CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO CIVICS AND ETHICS

1.1. Definitions
the word civics is derived from the Latin word ‘civis’ which
means a citizen.
Another Latin word ‘civitas’ means city-state.
Both these two Latin words gave birth to the social science
known as civics
Civics as an education for the first time delivered in ancient
Greek-city-state of Athens with the aim of teaching teaching
Athenians about the “good life”.
Thus, civic education is, in short, an education for citizenship in
which people get access to different kinds of knowledge
The main aim of teaching civics and ethics is to create active,
disciplined(good citizens) , and responsive citizens
Civics education is a branch of social science
which deals with the rights and responsibilities
of citizens(this is the most cited definition)
It is the intensive study and understanding of
political institutions such as legislative,
executive and judiciary
It is the study of the purpose of government, the
nature of the law, and the way private behavior
affects the public order and the political system;
It also studies the international socio-economic and
political conditions. i.e. civic competence. It is the
ability to participate in political, economic and
social affairs
Civic education is an education for the wide spread
participation of citizen in the overall affaires of
their nation.
It is also deals with the knowledge and skills that
you should acquire in order to be competent and
responsible citizen
 Origin and Definition of Ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that study the rightness and

wrongness of human actions and conducts.
Ethics is a means to decide a course of human action or
conduct as right or wrong, or as bad or good based on
rational ethical principles and standards.
In ethics, we are concerned with what we ought to do, what
consequences ought to be achieved, and what sort of persons
we ought to become.
It seeks to establish and prescribe norms, standards, or
principles for evaluating our actual practices.
 What is Morality?
morality and ethics are often used
interchangeably in everyday speech as
referring to justified or proper conduct.
But ethics is usually associated with a certain
conduct within a profession, for example, the
code of ethics for the teaching profession.
Morality is a more general term referring to
the character of individuals and community.
Morality refers to moral conduct while ethics
refers to the formal study of moral conduct.
It can be claimed that morality is related to the
action, but ethics is related to principles on the
basis of which we judge our actions
If an action conform to the established
code(ethical standards), it is called moral ,if
not immoral
 Ethics and Law
 As opposed to morals and ethics, laws are norms,
formally approved by national governments or
international political institutions
 Many laws are introduced in order to promote well-being,
resolve conflicts of interest, and promote social harmony.
 However, there are several reasons why ethics is not law.
 First, some actions that are illegal may not be unethical.
 Speeding is illegal, but one might have an ethical
obligation to break the speed limit in order to transport
someone to a hospital in an emergency.
 Second, some actions that are unethical may not be illegal.
 Most people would agree that lying is unethical but lying is
only illegal under certain conditions, e.g. lying on an
income tax return, lying when giving sworn testimony, etc.
 Third, laws can be unethical or immoral.
 The United States had laws permitting slavery in the 1800s
but most people today would say that those laws were
unethical or immoral.
 Although we have moral and ethical obligations to obey the
law, civil disobedience can be justified when immoral or
unethical laws exist.
Fourth, we use different kinds of mechanisms to
express, teach, inculcate, and enforce laws and
ethics.
Laws are expressed publicly in statutes, penal
codes, court rulings, government regulations, and
so forth.
 Although ethics and morals are sometimes made
explicit in religious texts, professional codes of
conduct, or philosophical writings, many ethical
and moral standards are implicit.
• The method of enforcement also vary.
• we use the coercive power of government to enforce
laws.
• People who break certain laws can be fined,
imprisoned, or executed.
• People who violate ethical or moral standards do not
face these kinds of punishments unless their actions
also violate laws.
• society uses persuasion and social exclusion in the
case of violation of ethical principles
Civic and ethical education is a subject which is
interdisciplinary.
 A subject becomes interdisciplinary when it borrows
shares or makes knowledge, theories, principles and
explanations from different disciplines.
Civic and ethical education has several sources and
takes knowledge from different disciplines or
subjects.
The sources of civic and ethical education can be
generally classified in to two.
A. Theoretical sources
• This refers to the various subjects which civic and
ethical education borrows theories, principles and
explanations.
• These include political science, philosophy, law,
economics geography, history, sociology and so on. For
example, when you learn about morality or ethics, the
source is philosophy. When you deal about democracy,
state, government, citizenship, etc, the source is political
science. Issues about human rights and constitution are
originally taken from law
B. Documentary sources
 Documentary sources include international instruments such
as UDHR, which is very important source on the issue of
Human Rights, and various kinds of covenants and
conventions
 In addition, constitutions both federal and regional as well as
legal enactments and decisions made by legal bodies, such as
parliaments, state councils and various federal ministries are
also sources of civic and ethical education.
 Furthermore, historical sources, films and photographs and so
on are some of the documentary sources of the subject matter
under discussion.
Goals of Moral and Civic Education
In higher educational institutions of Ethiopia, civics
and ethics/moral education is given with the aim of
educating students about democratic culture, ethical
values and principles, supremacy of constitution, the
rule of law, rights and duties of citizens.
It is also aimed at creating a generation who has the
capability to shoulder family and national
responsibility
Generally, the necessity of delivering the course
emanates from:
 1. Developing a democratic and
participant political culture
 Democratic outlooks should be indoctrinated into the mind of
the young generation.
 This can be realized by teaching students democratic values,
principles, and cultivate them in such way that they could be
able to shoulder the responsibility of their country
 Political tolerance is critical to build up democratic system.
 In order to ensure the freedom of expression, the culture of
tolerance is a pillar.
 So, tolerance could mean accommodation of political
differences.
 Therefore, civic and ethical education teaches students about
political culture, democracy and its values and principles.
 political culture defines the roles which an
individual may play in the political process.
Almond and Verba (1963) construct three
political cultures:
A. parochial cultures,
B. subject cultures, and
C. participant cultures.
A. parochial cultures
In such political culture, citizens don’t have any
tendency to participate in the political sphere of their
countries
 individuals think of their families’ or localities’
advantage as the only goal to pursue.
Citizens focus only on local matters by excluding
wider social contexts
People have no understanding of the national
political system
B. Subject political cultures
In subject cultures, there is high cognitive,
affective, and evaluative orientation towards
the political system and policy outputs, but
orientations towards input objects (like
political parties) and the self as active
participants are minimal.
Subject cultures are most compatible with
centralized, authoritarian political structures
C. participant political cultures
 members of society have high cognitive, affective, and evaluative
orientation to the political system, the input objects, the policy
outputs, and recognize the self as an active participant in the polity.
 participant cultures are most compatible with democratic political
structures
 Democracy can only flourish when citizens understand and
participate actively in civic and political life from the perspective
that participation is important, but informed and educated
participation is more important.
 Which political/civic culture best describes the Ethiopian political
situations?
 2) Building civic competence in citizens

Civic and ethical education is the overall

educational system that helps students to develop
civic knowledge, skills and attitudes.
 In other words, it helps citizens to develop
their capacity and ability to participate
effectively in the political, economy and social
system in their country.
 3) Promoting diversity and culture of tolerance

Differences are natural and part of the lives of

human kind.
 Relationships and interactions between people
could only be maintained and kept alive when
people develop feeling of tolerance and
appreciation for differences.
Tolerance enables us to understand that other
people have the right to hold opinions, believes,
and positions that are different from our own.
It helps individuals to give respect and values for
traditions, languages, culture and etc of others as well
as to listen to the view points of others.
 Therefore, civic and ethical education enables
students to develop certain positive and relevant
attitudes towards important values and virtues like
tolerance.
It also enables citizens to appreciate the values of
dialogue, negotiation, tolerance, compromise diversity
and so on.
 4. National character and patriotism

 Patriotism refers to one’s love, affection and devotion

towards his/her country.
 Citizens should always be willing and ready to sacrifice
everything for their motherland.
 They should be proud of their country.
 They should also be proud of their identity, cultural
heritage and uphold the values of the society.
 For example, a student who has learnt about the glory,
fame, and deeds of his/her ancestors as well as the history
of his/her country will develop the feeling of patriotism
 5) Conflict resolution and peace building

Civic and ethical education is aimed at creating good

citizens who don’t participate in corruption, respect the
rights and opinions of others,
It helps student to develop skills such as information
inquiry and accurate decision making, conflict resolution,
expression of oneself logically and clearly, use of
respectful language, scientific reasoning, and so on.
Moreover, it also widely teaches students about the
importance of the right attitudes that needs to ensure
harmony and peaceful co-existence among people.
Moral and Civics Education is based on and seeks
to promote in students core moral, ethical,
democratic, and educational values, such as:
 Respect for life
 Respect for reasoning
 Fairness
 Concern for the welfare of others
 Respect for diversity
 Values democratic principles
 Peaceful resolution of conflict
In general the significance of civic and ethical studies
includes:
 to make citizen aware about the fundamental rights freedoms and
duties,
 to initiate citizens to participate actively in the political activities
of the government, economic and social issues of their country
 to produce competent(knowledgeable, skillful and positive
attitudes), high moral standard society and responsible citizens
who can ask and use their rights and fulfill their obligations in
accordance with the laws of their respective country,
 to develop the culture of democracy and avoid the culture of
passivity and apathy,
 to make citizen think rationally and critically