Class 52. Why Civics Education is the Key to Defending Democracy
To quote Schoolhouse Rock, knowledge is power.
If you are just joining The Freedom Academy, welcome! As a reminder, this post is a standalone “lesson” and you do not need to be caught up to follow along. I’ll reference any previous posts that offer relevant background, and you can always visit the syllabus and catch up at your own leisure. All class posts have an audio recording if you prefer to multitask while listening to me lecture!
Well, folks, we made it! It’s the last class of the course I created for this Substack, “Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age.” To be clear, it is not THE last post for this Substack! Starting in the New Year, I have a whole new direction for The Freedom Academy as I look at the psychology and practice of moral courage. Stay tuned for more details in this week’s Friday Round Up (which will come out on Saturday, as per usual). I think you will be excited about my January lineup.
In the meantime, let’s recap the arc of this course (which you can also find on the syllabus) before I cap it off with some closing thoughts:
In Module I, A Primer on the U.S. Information Landscape (Classes 1-4), we got a lay of the land on propaganda and disinformation and why it’s so hard for the U.S. to combat this threat.
In Module II, Active Measures: What Are They and Why Are They a Threat? (Classes 5-15), we traveled back in time to the Cold War and looked at the KGB’s use of disinformation as a subversion strategy and then explored how these tactics have been updated under Putin in the digital age. We looked at the concepts of “hybrid” warfare, reflexive control, and how Russia exploits existing fissures in the U.S.
In Module III, Disinformation and Foreign Election Interference (Classes 16-25), we got a crash course in how to subvert elections and why Russia has been so successful on this front (and why other countries have joined the game).
In Module IV, What Makes America So Vulnerable to Active Measures? (Classes 26-30), we looked at the concepts of social capital and social trust, and why low levels of both make it really easy for foreign (and domestic) bad actors to divide and conquer us.
In Module V, Political Polarization and Group Identity (Classes 31-34), we examined how partisan identity has surpassed even race and religion as the country’s dividing line, and how the tribalism that results undermines democracy.
In Module VI, The Psychology of Disinformation (Classes 35-38), we looked at how our cognitive biases (many of which are created by our tribal identities) make us more susceptible to disinformation, dampened empathetic response, and manipulation by demagogues.
In Module VII, Social Media and the Media Ecosystem (Classes 39-42), we learned how social media distorts the “marketplace of ideas” and makes everything we learned in Modules I-VI a billion times worse.
Finally, in Module VIII, Building Resilience Against Disinformation (Classes 43-52), we have explored a number of ways to reverse democratic backsliding and not fall into the abyss of “electoral autocracy” as many countries around the world have done. (This module began in January, and it has been a slog but I think we have covered some positive ground!)
(All paid subscribers have ongoing access to all of the material listed above under the Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age tab on the Substack home page.)
And now to our final topic.
Obsta principiis [halt the beginnings], nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people. When the people give way, their deceivers, betrayers, and destroyers press upon them so fast, that there is no resisting afterwards…. The people grow less steady, spirited, and virtuous, the seekers more numerous and more corrupt, and every day increases the circles of their dependents and expectants, until virtue, integrity, public spirit, simplicity, and frugality, become the objects of ridicule and scorn, and vanity, luxury, foppery, selfishness, meanness, and downright venality swallow up the whole society.
— John Adams, Novanglus essays, February 6, 1775
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the concept of civic virtue. I haven’t been able to find a single definition for it, though they all center around the idea of responsible citizenship, the good character required to participate in a democracy, and concern for the common good. I tend to think of it as being on par with Alexis de Tocqueville’s concept of “self-interest rightly understood,” a trait the Frenchman observed in Americans that “constantly prompts them to assist each other, and inclines them willingly to sacrifice a portion of their time and property to the welfare of the State.”
The precursor to civic virtue, of course, is civic education. After all, for people to be willing to give up something that might benefit them personally in order to further the general welfare of their community, they have to know how the system works, what the principles are underlying it, and why they’re important. In her recent book, Giving Up is Unforgivable, my colleague Joyce Vance writes:
Democracy, by its nature and by the design of the Founding Fathers, requires that citizens participate in the process. To do that, you have to understand it. That means reinvigorating civics education because we have a real deficit in that area that calls for updating both how we think about it and how we do it. Teaching democracy has to be more than just an afterthought. It needs to be something that we once again take seriously, celebrate informally as opportunities arise, and incorporate into our daily lives.
The American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy writes that “civic[s] education, when done well, produces young people who are more likely to vote; work on community issues; become socially responsible; and feel confident speaking publicly and interacting with elected officials.”
Unfortunately, civics education has been on the back burner for the last couple of decades as emphasis on STEM and reading and math skills has become the focus of high school curricula. According to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, as of 2024 only seven states required a full year of high school civics and thirty-one states required only one semester. Ten states have no civics requirement at all, and two require a civics test but no formal course (you might be surprised at the states in this category — they likely aren’t the ones you have in mind). Meanwhile, a survey by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that 70% of Americans could not pass a basic civic literacy test, including how many branches of government we have or the number of justices that sit on the Supreme Court. For real.
The benefits of civic education to democracy aren’t just greater voter turnout. It also creates resilience against disinformation, demagogues, and political violence, all of which contribute to democratic erosion. Here’s how:
Social, Civic, and Public Trust
The most important impact of civic education is on citizens’ trust. Educating people about how our system works lets them know how they can effect change in their own communities. And this involves more than just voting for people who represent their interests (which is important). It can also encourage them to join local organizations, like the PTA or civic organizations, participate in community activities, like food drives, town halls, and debates, and even spearhead their own initiatives. My own neighborhood, Spring Glen, has a civic association that meets once a month to discuss everything from how to lobby the town to put in stop signs on busy roads to promoting local businesses.
It’s hard to overemphasize how much this civic engagement matters for our democracy. At the most basic level, being active in our local affairs teaches citizens the “habits of democracy”: How to address problems of common concern, how to listen to opposing views and advocate for our own, how to follow rules, persuade others, and build consensus. In this process, people build social trust — a sense of general goodwill towards their neighbor, something that is critically important at a time when leaders are telling Americans their own neighbors are the “enemy within.” (You can read more about social trust in Class 26.)
Civic engagement also promotes faith in the integrity and fairness of democratic processes, which teaches another important lesson: How to accept outcomes that might not go our way. This includes not just elections but school board decisions, debates, court cases. In short, it teaches us how to lose, gracefully. I would say that’s a lesson a good chunk of this country needs right now. Finally, at a time when both domestic politicians and foreign actors seek to delegitimize our institutions, civic engagement promotes trust in how our government works more generally — our court system, separation of powers, and the power of our own civil liberties, like speech, protest, and the press. In short, civic education is critical to the following three types of trust which are a sine qua non of democracy1:
Social Trust: a belief in the honesty and reliability of others to be responsible and civil neighbors or fellow members of a community.
Civic Trust: faith in the authority and competence of governing institutions to act in ways that are transparent, effective, and in the best interests of the common good.
Public Trust: the extent to which citizens trust the government to do what is right, to do it honestly, to do it fairly and to do it efficiently.
A Common Identity
At a time when political polarization is perhaps the most destabilizing force in our democracy, civic education reminds us of our shared values and common purpose. In Class 44 I wrote about the challenge of the American “we” — the sense of common identity that can link us across our differences.
This is probably the biggest challenge we face right now in our internal politics, with leaders who are seeking to define American identity along racial, ethnic, and religious lines. We have to push back against this at all costs. But we also have to find ways to acknowledge the darker parts of our history and recognize and integrate the stories of marginalized communities into this shared identity. One of the things I love about musicals like “Hamilton” is how it allows us to both confront our flawed history but also see that our democratic processes hold the key to redeeming it. I mean, come on, this rap battle is brilliant:
Civic education teaches us that democratic values and principles have the capacity to transcend political, racial, and religious divisions, and offers the promise of achieving that “more perfect union” which is America’s aspiration.
A Belief in Individual Agency
Finally, civic education empowers people to believe that their actions and participation can make a difference in their own lives and those of others. I know that for people reading this Substack, that might seem like an obvious proposition. But for many people, it’s not, and a belief in a lack of agency has consequences. People who believe that they have no control over political processes have to come up with some theory for how decisions are reached. This is the root of conspiracy theories, which are defined as beliefs that powerful people are colluding in secret to create outcomes. Studies show that “conspiracy mentality” is associated with a willingness to resort to violence, and it makes sense why: If you really believe that nothing you do can or will make a difference, then what other alternative do you have?
People who feel powerless about their lives are also more likely to be open to a strongman figure who promises to solve their problems. Demagogues and would-be authoritarians can exploit people’s sense of powerlessness by making them afraid — of the world, of the people in their country, and of their own neighbors. For those who are convinced that they have no power anyway, why wouldn’t they hand over the reins to someone who will take control?
And here’s a final point, which can serve as a bridge to the new direction of this Substack after the New Year: People’s belief in their own agency is directly related to their willingness to stand up and speak out. In fact, the thread that keeps surfacing as I research moral courage and what makes moral rebels and whistleblowers “different” than the rest of us is their belief that even as one person, what they say can and does matter. So if we want to cultivate people who will, in John Adam’s words, “obsta principiis,” educating them on how democracy works is where we start.
Aaaand, that’s a wrap! Congratulations to those of you who have completed all 52 lessons of this course — if you’d like to get your digital certificate of completion, please fill out the form below and one will be emailed to you. And if you are just now joining or did so recently, there’s no rush. Take your time going through the syllabus and come back to this last lesson whenever you’re done.
Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this community since I started this in 2022 — I hope you will stay with me as The Freedom Academy kicks off a new chapter in 2026!
