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Whither American politics?
In light of recent studies -- most recently the Bradley Project's report E Pluribus Unum -- noting a precipitous decline in civic literacy among American college students, Friday's Inside Higher Ed dispatch from the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association is disheartening. Several scholars there proposed the abolition of the American politics subfield, citing the increasingly globalized world and a supposed "social amnesia" that arises from the exclusive study of American politics.
But the truth is, it makes sense that American universities educating primarily American students would devote considerable time to teaching American politics -- and the same applies to British universities focusing on British politics, French universities focusing on French politics, and so forth. As former Harvard College dean Harry Lewis has said:
It is true that students are less homogeneous than they used to be in ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic background. But, in all their diversity, they are the same in at least one important way: They all will be citizens. Most will be U.S. citizens. They will be voters and the political candidates for whom we vote. Moreover, foreign students inevitably learn something about our republic -- from The Colbert Report, if not the classroom. Whether they return home or remain in this country, it is in our interest that what they learn be accurate.
With this in mind, ACTA believes that the teaching of American politics should focus anew on the ideas and people behind America's institutions. Such an approach would not exclude the study of America in a global context, nor would it exclude learned criticism and evaluation of the American tradition. But it would prepare American students to be thoughtful and informed citizens -- which ought to be the goal of any university.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on September 02, 2008 at September 2, 2008 12:11 PM
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