Two Renewals, Two Centuries Apart
My latest in the Times on the comeback of civic learning, & in The Atlantic on Britain's slower revolution
Instead of my usual column for The Renovator, I’m sharing two other articles of mine published this week on democracy renovation themes. In the first, I highlight many promising efforts and steps forward in renewing civic education. In the second, as the publication date for my book Radical Duke gets closer, I look at how Britain revolutionized their political institutions, and the lessons I see there.
If you’ve already seen these articles, thank you for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts below — and if not, I hope you enjoy!
From the New York Times: Nothing Beats Polarization Like Civic Learning
“Ten years ago, only one in four Americans could name the three branches of government. By 2025, seven in ten could. A decade before our nation’s 250th birthday, we were on our way to being a nation that had forgotten how to explain itself to its own children. What changed?”
READ MORE: “Nothing Beats Polarization Like Civic Learning”
From The Atlantic : What the 18th Century Can Teach the 21st: Britain had a revolution too—slower and quieter than America’s. Did the British do it better?
READ MORE: “What the 18th Century Can Teach the 21st”
I completely agree about the importance of civic education.
I recently wrote a book intended to help prepare high school juniors and seniors for their role as citizens and thoughtful voters, along with a teacher’s guide to support classroom use. The book is titled A Student Guide to Truth, Democracy, and Civic Responsibility.
I’m not an educator or a well-known author, but I wrote these books because I believe democracy depends on citizens who can think critically, evaluate information carefully, and engage one another with both wisdom and compassion.
Truth is not just a personal virtue — it is part of the social foundation that allows a democracy to function. My hope is simply that these books may contribute, in some small way, to strengthening that foundation for the next generation.
That statistic about civic knowledge stopped me in my tracks — the shift from one in four Americans able to name the three branches of government to seven in ten by 2025. It’s profoundly encouraging. It suggests that when people are given access to civic learning, they take it up. The muscles aren’t gone; they’ve just been underused. Thank you for continuing to point us toward the slow, steady work that actually strengthens democratic life.