Political School Group

The Volt

I'm hoping to start a politics group up in my school but first of all I need to get the aims straight etc. Basically I want to further my knowledge of politics whilst helping others think about using their vote when the time comes around. If anyone here has done likewise or is in a similar group I'd really appreciate it if you could post up some guidelines to abide by.

Cheers

The Volt

Or better yet advice from anyone. I want to keep out people that'd be like "ah yeha i love the IRA" when they don't understand a thing.

Rebeller

How's it going Voltwad

What exactly do you mean by "politics group"? Will its purpose be to support a particular ideology, party or will it be more like a sort of club in which people can discuss political issues, find info etc?

bonkey

Voltwad wrote:

I want to keep out people that'd be like "ah yeha i love the IRA" when they don't understand a thing.

Surely the purpose of any such group is to show people what they need to understand before coming to a decision?

I'd have as much - or as little - of a problem with someone who supported any other political party who didn't understand a thing.

Surely the people you don't want are the people who aren't interested in discussing the various issues regardless of the side of the issue they're on.

What level school, by the way? Secondary, I'm guessing. Any sub-group (post junior cert for example) in particular, or all of them? And is it a discussion forum, a workshop-style setup, or a lecture series you're thinking of, or some hybrid or something else entirely?

Dave!

I'd say speak to a teacher about it and ask for their help. A history or english teacher would be your best bet.
In my school my history teacher set up a debating club that ended up entering a load of competitions and winning some (I wasn't on it, mind you).

Interesting...

The Volt

Rebeller wrote:

How's it going Voltwad

What exactly do you mean by "politics group"? Will its purpose be to support a particular ideology, party or will it be more like a sort of club in which people can discuss political issues, find info etc?

Yeah pretty much to discuss poltical issues. Any ideas on guidelines I should set? I need to make it sound professional so the teacher will go for the idea.

bonkey wrote:

Surely the purpose of any such group is to show people what they need to understand before coming to a decision?

I'd have as much - or as little - of a problem with someone who supported any other political party who didn't understand a thing.

Surely the people you don't want are the people who aren't interested in discussing the various issues regardless of the side of the issue they're on.

What level school, by the way? Secondary, I'm guessing. Any sub-group (post junior cert for example) in particular, or all of them? And is it a discussion forum, a workshop-style setup, or a lecture series you're thinking of, or some hybrid or something else entirely?

Secondary School, aiming at any person with a genuine interest in politics.

The Volt

· Discuss present day issues
· Get a better understanding on Party Policies
· Get students in right frame of mind and encourage them to use their vote when the time comes.

that's what I've got so far. Help!!

Rebeller

I'd recommend drawing up a list of 5 key points outlining what exactly you want to achieve. Talk to your friends and colleagues to see what they're interested in and what their level of knowledge is.

You can use the info you obtain to set the agenda for your first meeting. This will ensure that those who attend any first meeting are more likely to attend future ones.

With an election in the air you might even be able to persuade some of your local representatives to come in and have a Q&A session (you'd probably need teacher backing for this).

You could get in touch with the Union of Secondary Students

http://www.uss.ie/

Good luck with whatever you come up with

philologos

you'd need to talk about crucial things that are affecting our society today like the European Union and Turkey and American foreign policy, sanctions on Iran. Create a bit of leeway for debate on things.

The Volt

See trouble is there's already an Amnesty International Group and if I cross with what they're doing then it wont be established

sceptre

Stress the interest you have in discussing domestic politics and those of the EU then. Almost no crossover whatever. You can throw in the other stuff by yourself later when no-one's looking.

The Volt

this is all gravy:) keep it comin

The Volt

Principal is considering it so fingers crossed

Annasopra

How about inviting some of your local councillors from different parties to come in and talk about why they joined, what they do, what their party is really about or even youth wings such Ogra FF, YFG, Labour Youth

Dave!

Team Europe are advertised on Newstalk all the time, and they're described as "an expect panel of speakers who can talk about EU policy" (or somethin like that), so maybe they'd have a chat with yiz

I dunno if Europe is as interesting as say the War in Iraq, though.

ISAW

Johnnymcg wrote:

How about inviting some of your local councillors from different parties to come in and talk about why they joined, what they do, what their party is really about or even youth wings such Ogra FF, YFG, Labour Youth

Learn about the irish constitution . how the state is set up . Government departments, civil service, judicial arm, how laws are made, Oireachtas.

Take a look at a topic in the world wide media e.g. War on terror and examine what is claimed and where the actual facts are e.g. what evidence was claimed for WMD what evidence was there?

Learn about what a "good" source of information is and what "opinion" is.


e.g.

Bush wrote:

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories … And we'll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." —Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

"We're never been 'stay the course', George." --George W. Bush, attempting to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years, interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Oct. 22, 2006
campare it to
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/22/bush%2Dstay%2Dthe%2Dcourse/

Look at the constitution of a college debating society or political discussion society.

Keep away from local issues and local political parties and representatives. this will stop you getting roped into real politic and enable you to concentrate on policy and issues. Politics is about whether one should for example own property. Real politic is about whether the Council should rezone Ms Hughes side entrance so part of the football club can be rezoned as a car park and helop the council have parking for the Dart station and the football club get a bar licence as a sweetner. You dont need to get caught up in that sort of thing. You can always join a local party if you wish to.

Akrasia

I think you should be very careful to avoid letting your own political views dominate (or the views of any other person or clique)

If your group gets the reputation of being a front for any single organisation, it will lose legitimacy and discourage a varied membership.

One way to deal with this would be to have a varied choice of discussion topics, especially those that are likely to split the party lines. (for example, Abortion, Foreign policy, capitalism versus socialism, the nature of democracy (Is the current liberal democracy the only option for Ireland, or could we choose a more social democratic model or even something more radical) The nature of trade unions, Is Social Partnership really a good idea etc)

If your group is able to have a lively discussion on these kinds of issues without reaching an immediate consensus, then that would be a measure of how successful and varied your group has become.

The Volt

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've drawn up a new proposal based on it. All appreciated.