America has an extraordinary tale to tell. In a world of kings and queens, the founders created a revolutionary system of self-governance aimed at honoring political equality and human liberty. Legendary fights erupted over how to empower a functioning government without threatening the freedom of individuals and how to address the country’s gravest failure to live up to its own professed values — chattel slavery. Learning about the American political tradition ought to be exciting for students, especially since the ideals underpinning the Declaration of Independence still fuel today’s battles for social and economic justice.
Yet for as long as schools have been teaching the topic of “civics,” it has evoked yawns from young people. Worse, students perform abysmally on the subject. At a time when liberal democracy in America is under enormous stress, school boards, states, and the federal government must rethink how we pass on America’s civic inheritance.
This report lays out the disappointing civics outcomes for students, outlines where civics went wrong, discusses promising practices that localities and states can replicate, and ends with recommendations for a federal role in revitalizing civics education. (A separate PPI report will address the best ways to teach an honest and hopeful account of American history.)
We have two top-line recommendations. First, educators should rename the course now known as “civics” as “American Democracy.” The new nomenclature signals that school children are not learning merely about one type of government among many, but about a thrilling advancement for liberty and equality in the history of the world. The course will explain not only how the American system works but will draw upon the historical drama of how it came into being, and why. Having said that, American Democracy will differ from American history in important ways. It will focus on that subset of American history that explains the development of our liberal democratic system as opposed to the broader topics covered in American history such as economic, technological, and cultural developments, American foreign policy, frontier expansion, and the like. Conversely, unlike history classes, American Democracy will help students engage in the contemporary practice of self-governance through hands-on learning.
Second, all states should require three years of American Democracy, just as they typically require three years in math and reading. Helping all students understand who we are as Americans and why is of enormous importance in a country where liberal democratic norms are under steady attack — as important as literacy and numeracy.
