“Civic education and engagement in our universities — educating toward self-government and engaged citizenship — could use a major reset,” notes Danielle Allen along with John Bridgeland and Cecilia Muñoz in a recently published article. Bridgeland and Muñoz, served as senior White House domestic policy advisors in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, respectively.
Across the nation, surveys show that trust in one another and key institutions, such as government, media, and the courts, has reached historic lows. At the same time, political polarization among Americans has escalated rapidly over the past 40 years, while participation in large-scale civic institutions and volunteering rates have declined. Higher education offers a path forward – it can prepare young people to participate in democratic processes and, ultimately, change the country’s direction.
Colleges and universities have a critical role to play in enabling students to have vigorous and contentious debates about a whole range of issues while engaging in civil discourse that respects students who may hold different views
Danielle Allen
James Bryant Conant University Professor
While higher education cannot address every civic challenge, it plays a pivotal role in fostering civic education and engagement. “Civic learning in college can and should help democracy rebuild and renew our capacity to work together to form a “more perfect union,” a durable goal for our constitutional republic,” Allen, Bridgeland and Muñoz write in their article published in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning.
With a majority of high school graduates transitioning directly to college, and millions more eventually enrolling, there is a pressing need to enhance civic participation and democratic learning in higher education, the authors argue. Several key strategies emerge, starting with implementing mandatory civic curricula with a focus on building foundational civic knowledge and the skills and dispositions needed to support constitutional democracy. Colleges and universities can also incentivize civic engagement through civic seals on diplomas in recognition of community service, experiential learning, and other civic contributions. Further, schools can advocate for policies that support a year of national service.
Institutions should encourage an environment of robust civil discourse. “Colleges and universities have a critical role to play in enabling students to have vigorous and contentious debates about a whole range of issues while engaging in civil discourse that respects students who may hold different views,” Allen and her co-authors urge.
Just as the world rallied behind sustainable development goals, the paper makes the case that colleges and universities can advance the goals of More Perfect, a national initiative to advance five democracy goals: universal civic learning, national service and volunteering, bridging divides, trusted elections and representative and responsible governance, and access to trusted news and information.
Ultimately, “the best ideas are likely to emerge from colleges and universities themselves in all of their wonderful diversity—public, private, independent, community, technical, historically black, Hispanic-serving, and tribal colleges and universities, and within the many associations and networks that represent them.” The authors propose holding an annual summit among college leaders to highlight innovations in higher education that foster democratic renewal and to facilitate knowledge-sharing and promote scalability at other institutions. “As our colleges and universities continue to play such central roles in educating and engaging generations of Americans, we can inspire students to understand our democracy and their vital role in it.”
The year 2024 was dubbed “the largest election year in global history” with half the world’s population voting in national elections. Earlier this year, we hosted an event on AI and the 2024 Elections where scholars spoke about the potential influence of artificial intelligence on the election cycle– from misinformation to threats on election infrastructure. This webinar offered a reflection and exploration of the impacts of technology on the 2024 election landscape.
Earlier this year, the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation hosted a convening on the Political Economy of AI. This collection of essays from leading scholars and experts raise critical questions surrounding power, governance, and democracy as they consider how technology can better serve the public interest.
As a part of the Allen Lab’s Political Economy of AI Essay Collection, David Gray Widder and Mar Hicks draw on the history of tech hype cycles to warn against the harmful effects of the current generative AI bubble.
No matter where you are in the world, the effects of November 5, 2024, are enormous, and its global ramifications will be seen very soon, for better or for worse.
Empowering Affected Interests — Democratic Inclusion in a Globalized World
Empowering Affected Interests explores the radical implications of the All-Affected Principle in a globalized world, bringing together leading theorists to examine how democracy might be reimagined to address cross-border interdependence on issues like immigration, climate change, and labor markets.
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From global election trends to inflation anger, swing state performance, and failed voting reform initiatives, Harvard election law experts break down last week’s presidential election and what it might mean for the future of American democracy.
