This site is designed as a model or demo from which think tanks and similar organizations might draw ideas to create a designated section on their own websites structured along similar lines for purposes outlined herein.
The core purpose of the site is to promote the idea that fundamental principles and characteristics are common to good governments and good societies, that the worst countries violate many or all of those principles, and that the defining characteristics of the best and worst kinds of government produce radically different effects on their citizens’ lives.
The site provides an introduction to the wealth of excellent material that is available for a balanced understanding of political philosophy and of how good and bad types of government develop and are structured.
The site outlines major threats and pitfalls that most successful democracies face, and describes the defining characteristics of good and bad governments and societies. The argument is that a widespread understanding of these principles and characteristics is critical for a successful democracy. It is important to restate these principles now because disagreement about them has become so widespread and the current administration is demonstrating such a high level of incompetence and failure to understand the basics of successful governance.
The character and quality of a democracy’s educational institutions are critical, particularly in the subjects related to civic education – history, government, political philosophy, economics, law, foreign and defense policy, sociology, etc. The new type civic education being so widely promoted now is very dangerous for a democratic republic. These leftist educational initiatives are intended to gain enhanced political power for their promoters by weakening respect for America’s founding ideals and by dividing our citizens into contending groups. They are accompanied by enlarging the scope of government’s control over individuals through expanded government benefits (leading to increased dependence on government), and through increased regulation – all of which will weaken the institutions of civil society and reduce individual freedom and self-reliance.
Should an institution decide to include a section on its own website taking ideas from this demo site, the principles of good government, characteristics of government, democracy and commentary sections would be rewritten by that institution’s scholars. The expectation is that, for conservative think tanks, there would be rough agreement on, and similar descriptions of, the basic principles, and that those principles would align with the founding principles of this country.
As an example of how the articles section would work, assume several think tanks adopted the concept. Each would favor articles by its own scholars but would also include particularly illuminating articles from other sources on key subjects. Articles would be dropped as they become dated and replaced with more timely ones. Some articles are so timeless that they would remain on the site indefinitely. Copyright protections would be honored appropriately.
The book review section would feature books by that institution’s scholars but would also include other important books.