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The Case Against Standardized Testing and the Call for a Revitalization of Democracy

In Chomsky on MisEducation, in the chapter titled ‘‘Market Democracy in a Neo-Liberal Order: Doctrines and Reality’’ Chomsky warns: ‘‘Neither the United States nor any other power has been guided by ‘global meliorism.’ Democracy is under attack worldwide, including the leading industrial countries—at least, democracy in a meaningful sense of the term, involving opportunities for people to manage their own collective and individual affairs’’ (Chomsky, 2000: 136). My objective in this essay is to encourage others to join the campaign in the struggle to revitalize participatory democracy. We must join the scores of people that are determined to fight for meaningful democracy. We must continue to increase the pressure and the momentum already started by those people who are struggling for democracy in, for example, the summit meeting of 1997 in Vancouver, of 1999 in Seattle, of 2001 in Quebec City, and of 2001 in Genoa, Italy. We must understand that we the citizens are empowered, and that we can make a difference. We must rally and fight the enemies of democracy. The battle is not easy, but the need is vital. We must rally around those who have fought valiantly and even lost their lives fighting for democracy, and by doing our part, honor and continue their laudable efforts. I will never forget the shock, disgust, inspiration, and the urgent need I felt to participate in revitalizing democracy when I read the newspaper headline on the front page of the Globe and Mail on Saturday, July 21, 2001 about the G8 summit and The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 26:339–361, 2004 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc. ISSN: 1071-4413 print DOI: 10.1080/10714410490905375