The United States retains many aspects of a healthy open society, but there are indicators of trouble and deep divisions around the meaning and importance of democratic values. This debate has significant repercussions for universities and their academic communities. In the most-simple terms, there is a red and blue state divide over the role and…

This paper seeks to address the wider questions of populism and its seeming contemporary rise within the specific context of the Philippines, regarding education. Starting from the assumption that neither politics nor education sits above cultures or spaces autonomously acting upon them but instead emerges with/because/against particularities;…

This chapter focuses on effective preparation for civic reasoning, discourse, and problem solving. It reviews literatures, including major synthetic reviews and studies from the science of learning and development (SoLD), civics education, and mathematics education. Based on these reviews, the authors make the case for a more comprehensive form of…

The world is experiencing a democratic recession, and in the United States, core democratic beliefs are under attack. As a key social organization, academic institutions have a central role in the protection of democracy. Boards, presidents, faculty, and students have the ability--and responsibility--to protect and advance democracy. A course in…

The post-war consensus has been dismantled in favour of a culture that rewards and empowers a small acquisitive elite at the expense of the great majority. This culture actively prevents the creation of a society of mutual recognition and respect. But without just such a society there can be no true comprehensive education. Where it exists,…

On January 10, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Albert Shanker Institute cosponsored a panel moderated by AFT President Randi Weingarten on the role that American education should play in responding to the threats confronting our democracy. Two leading public intellectuals, Timothy Snyder, the Richard C. Levin Professor of History…

Literature on art education often emphasizes dialogue as a preferred approach and as a way of practicing democratic education in museums and galleries. Dialogue-based tours in such contexts are often characterized by a sense of harmony and agreement. In contrast, this article discusses the democratic aspect and political potentiality when…

Contemporary discussion of the "crisis in democracy" displays a tendency to see young people as the problem because they are "apolitical" "apathetic" and "disengaged" or point to deficiencies in institutions deemed responsible for civic education. This discussion normally comes as a prelude to calls for more…

Conversations in middle school about digital citizenship tend to focus on the responsibilities of citizenship and the issues of surveillance, safety, cyberbullying, and internet etiquette. While these are important and essential conversations, digital citizenship education needs to consider youth political identity and democratic participation in…

Commitment to democracy and democratic norms is declining to the point where many Americans question the current political system as a form of democratic governance. Americans are deeply divided along lines of social identity, political preferences, and lived experiences (Pew Research Center, 2017a). The rhetoric and divisiveness of the 2016…

In this article, we explain how mindfulness can enhance a democratic way of being, connecting practices of awareness, reflection, dialog, and action to democratic citizenship and social arrangements. We begin by sharing our understanding of democracy as a philosophy and a political system. We then provide a background for the concept of…

This article briefly overviews the likely future of education as planned after the 2015 Conservative election success. Although education was not a major item in election manifestos or in subsequent discussion, the Department for Education claims that it is rolling out one of the most ambitious education reform movements in the world. How the…

Baseball has enjoyed its status as the "national pastime" in part because it has been associated with democracy. To the extent that baseball, as an institution of civil religion, fosters pluralism and inclusion, it can indeed be viewed in democratic terms. In recent years, the advent of conservative Christian events called "Faith Nights" threatens…

These are interesting days in the scientific, social, and political debates about human embryonic stem cell research. Pluripotent stem cells--cells that can, in principle, give rise to the body's full range of cell types--were previously derivable only from human embryos that were destroyed in the process. Now, a variety of somatic cell types can…

The American public can count on a few things during the presidential election season. First, candidates will take a moral high ground and forswear mudslinging. Before long however, they will proceed to engage in nasty accusations against their opponents. A vibrant democracy ought to welcome carefully thought-out views that, when intentionally…