Word: moral
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...working elected representative supposed to do when the only direction he gets from the people is that they want direction? This dilemma has been examined carefully by Dan Carney in a recent issue of Congressional Quarterly. As reported there, Republican polling services, like Marketing Research Institute of Florida, rank moral issues above economic issues in importance to the voting public. This is a new mood in U.S. politics, and it has caught our lawmakers unprepared...
...Congressional Quarterly: "I don't think we've had a real good policy debate on these issues in the party. We have to step back and ask what we stand for and where we are going." The need is clear: the U.S. wants a coherent and principled moral agenda...
...more old-fashioned political theory this is the part where the miraculous lawgiver steps up to bat. It may be Moses or Solon or Lycurgus or God. He is uncommonly wise with a gift for lawmaking and an impeccable moral vision. His legislation is both moral and politic, popular and wise. Of course, the picture isn't completely rosy. Sometimes the people do not understand the message or the messenger. The people of Israel lose faith in Moses; the ten commandments are shattered at the foot of Sinai...
...unwelcoming as the people of Israel were, we are probably more stubborn in our skepticism. The professor-types tell us that we do not believe in big narratives any more. The moral foundation of this argument, the group politics of ethnicity and gender, make it difficult to imagine a single party capturing the moral imagination of America. By splitting morality into a set of policy issues, such as inner-city development and national testing, the parties hope to gather up as many of these special interests as possible. But by trying to please every one, the parties...
...fair, this may not be the fault of our ruling parties. It is possible that the moral direction the public is looking for cannot be found in government. In fact, the failure of the government presents an opportunity for the other social institutions--the churches, synagogues, journals of opinion and museums. These groups may not have access to the sophisticated polling instruments that the politicians use, but given the opportunity, that should not prevent them from taking advantage of the government's loss of initiative...