Weird Lottery Idea For Civics Education Has Merit
The New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union welcomes the New
Zealand Initiative’s suggestion of using
“lucky-caller” quizzes with cash
prizes to incentivise New Zealanders to increase their
civics knowledge.
Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “It’s really important that those of us who pay the government’s bills understand how government works, and particularly how our voting system works to hold politicians to account.”
“But there are justified concerns over teaching civics in schools: it takes time and resources away from more practical subjects, students aren’t motivated to retain the information, and teachers can use civics class as a chance to grandstand on their own political biases.”
“We're intrigued by
the idea of providing a financial incentive for New
Zealanders to educate themselves, rather than throwing tens
of millions of taxpayer dollars at media subsidies and a
civics programme in schools. A kind of lottery for people
who know their civics basics could be far more cost
effective than other proposals. No-one likes missing out on
cold hard cash. It’s a weird idea that deserves to be
taken
seriously.”