Global Citizenship and Intercultural Competencies

(Revised version)

My junior year I took comparative politics. It was really interesting to learn about all the

different governments that exist in the world. I have lived in America my whole life so I am used

to the government we have. Some of the countries we talked about amazed me at how different

their governments are compared to the United States. We talked about how the type of

government you have makes a huge effect on your country. The two countries we used for this

example was North Korea and South Korea. Both countries have the same geography however

their government is very different which makes all the difference. North Korea has an exclusive

government which basically means it only benefits some people like their high ranking officials.

Meanwhile South Korea has an inclusive government which means it benefits everyone. Those

two countries are very similar in terms of location and climate, however the type of government

they have has made these two countries vastly different.

We also learned about electoral threshold, the different kinds of coalitions that exist and

so many other factors of a government. We talked about how certain trends in governments can

be caused by where the country is located. For example proportional representation occurs

mostly in Western Europe and most of Latin America. We discussed the advantages and

disadvantages of all the different types of electoral systems to help learn why certain countries

chose the electoral system that they did. I had never realized how many different aspects can

affect the government or how many different options there are. It was also interesting learning

about the reasoning behind why countries chose what they did for their country.
 As a part of this class my professor created an imaginary country who had just

overthrown its authoritarian leader. The country has four different ethnic identities. The previous

leader only allowed people from his ethnic identity to hold positions of power. The other three

groups had no representation in their government and no say in what happened. All of the other

ethnic groups were oppressed. He also forced everyone to speak his ethnic groups language and

forced many people to move to accommodate his ethnic group. Some of the groups had lived in a

certain area for a while, but were forced to move to accommodate one group. Some ethnic

groups were divided and lived in two different places instead of all together in one part of the

country. My professor assigned every member of my class to an ethnic identity. My classmates

and I had to come up with a new constitution for this country that determined how the country

would be set up. However, in order for the constitution to be set, we all had to agree or at least a

majority or us. So we would have to make some sacrifices and would need to compromise in

order to be able to set a constitution.

The group that I was assigned to was the Takas. The Takas all used to live in one part of

the country until they were kicked out by the dictator. He gave the land that the Takas previously

lived on to his ethnic group the Randies. The Takas wanted their land back as a part of the new

constitution. They also believe that women should have a low status in the new country. They

thought the men should be in charge and only men can hold political office. The Takas did not

think women should be able to have any job in the government.

I personally do not agree with all of the viewpoints of the Takas, however I had to

pretend that I was. I of course disagreed with the Takas viewpoint that women should not have a

job in politics because they are women. However, I had to decide what kind of government the

country should have and why and explain this in a paper (see Comparative Politics-Takas
government paper) based on what the Takas thought, not what I thought. Then I had to be able to

argue my viewpoint to the rest of the class and get my fellow classmates to agree with me. The

goal of the assignment was try to get your ethnic group all or as many of the things they want as

possible. When debating with other classmates I had to compromise while still remembering

what the Takas would want, not what I personally would want.

This class taught me all the different aspects that go into a government. It also taught me

the effect some types of governments have on the citizens. I learned how inclusive governments

benefit the whole country while exclusive governments only benefit high ranking government

officials. I learned how electoral thresholds have an effect on how many political parties are

represented in congress. Which then has a direct effect on coalitions as well as how easily laws

are passed or how difficult it might be to pass laws. This class also taught me to look at why

things are the way they were. Rather than just learn that North Korea and South Korea are vastly

different we looked deeper than just the surface. We looked at all the reasons they are different

and why these two countries ended up with greatly different governments. I learned that when

questioning why things are the way they are I need to look deeper to figure out why. Rather than

just accept how things are if I look deeper I will gain a greater understanding. I think this is a

lesson that can be used throughout by whole life. I also learned that whenever I state my opinion

I should be able to defend it and try to help others see what I am thinking, but at the same time

ask people why their opinions are what they are. Rather than immediately decide if I agree or not

if I take the time to learn why someones opinion is what it is, it could influence my own

thinking. Taking the time to ask why and learn about why things are the way they are will help

me see the various sides to different issues. It will help me understand my own opinions and
even understand the impact of my choices. If I think why I am making a certain choice and think

of what that choice means I can understand all of the impact of my choices on my community.