Category Archives: advocating civic education

take a survey to help develop a strategy for improving civic education in the USA

A coalition called CivXNow is working to expand and improve civic education in the USA. I am on this coalition’s steering committee.

We recently fielded a survey to collect ideas for improving civic education. More than 6,500 people took that survey. A major component was a “Five Whys” exercise, asking why civics is not as good as it should be. If you took the “Five Whys” survey, please complete a second survey now to help refine and organize the results. The format of this second survey is innovative and should be fun.

If you did not take that first survey, we would still welcome your input as we hone the ideas that emerged from it. We have designed a survey for people who didn’t take the first one but still wish to have input. It is online and will take less than 15 minutes to complete. It can be taken on a computer or a smartphone. You can take it by clicking here.

coming soon: Democracy’s Discontent and Civic Learning

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Now available for pre-ordering is Charles S. White (ed.), Democracy’s Discontent and Civic Learning: Multiple Perspectives. Chapters include:

“The Populist Moment,” by William A. Galston.
“Populism, Democracy, and the Education of Citizens,” by Thomas S. Vontz and J. Spencer Clark, (with Stephen L. Schechter).
“Are Europe’s Democracies in Danger? A View of the Populist Challenge,” by Karlheinz Duerr.
“Confronting a Global Democracy Recession: The Role of United States International Democracy Support Programs,” by Liza Prendergast
“Democracy’s Pharmakon: Technology as Remedy and Poison,” by Charles S. White.
“Judicial Legitimacy in the Age of Populism,” by Alison Staudinger.
“Fulfilling the Promise of Democracy: How Black Lives Matter Can Foster Empowered Civic Engagement,” by Amy J. Samuels and Gregory L. Samuels.
“Does P–12 Educational Research Ameliorate or Perpetuate Inequity?” by Jacob S. Bennett.
“Democracy’s Discontent and Teacher Education: Countering Populism and Cultivating Democracy,” by Stephanie Schroeder.
“A Primer on Trump Economics: Populist or Something Else?” by James E. Davis.
“Going for Depth in Civic Education: A Design Experiment,” by Walter C. Parker. With responses:
- “What Public Philosophy Should We Teach? A Reply to Parker,” by Peter Levine
- “Fidelity of Implementation: A Reply to Parker,” by James E. Davis
- “Contrasting Landscapes: A Reply to Parker,” by Karlheinz Duerr

new survey on Americans’ views of democracy

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(Salt Lake City, Utah) Freedom House, the George W. Bush Institute, and the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement have released a new national survey on Americans’ attitudes toward democracy.

The headline finding is that Americans value democratic norms–regardless of party–and they worry that those norms are weakening. Almost exactly the same proportion of Democrats and Republicans (63% and 65%) say that it is “absolutely important” to live in a democracy.

But only one in three young adults think it’s “very important” to live in a democracy. The perceived importance of living in a democracy rises steadily and steeply by age. This trend could be generational, in which case democracy is in trouble as we face a century dominated by people who aren’t committed to democracy. Or it could be a life-cycle effect: perhaps people gradually develop more commitment as they grow older.

This graph is an argument for better civics. Almost 90 percent of poll respondents want to “ensure that schools make civic education a bigger part of the curriculum.”

Respondents were asked what is wrong with our democracy today. Youth are much more likely that other groups to point to racism and discrimination. They are somewhat less likely to condemn unreliable media and partisan news. Hardly any youth are concerned about a “breakdown in traditional American values.” But partisan news and a breakdown of traditional values are the two most serious problems according to Republicans.

civic education that is less about the state

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We are completing the tenth (!) annual Summer Institute of Civic Studies, which revolves around the three schools of civic theory outlined below. (Each “school” encompasses diverse views and criticisms.) Today we talked about what these theories would mean for civic education at various levels and in several nations.

I certainly don’t advocate assigning The Theory of Communicative Action vols. 1-2, Governing the Commons, or Hind Swaraj in an 8th grade civics class. But we might involve 8th graders in managing common resources, incorporate them in the public sphere by inviting them to join public deliberations, and ask them to develop strategies for addressing power disparities at the human level. Indeed, we do all these things, but they tend to be somewhat marginal in civics curricula around the world, which focus much more on the state, the law, and the citizen in relation to those.

	The Bloomington School of Political Economy (Elinor Ostrom et al)	The Frankfurt School in its second generation (Jurgen Habermas et al)	Nonviolent social movements (Gandhi/King)
Fundamental problem	People fail to achieve what would be good for them collectively	People manipulate other people by influencing their opinions and goals	People fail to view others (or themselves) as fully human
Characteristic starting point	People know what they want but can’t get it	People don’t know what they want or want the wrong things	Some people won’t recognize other people as fellow citizens
Prominent example of failure	We destroy an environmental asset by failing to work together	Government or corporate propaganda distorts our authentic values	One national or ethnic group exploits another
Essential behavior of a citizen	Working together to make or preserve something.	Talking and listening about controversial values.	Using nonviolent sacrifice to compel change
Keyword	Collaboration	Deliberation	Relationships
*Instead of homo economicus* (the individual who maximizes material self-interest) we need …**	Homo faber (the person as a maker)	Homo sapiens (the person as a reasoner) or homo politicus (the participant in public assemblies)	A satyagrahi (the person as a bearer of soul force)
Role of the state	A set of nested and overlapping associations, not fundamentally different from other associations (firms, nonprofits, etc.)	Citizens form public opinion, which should guide the state, which makes law. The state should be radically distinct from other sectors	A target of demands
Modernity is …	A threat to local and traditional ways of cooperating, but we can use science to assist people in solving their own problems	A process of enlightenment that liberates people, but it goes wrong when states and markets “colonize” the private domain	For Gandhi: An imperialist imposition, undermining swaraj
How facts and values are combined	Not explicitly. Implicitly by using research on collective action to liberate people for reflective self-government	By proposing counterfactual ideals such as “the ideal speech situation” and diagnosing the reasons these are not met	Through “experiments in living” In a prophetic mode
Main interdisciplinary combination	Game theory plus observations of indigenous problem-solving	Normative philosophy (mainly achieved through critical readings of past philosophers) plus system-level sociology	Critical theology plus military strategy

support civics in Massachusetts #CivicsforMA #MAcivicsforall

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Right now is a “virtual advocacy day” for Massachusetts S.2375, “an act to promote and enhance civic engagement. I’m doing my bit by blogging in support of the law–which will also need an adequate appropriation. The bill would:

Require that all public schools teach American history and civics education in accordance with the History and Social Science Curriculum Framework.
Establish a “Civics Project Fund,” which shall be used by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to implement the various requirements of the bill (including offering professional development and developing model curriculum). The fund will consist of appropriations and donated funds.
Mandate that every student in the Massachusetts public school system have the
opportunity to participate in at least 2 student-led civics projects, at least one of which
would be completed after 8th grade and would be a graduation requirement. Projects may be individual, small group, class-wide, or as part of required coursework.
Allow DESE, subject to resources, to establish regional civics councils to monitor and
provide resources for civics education implementation throughout the commonwealth.
DESE may also hold annual conventions for such regional councils to meet and assess
the state of civics education, share best practices, and make recommendations to the
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).
Require DESE, subject to resources, to create tools aligned with the History and Social
Sciences Curriculum Framework to support districts in implementation .
Require DESE, subject to resources, to establish the “Edward Moore Kennedy and Edward William Brooke III Civics Challenge,” which shall be available to all eighth-grade public school students. Student participants will present civics projects for evaluation and recognition.
Direct the Secretary of the Commonwealth to establish a “High School Voter Challenge” in which every public high school may nominate one or more students to serve as voter outreach coordinators. Designated “high school voter challenge weeks” will be used to hold voter registration drives for students who are eligible to register or pre-register to vote. The Secretary will also be responsible for disseminating information to cities and towns to promote youth membership on municipal boards, committees and commissions.
Require BESE to provide opportunities for educators to receive professional development.
Require DESE to convene a commission to develop a proposal for the establishment of a civic education and public service program for Massachusetts youth.
Require DESE to conduct a study on the implementation of the act.