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KQs for The Theme Knowledge and Politics, Making connections to the core…
KQs for The Theme
Knowledge and Politics
Scope
• In what ways is factual evidence sometimes used, abused, dismissed and ignored in politics?
• Is being knowledgeable an important quality in a political leader?
• How is the practice of politics distinct from the discipline of political science?
• What issues does politics raise about the difference between knowledge and opinion? How might political controversies be triggered by developments in scientific knowledge?
• Why have political leaders sometimes tried to control or eradicate specific bodies of knowledge?
• With regards to politics, do we know as much as we think we know?
Methods and tools
• What impact has social media had on how we acquire and share political knowledge?
• What role do reason and emotion play in the formation of our political affinities or in our voting decisions?
• How might emotive language and faulty reasoning be used in politics to try to persuade and manipulate?
• What role do political authorities and institutions play in knowledge-creation and distribution?
• Why are referendums sometimes regarded as a contentious decision-making tool?
• In what ways may statistical evidence be used and misused to justify political actions?
• To what extent can polls provide reliable knowledge and accurate predictions?
Ethics
• Are political judgments a type of moral judgment?
• Can knowledge be divorced from the values embedded in the process of creating it?
• Do political leaders and officials have different ethical obligations and responsibilities compared to members of the general public?
• When the moral codes of individual nations conflict, can political organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), provide universal criteria that transcend them?
• On what criteria could we judge whether an action should be regarded as justifiable civil disobedience?
• On what grounds might an individual believe that they know what is right for others?
• Are new ethical challenges emerging from the increased use of data analytics in political activity and decision-making?
Perspective
• What kinds of knowledge inform our political opinions?
• To what extent are our political views shaped by society, family backgrounds, education or social class? • Why do facts sometimes not change our minds?
• To what extent do museums package past knowledge to serve the needs of contemporary political systems and authorities?
• Given access to the same facts, how is it possible that there can be disagreement between experts on a political issue?
• 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?
• How might knowledge reflect or perpetuate existing power structures?
Making connections to the core theme
• How can we know whether we have sufficient knowledge before voting in an election? (scope)
• Has technology changed how and where our political views are shaped? (perspectives)
• Are objective facts or appeals to emotion more effective in shaping public opinion? (methods and tools)
• In a democratic system, do we have an ethical obligation to be knowledgeable about political issues and events? (ethics)
Knowledge and Politics