Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Democracy and development are terms often used but seldom fully understood, especially by our students. In an introductory comparative politics class, I teach students how to use an analytical model that has been abandoned for years, but remains relevant today.The ?Civic Culture Model? rejected because it is flawed, biased, and for other reasons, can also be used as the first analytical model students can work with and apply to various countries.It is the flaws and shortcomings of the model that make it a perfect starting point for beginning to ask and answer the important questions of democracy and development. By learning, applying and critiquing the model students start to develop the lexicon and intellectual tools necessary to explore the deep and evolving nature of the study of democracy, development and the connection between the two.Taking into account scholarship literally from before I was born to today, and my fifteen years of classroom experience with this model, I have modified the classic civic culture model. By helping students apply it to countries studied in our class and one of their own choosing, the students learn how to apply analytical models and, more importantly, learn how to critique their work and that of others in an analytical and intelligent manner. This creates for them a broader set of tools with which to identify, apply and practice critical thinking skills and cultural sensitivity.