{"id":38198,"date":"2017-03-15T13:12:59","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T20:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=38198"},"modified":"2017-03-15T13:28:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T20:28:40","slug":"political-even-not-partisan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/political-even-not-partisan\/","title":{"rendered":"We should all be political, even if we\u2019re not all partisan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"votingboard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Is it possible to be political and nonpartisan simultaneously? It\u2019s a question likely as old as the Republican and Democratic parties themselves. The short answer is yes. According to Merriam Webster, one definition<\/a> of political is \u201cof, relating to, involving, or involved in politics and especially party politics\u201d. To be political is to be involved in government. To be partisan is to advance the agenda of a political party. But there is also room for nonpartisanship: being involved in government without exclusively taking any one party\u2019s side. However, a natural tension exists between being political and being partisan. That\u2019s because both our political and partisan identities often play out in same system or sphere: government.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the recent launch of FutureEd, a new nonpartisan, independent education think tank, Audrey Watters\u2014an education writer\u2014wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Related: I don\u2019t understand why folks claim their work is \u201cnonpartisan.\u201d Education is always political. And as [Marxist theorist Antonio] Gramsci said, \u201cI believe that living means taking sides. Those who really live cannot help being a citizen and a partisan.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Watters\u2014and Gramsci by extension\u2014raise an important and often tricky dilemma. For one, there\u2019s a practical reason why many nonprofits\u2014who work to influence politicians\u2014identify their work as nonpartisan. Nonprofits with a 501(c)(3) tax status must<\/a> remain nonpartisan to maintain their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.<\/p>\n

Individuals of course don\u2019t have these restrictions. They can freely choose to be political and partisan. The fuller quote attributed to Gramsci reads<\/a>: \u201cI hate the indifferent. I believe that living means taking sides. Those who really live cannot help being a citizen and a partisan. Indifference and apathy are parasitism, perversion, not life.\u201d Gramsci saw partisanship and indifference as opposites, perhaps rightly so. But we shouldn\u2019t conflate being partisan with being political. Nor should we conflate nonpartisanship with indifference.<\/p>\n

On one extreme, to be political, an individual has to get involved in the affairs of government. Involvement could include voting, holding a political office, calling or writing to your senator about an issue you care about, or testifying at local public board hearings.<\/p>\n

The U.S. education system is inherently political because who of governs it: parents, students, educators, but also political actors such as mayors, governors, legislators, and federal government officials. We can\u2019t separate schools or how we educate students from governing bodies or actors (governors, legislators, judges, mayors) working in them. Sure, our two major political parties constantly argue over the proper role of government in schools, in making decisions about how students are educated, and at what price. But neither party believes that government has or should play no role. The Republican party, even as champions of small government\u2014isn\u2019t the party of no government. And we can\u2019t be political if there is no government to engage.<\/p>\n

On the other extreme is to be apolitical, or choosing to not engage in governmental affairs. No one should advocate for this. What it means to be a citizen is wrapped up in the extent to which we actively participate in what\u2019s happening around us. This includes what\u2019s going on in our communities, our schools, and our government. Participation has always been central to our democracy\u2014in very simple terms, a way a nation chooses to organizes itself politically. Active participation, or citizenship, is even more important in the political environment we currently find ourselves.<\/p>\n

It may be easy to conclude that Gramsci thought nonpartisans were apolitical, unengaged, and indifferent for failing to take a stance. However, it isn\u2019t that nonpartisans don\u2019t take sides, or are averse to politics. It\u2019s that nonpartisans don\u2019t any one side exclusively. On the other hand, being partisan requires an individual to take a side.<\/p>\n

Partisanship is when an individual exclusively supports one political party over another. It\u2019s the stance a person takes when they decide to engage politically. But, it\u2019s not political engagement itself. We can be partisan and not political if we fail to engage in the affairs of government. In other words, to be partisan but not political is only having opinions without ever acting on them.<\/p>\n

An educator, deciding to participate in governmental affairs, and staunchly supports the education agendas put forth by one political party over another can be said to be partisan. On the other hand, when a nonpartisan educator engages in the affairs of government, this individual doesn\u2019t faithfully support any one political party. This is arguably what makes them independent.<\/p>\n

Consider how an educator who is nonpartisan can believe fiscal conservatism is important for the health of a government\u2014meaning they may support Republican policies that tighten, rather than loosen, a government\u2019s health care budget. But when trying to ensure disadvantaged students can afford college, this same educator may also believe that a college student\u2019s financial needs should be adequately met with government support, a position widely supported by Democrats. How this individual decides to engage politically to help students with financial needs won\u2019t be primarily based in party politics, but on what course of action they believe will enable government to \u00a0support its citizens\u2014in the here and now\u2014and for many years to come.<\/p>\n

We can be political and partisan, but we can also be political and nonpartisan or independent. And, we should always be political even if we\u2019re not always partisan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is it possible to be political and nonpartisan simultaneously? It\u2019s a question likely as old as the Republican and Democratic parties themselves. The short answer is yes. According to Merriam Webster, one definition of political is \u201cof, relating to, involving, or involved in politics and especially party politics\u201d. To be political is to be involved […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":38199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,29],"tags":[8186],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-38198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-politics","category-higher-education","tag-politics-4"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWe should all be political, even if we\u2019re not all partisan - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/political-even-not-partisan\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We should all be political, even if we\u2019re not all partisan - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is it possible to be political and nonpartisan simultaneously? It\u2019s a question likely as old as the Republican and Democratic parties themselves. The short answer is yes. According to Merriam Webster, one definition of political is \u201cof, relating to, involving, or involved in politics and especially party politics\u201d. To be political is to be involved […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/political-even-not-partisan\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-15T20:12:59+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-15T20:28:40+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/votingboard.jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"401\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/political-even-not-partisan\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/political-even-not-partisan\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"We should all be political, even if we\u2019re not all partisan\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-15T20:12:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-15T20:28:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/political-even-not-partisan\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":916,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/political-even-not-partisan\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/votingboard.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business and Politics\",\"Higher Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/political-even-not-partisan\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/political-even-not-partisan\\\/\",\"name\":\"We should all be political, even if we\u2019re not all partisan - 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