Plain Civics

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss moments in America’s 250-year history when the country didn’t live up to the ideals it was built on—like equality and segregation, limited government v expansive government, freedom of speech v restrictions on speech, and the American Dream v economic inequality. This is not saying America is good or bad, but that it is compli...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss moments in America’s 250-year history when the country didn’t live up to the ideals it was built on—like equality, democracy, justice, freedom of religion and expression, etc. they explain that this is not saying America is good or bad, but that it is complicated. It’s about understanding these contradictions and managing, or...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they talk about the events of 9/11/2001 and patriotism. After recapping the events of the morning of September 11th, when four airplanes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, the hosts discuss how this horrific day inspired patriotism in most of us. It was like a reviv...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at the pros and cons of both term limits and age limits for members of Congress and the President. We hear more and more citizens calling for one or both of these limits for our federal elected officials, in fact there is over 80% bipartisan support for both. Listen and find out what the arguments for an against these limits are....

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at why “real” history is so important. This lesson in what type of historical narrative we are presented with in our museums, monuments, and history books goes hand-in-hand with civics because much of civics involves making decisions based on the experience of the past and the lessons that have been learned. The hosts also discus...

Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they tackle 5 more common misconceptions about our government. These misconceptions include Presidential power, whether every vote makes a difference, who government officials work for, isn’t my elected representative weak or “selling out” if they change their mind or vote against an issue, and isn’t all news media today “fake news” and ca...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the important of civic virtue. At the beginning of the last several episodes we have been telling you about thirteen civic virtues that Benjamin Franklin felt were the most important qualities that help individuals to be better people and contribute to a stronger society. In this episode we will dig deeper and discuss the civi...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they look at why we celebrate the July 4th Independence Day. How did it come about and why? What does the Declaration of Independence mean? They break down the different parts of the document and what led to its writing. It is both a break-up letter to the British and our country’s birth certificate. What would have happened if the colonis...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they dig into the concept of “rule of law.” What does it mean and how did it develop? Why did the Framers choose to create a government and judicial system based on “rule of law?” Why is it so important to have and to maintain? Listen to this episode to gain a better understanding of this important element of our system of government. Supp...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue their discussion of federalism. In Part 1 they discussed the origins of the idea of federalism and defined it, and in Part 2 they looked at most of the first era, known as Dual Federalism (1787-1933), from 1789 to about 1870. In this final episode examining federalism they finish the era of Dual Federalism and continue with t...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue their discussion of federalism. In Part 1 they discussed the origins of the idea of federalism and defined it. In this episode they look at the three eras of federalism in the U.S. thus far. In this episode they venture through most of the first era, known as Dual Federalism, which ran from 1789 to about 1933, and is often re...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they define federalism and discuss how it came about in the United States Constitution. The idea of a confederation and examples of confederations show how individual groups or states found the need to mutually agree on protection and other needs. This idea leads the Framers to create a government that divides power between the national (f...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they dig into the three branches of government and why the Framers established three branches. About half of Americans can name the three branches, but if you ask them to name the main duties of each branch of what is meant by separation of powers and checks and balances, they can’t explain these. So listen to this episode to gain a better...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss civics education, or lack thereof, as well as voting percentages, detecting misinformation, improving civil discourse, and what happens to our nation if we fail to fix these things.  Support the show

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the steps citizens need to take to vote in the upcoming primary and general elections this year. They look at why exercising your right to vote is so important, when primary elections are held in each state, deadlines to register to vote, requirements for voting (Indiana specific, but info is given to find your own state’s req...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue with the fourth of Ben Franklin’s civic virtues and then  continue the discussion of 20 signs of tyranny, using Professor Timothy Snyder’s 2017 book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, as a guide. This episode covers lessons eight through twenty. These lessons from Professor Snyder’s book are even more rel...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they continue with the third of Ben Franklin’s civic virtues and then move into a discussion of liberal democracy v. authoritarianism. They will explain the difference between the two and prompt listeners to be on the lookout for signs of each. Once the differences of these two forms of government are laid out, they move into a discussion...

Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they track the beginnings, development, an evolution of political parties in U.S. history. It hasn’t always been the Democratic and Republican Parties. Political parties in the U.S. actually started back in the 1790’s with the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party and have changed numerous times since then. In fact, today’s...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they introduce a new opening feature called “Ben Franklin’s Virtues,” where they cover the 13 civic virtues that one of our famous Founders thought to be most important.  One virtue will open each of the next 13 episodes. Following this, and in light of recent events, the hosts review some important ideas and actions that We the People nee...

Send us a message Join hosts Joe Ulery and Bobbi Fisher as they tackle 5 more common misconceptions about our government. These misconceptions include the impeachment process, whether the U.S. is a democracy, use of the Bible for swearing in officials, straight ticket voting, and removal of the President using the 25th Amendment. So join the hosts as they attempt to educate you about these misconc...

Send us a message In this second special holiday episode of Plain Civics, join host Bobbi Fisher as she tells the story of an ambitious battle plan devised by General George Washington to take place on Christmas night 1776. Up to this point in the Revolutionary War the Americans had achieved little success on the battlefield and troop morale was extremely low. Gen. Washington hoped that a surprise...

Send us a message The holiday season slows the country down — but civics doesn’t stop. In this special episode of Plain Civics , Joe Ulery looks at how holidays fit into American civic life. From early debates over Christmas in colonial America to Congress making it a federal holiday, from George Washington’s Christmas-night gamble to how government continues operating during the holidays today. T...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the “freedom of religion” portion of the First Amendment. The First Amendment actually provides us with 5 freedoms, including freedom of religion, which includes the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause; and freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition which we covered in episodes 21 and 22. There is a reason...

Send us a message We will return in Episode 24 with the freedom of religion part of the First Amendment. In this episode, join the hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss times in our almost 250-year history when the situation in the U.S. looked as bleak, or even bleaker, than they do today, but Americans were able to fight and claw in their quest for equal rights and a more perfect union...

Send us a message Join hosts Bobbi Fisher and Joe Ulery as they discuss the “freedom of expression” portion of the First Amendment. The First Amendment actually provides us with 5 freedoms, including freedom of religion, which we will examine in an upcoming episode, and freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition. We covered speech in the last episode and, in this one, we will examine press,...