Majoring in democracy

Holiday break is over ... it's time to go back to school. Stephen P. Konieczka recently posted an interesting article on the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation's listserv about hands-on democracy classes around the United States. Describing a popular class at Providence College in Rhode Island and many others nationwide, the Christian Science Monitor's Stacy Teicher Khadaroo writes that such classes "aim to equip students to make their mark in the landscape of American democracy.

But such efforts are too rare in higher education, some in the academic world say. They are urging colleges to do more to foster students' desire and ability to contribute in the political realm. The classroom, they say, can be a neutral arena for students to test their ideas and reflect on their attempts to make change in whatever real-world project they take on." Read it all here.

Comments

[Stephen Buckley]

The theory implied in this article is this: If we train our children to be better than us (their parents), then the parents don't have to change, because we will eventually be replaced by the "better" youngsters.

I would like to see some data to support this theory, because my experience is that the newcomers to any organization, when added gradually, are the ones who adapt to the status quo. For example, newly-minted drivers may be conscientious at first, but then they see everyone else driving over the speed limit, and so then they do, too. Our local high school has won the state-wide citizenship competition for the last 15 years in a row, but virtually everyone agrees tht the quality of public discussion at our annual Town Meeting has noticeably deteriorated. Asking the youngsters to act like adults when too many adults act like emotional bullies during public discussions is like asking the tail to wag the dog. EVERY citizen should be educated in the minimum standards of civil, public dialogue.

[Julie Fanselow]

Thanks for reading, Stephen.

I didn't really see the "too late for the adults" theory implied in the article, but I certainly agree with your statement that every citizen ought to have the tools and opportunities to take part in civil public dialogue.