yes we are far from polished.
Far from pristine.
But that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect.
Student 5
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us.
Student 6
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms (reference to the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution)
so we can reach out our arms to one another.
Student 7
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,
that even as we grieved, we grew,
that even as we hurt, we hoped,
that even as we tired, we tried,
that we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat,
but because we will never again sow division.
Student 8
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree (cf. Micah 4:4ff)
and no one shall make them afraid.
Student 9
If we’re to live up to our own time,
then victory won’t lie in the blade. (cf. Is 2:4? Beat swords into ploughshares)
But in all the bridges we’ve made, (cf. Frances – build a bridge not a wall? )
that is the promise to glade,
the hill we climb. (cf. Capitol Hill, Jerusalem – City on a Hill)
If only we dare.
Student 10
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it. (cf. Is 58:12)
Student 11
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation (Insurrection on Jan 6)
rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
Student 12
In this truth,
in this faith we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
history has its eyes on us.
Student 13
This is the era of just redemption
we feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour (cf. second coming)
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter.
Student 14
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert,
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
Student 15
We will not march back to what was,
but move to what shall be.
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free.
Student 16
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation, (Jan 6)
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
Student 17
But one thing is certain,
If we merge mercy with might, (cf. Micah 6:8ff)
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy,
and change our children’s birth right.
Student 18
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with.
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
Student 19
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west. (cf. ‘I have a Dream’ + ‘Still I Rise’)
We will rise from the windswept northeast,
where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sun-baked south.
Student 20
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover.
And every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful.
Student 21
When day comes we step out of the shade, (connection line 2)
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Step 8 – Rehearsal Procedure – Students in Action; Teacher as Director
Based on the number of students, the teacher distributes lines of the poem. Here we assume that there are, for example, 20 to 21 students. (See numbering above).
Each student is given a paper with the poem, but also links to Amanda Gorman’s own reading of the text. Students read their ‘part’ in succession and according to flow of the text.
Students break up into working groups and discuss their parts based on what they have learned in class. They can look at the original reading of the text on YouTube and discuss the historical events that pre-dated her creation of the poem.
Students come back and read the text again according to flow of text and as if one voice until they get it. Teacher gives tips and direction on tempo, rhythm and emphasis, etc…
Students in Action – Teacher leads discussion (forum theatre)
Students are now ready to perform the text as a group.
Teacher stops action at important points with the following questions in mind:
-What is going on? To what is she referring? What happened in the distance past, but recently to make her write this poem?
-What relationships are being revealed? Who is the oppressed and the oppressor? To what divisions is she referring to in society? What does each ‘side’ want? What does the author want? What does she suggest to improve the relationships? Do you have something like this going on in your society?
-Who are the ‘characters’ present in the poem? E.g. who are the ‘people’? the people who attacked the Capitol? The children of former slaves? The author of the poem herself? God? Etc..
-How are the characters presented ? Positively, negatively? Determined? Aggressive? Battered but not defeated? Reconciled? Changed?
-What is at stake? (in discussion, justification, etc.) For the insurrectionists and for those who had been oppressed by slavery? To receive justice, to be fully free? To reconcile and meet up to the expectations of the Constitution and its ‘Preamble’? To build what kind of country and world?
-What are arguments/points is the poem making and how are these expressed?
Students in Action: Support and Debate (teams)
Divide the students into groups of ‘opposing’ sides:
Anti-Democratic E.g. Side of people, who feel that democracy is no longer working for them and has maybe gone too far. (some possible groupings: Insurrectionists, people who are concerned that there are too many refugees, immigrants, outsiders for the country to support).
- Position: Democracy isn’t perfect, therefore, it doesn’t work. We need a King or “Strong Man” who looks out for our interests.
Democratic E.g. Side of people, who feel that democracy hasn’t always worked for them, but they believe in the ideal that it eventually (some possible groupings: African Americans with grandparents who had been slaves, citizens with an immigrant background, (former slaves/African Americans, immigrants, People of Good Will and Hope).
- Position: Democracy isn’t perfect, but it does work; but we need to reform it and make it work for all, not just the wealthy and powerful (inclusive).
Some questions to reflect upon:
What are the concerns of both sides? Are these concerns justified? Why or Why not?
Are there limits to the number of refugees and immigrants a country can/should accept? Should citizens have a say in this number? How do they do/should they do this?
Are there degrees of citizenship? Are some citizens better than others? Why or why not? Are there some people in a country who should have more rights than others? Why or why not?
Is a Constitution important? What does it say about these issues?