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Among the most serious crises of America values today lies in the steady erosion of the civic values that we are supposed to
share.
For the Right, the only civic value that exerts any real authority is freedom, defined as an individual's right to do
more or less what he or she wants. For any higher ethical standard, conservatives now demand that government work through 'faith based institutions,' as if a national civic commitment to
the principles of equality and justice are not enough.
To much of the Left, however, America's civic ideals are so contaminated by the legacy of slavery, the oppression of women, and
corporate power that it appears foolish to invoke them at all.
Is it any wonder, then, that the country remains deeply divided as to what America has accomplished in the past and what vision
should guide us in the future?
One need only visit Historic Philadelphia, a few blocks from the Institute for the Study of Civic Values--home of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall-- to be reminded of the founding vision of America as a free
nation in which men and women of diverse origin would learn how to work together for the common good. Philadelphia's National Constitution Center opened on July 4th, 2003, to add to our understanding of this legacy.
To be an American, then, is not simply a matter of birth or naturalization. It is a matter of conviction--a pledge of allegiance, not only to the country and its institutions, but to
the principles for which we stand.
Moreover, the Institute for the Study of Civic Values believes that the Constitutional imperative to
"promote the general welfare"--asserted again and again by Madison in The Federalist Papers-- enjoins us to care not only about ourselves--but one another. "It is too early for politicians to presume on our
forgetting," Madison writes in Federalist #45, "that the public good, the real welfare of the great body of the people, is the supreme object to be pursued; and that no form of government whatever has any other value than as it may be fitted for the attainment of this object."
The political theorists working with the Institute have written widely on the relationship between values and politics in America. Our civic-values email listserv, in
turn, supports an ongoing dialogue on the critical issues facing the country, within the framework of America's historic ideals. Our aim is not merely to explore civic values, but to apply
them to the challenge of building community, expanding opportunity, and strengthening democracy in America today.
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