Scope
1. In what ways is factual evidence sometimes used, abused, dismissed and ignored in politics?
2. Is being knowledgeable an important quality in a political leader?
3. How is the practice of politics distinct from the discipline of political science?
4. What issues does politics raise about the difference between knowledge and opinion?
5. How might political controversies be triggered by developments in scientific knowledge?
6. Why have political leaders sometimes tried to control or eradicate specific bodies of knowledge?
7. With regards to politics, do we know as much as we think we know?
Perspectives
8. What kinds of knowledge inform our political opinions?
9. To what extent are our political views shaped by society, family backgrounds, education or social class?
10. Why do facts sometimes not change our minds?
11. To what extent do museums package past knowledge to serve the needs of contemporary political systems and authorities?
12. Given access to the same facts, how is it possible that there can be disagreement between experts on a political issue?
13. When exposed to numerous competing ideologies and explanations, what makes an individual settle on a particular framework? Is there ever a neutral position from which to write about politics or from which to judge political opinions?
14. How might knowledge reflect or perpetuate existing power structures?
Methods and Tools
15. What impact has social media had on how we acquire and share political knowledge?
16. What role do reason and emotion play in the formation of our political affinities or in our voting decisions?
17. How might emotive language and faulty reasoning be used in politics to try to persuade and manipulate?
18. To what extent can polls provide reliable knowledge and accurate predictions?
19. What role do political authorities and institutions play in knowledge-creation and distribution?
20. Why are referendums sometimes regarded as a contentious decision-making tool?
21. In what ways may statistical evidence be used and misused to justify political actions?
Ethics
22. Are political judgments a type of moral judgment?
23. Can knowledge be divorced from the values embedded in the process of creating it?
24. Do political leaders and officials have different ethical obligations and responsibilities compared to members of the general public?
25. When the moral codes of individual nations conflict, can political organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), provide universal criteria that transcend them?
26. On what criteria could we judge whether an action should be regarded as justifiable civil disobedience?
27. On what grounds might an individual believe that they know what is right for others?
28. Are new ethical challenges emerging from the increased use of data analytics in political activity and decision-making?
Making connections to the core theme - Knowledge and the Knower
29. How can we know whether we have sufficient knowledge before voting in an election? (scope)
30. Has technology changed how and where our political views are shaped? (perspectives)
31. Are objective facts or appeals to emotion more effective in shaping public opinion? (methods and tools)
32. In a democratic system, do we have an ethical obligation to be knowledgeable about political issues and events? (ethics)
Other sources
Lantz Reisz, Jean. "Trump Promises to end birthright citizenship and shut down the border..." The Conversation. 20 Jan 2025.
Padlet Activity Knowledge and Politics, 1 and 4 April 2024.
QR code sources and Google slide activity, 8 April 2024
QR #1 The Overton Window
QR # 2 Postpolitics and PostTruth - entry from Science Direct
QR #3 Epistemic Injustice video
QR #4 Protecting Science from Politics
How did everything get so political? The Coloradan
Sara Kamali. "White Nationalism is a political ideology that mainstreams racist." The Conversation. 23 Sept 2022.
Lewis, Tanya. How the US Pandemic Response went wrong - and what went right during a year of Covid. Scientific American. 11 March 2021.
Uri Friedman. The Pandemic is Revealing a new form of National Power. The Atlantic. 15 Nov 2020.
Rothwell and Makridis. Politics is wrecking America's Pandemic Response. The Brookings Institute. 17 Sept 2020.
Article on the gap between scientific success and political failure during the pandemic. Financial Times. 25 Feb 2021.
The New Statesman. Article on Moral Relativism in Politics. 2 March 2021.
Hajer Sharief. Politics at the Dinner Table. 2019 Ted.
Sara Zeigler. Communications Decency Act of 1996. The First Amendment Encyclopedia. Middle Tennessee State University.