Forman’s “Advanced Civics”
REVIEWED BY H. W. EDWARDS, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.
This book represents the prevailing tendency to make instruction in civil government minister to good citizenship. The author states his purpose in these words: “While preparing this book I have constantly kept in mind the truth that instruction in civics should have for its highest aim the indoctrination of the learner in sound notions of political morality, and I have attempted to assist the teacher in achieving this aim whenever such assistance has seemed to be practicable.” A careful examination of the book, followed by a two years’ test in the class-room, has convinced the present reviewer that Dr. Forman has achieved his purpose and that the book is admirably adapted for use in the upper grades of secondary schools.
The book is divided into three parts. Part I is entitled “The Essential Principles of American Government. The Spirit.” In a way that is at once thorough, vital, and practical, the author explains the origin and raison d’être of democracy, representation, separation and balance of powers, federalism, local self-government, political parties; viewed in the light of American conditions. The treatment is clear, and abounds in allusions that an alert teacher can apply to present circumstances, developing interest and stimulating thought. This portion of the book affords a good introduction to the study of government for classes that can devote an entire year to the subject. It is especially useful where pupils have missed previous training in English history and government. Used in connection with American history, it furnishes a helpful interpretation of the political institutions whose development the pupil is studying.
Part II is headed, “The Organization of the American Government. The Form”; and gives what is usually found in manuals of civil government. This is compressed into one hundred and twenty pages, and while non-essentials are excluded, it does not appear that any important topic is neglected. Four chapters are devoted to local government, and one chapter to party organization. Some of the topics discussed are: “The President as a Political Personality,” “The Supreme Court and the People,” “The Citizen and His Country,” “The Sphere of Municipal Activity.”
The third part deals with “The Functions of the American Government. Its Services.” Here the author describes the government, national, State and local, in action. Included here are such topics as “Laws,” “Taxation,” “Money,” “Commerce,” “Elections,” “Corporations,” “Labor,” “Crime,” “Charity.” The treatment of controverted problems is dispassionate and conservative, and free from dogmatism. The method is to state the origin of the problem, indicate suggested solutions, and lead the pupil to reach his own conclusion in the light of the facts.
At the end of every chapter is a list of “suggestive questions.” Unlike the pedagogical apparatus found in many text-books, these questions are really useful. They are well calculated to lead the student to pursue the subject farther, by research and by independent thought. Many of them involve the application of principles to concrete instances, and are useful to train the judgment. Properly handled, they will enable the student to experience the pleasure of independent discovery, and thus serve one of the main purposes of all education.
In general, the problem of proportion is well solved. At first glance, one is tempted to criticize the relatively brief treatment of Part II and the large space given to Part III. But the suggestive questions at the ends of chapters will enable the teacher to treat of the organization of the government as fully as he desires, while some of the chapters dealing with the functions of government may be omitted without violating the unity of the subject. To the present reviewer, however, the arrangement is very satisfactory, for he believes that teachers have erred in sacrificing the live activities of government to the dry details of form. If, instead of compelling pupils to master the functions of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General, or to learn the appellate jurisdiction of each of the courts, we could lead them to watch a State purify its elections or a city secure a water supply, fewer of them would find civil government “dull.”
The criticisms that may be made are of minor importance. School books should be bound in part leather. The book would be more usable if the paragraphs were numbered. An occasional misstatement appears, e. g., that only eleven colonies were present in the First Continental Congress (p. 45). Chapter IX, a narrative of the expansion of American territory might well be omitted, as belonging more properly to another subject.