Social Contract Activity
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What is it? it's an agreement of behavior. Social contracts can be formal or informal, written or oral, and can be negotiated over time. They can be updated for a number of reasons, including when people's needs change, people change their minds, or governments fail to deliver as promised. Examples of social contract renewal include lowering the voting age, pushing for stronger [protection of] rights, and continuing the constitutional drafting process. (2)
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Why do we need to make one? Social contracts are important because they (1):
- Define issues: They outline the issues that decision-makers should work on (2).
- Accountability: They specify how people can hold decision-makers accountable(2).
- Analytical tool: They can be used to compare and track changes in state-society relations across countries (3).
- Explain government: They explain why governments exist and what citizens and governments agree to in order for civil society to function (4).
- Show compliance: They demonstrate that members of a society have reason to follow the society's fundamental rules, laws, institutions, and principles(5).
Class Activity: Creating OUR Social Contract
Part 1: On your own, think about what behaviors are expected for everyone (including yourself, other students, and the teacher) to be successful in this class both generally and specifically to this class? (3-5 minutes)
Part 2: Group up and consolidate lists, enter final list in Social Contract Google Form. (5-10 minutes)
Part 3: Groups Present their lists to the class. (10-15 minutes)
Part 4: Create Final version of our class's Social Contract- teacher will create a word-cloud poster using everyone's lists using wordclouds.com
Part 5: Everyone signs the official Class Social Contract
References:
1. https://iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/#:~:text=Citizens%2C%20once%20they%20have%20grown,he%20is%20free%20to%20leave.
2. https://www.idea.int/blog/explainer-social-contracts
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030108X
4.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK587891/#:~:text=Traditional%20social%20contract%20theories%20invoke,responsibilities%20are%20under%20this%20contract.
5. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contractarianism-contemporary/#:~:text=The%20aim%20of%20a%20social,or%20principles%20of%20that%20society.
Part 1: On your own, think about what behaviors are expected for everyone (including yourself, other students, and the teacher) to be successful in this class both generally and specifically to this class? (3-5 minutes)
Part 2: Group up and consolidate lists, enter final list in Social Contract Google Form. (5-10 minutes)
Part 3: Groups Present their lists to the class. (10-15 minutes)
Part 4: Create Final version of our class's Social Contract- teacher will create a word-cloud poster using everyone's lists using wordclouds.com
Part 5: Everyone signs the official Class Social Contract
References:
1. https://iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/#:~:text=Citizens%2C%20once%20they%20have%20grown,he%20is%20free%20to%20leave.
2. https://www.idea.int/blog/explainer-social-contracts
3. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030108X
4.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK587891/#:~:text=Traditional%20social%20contract%20theories%20invoke,responsibilities%20are%20under%20this%20contract.
5. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contractarianism-contemporary/#:~:text=The%20aim%20of%20a%20social,or%20principles%20of%20that%20society.
