Public Scholars at
Hanover College
Civic Education Initiative
(Re)Building Civil Society
Jeffrey Brautigam
Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations. There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand different types--religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute. . . . Nothing, in my view, deserves more attention than the intellectual and moral associations in America.-Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
Alexis de Tocqueville was one of first to undertake a serious examination of American democracy, and his observations and conclusions remain among the most astute. The associations Tocqueville saw everywhere are indeed worthy of serious attention. They are at once the training ground for citizens and the mechanism by which people fulfill the duties of citizenship. In a society of free and self-governing (1) people-the sort of democracy that our founders envisioned-these so-called "secondary associations" (churches, service organizations, book clubs, school associations, and so forth) stimulate the individual engagement with social affairs that is the foundation of self-government. Further, they protect individual freedom by enabling people to seek their own well-being and that of society without undue reliance on government. This model of an engaged citizenry, each person pursuing his own interests and social interests conjointly, is a large part of what theorists of democracy and freedom like John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and John Stuart Mill had in mind when they spoke of "civil society."
These associations are important in a second way, as well, and particularly in a society whose population exhibits a high degree of diversity-in religion, culture, ethnicity, and so forth. The United States, perhaps more than any other, is such a society; or, at least, it was meant to be such. Involvement in these secondary associations builds the bonds of social trust without which a potentially fractious people cannot practice self-government. These associations allow for what might be called "civil disagreement," without which any sort of consensus is very difficult to attain. Civility, too, is a part of civil society.
Over the past four decades, a serious debate has developed amongst social theorists concerning the state of civic engagement in the United States, and of the secondary associations that support it. This is no surprise. The emergence of a plethora of harshly intractable problems-increases in violence, deterioration of school performance, rising divorce rates, widespread disinterest in the political system, factionalism, and the rest of a familiar and seemingly endless litany-is readily attributed to collapse of the structures that support civic engagement. Although social theorists disagree vigorously about whether civic engagement is really diminishing or simply changing into some post-modern form, (2) there is a general consensus that civic engagement and the structures that support it are of the utmost importance. If they are not built and nurtured, democracy will not flourish.
The very presence of this debate indicates that the traditions of civic engagement are at risk in the United States. If the doomsayers are right, if civic engagement is diminishing because the structures that support it are collapsing, then we had better be about the business of rebuilding. If more optimistic voices are right, if the nature of civic engagement is undergoing some sort of post modern transformation, it behooves us to pay attention to this process of transformation and to nurture it as best we can.
But how can we nurture civic engagement? One answer is through civic education, that is, education in the nature of citizenship and the effective means of exercising it. But if civic education is to be effective, it must satisfy two conditions. First, it must be continuing and pervasive. It is not enough to educate students-those in primary and secondary schools, or even those in college. Although the time one spends as a student can lay a foundation for citizenship, effective engagement with the life of one's community involves an ongoing process of learning and relearning, connecting the past with the present and refining one's understanding of both. Second, this education must be concrete, as well as abstract. One who understands the nature and duties of citizenship, but is baffled by the risks and opportunities that confront society, cannot be an effective citizen.
It is against this background that the leaders of Hanover College have launched the Center for Free Inquiry to undertake just such a program of civic education. The Center for Free Inquiry (CFI) is an interdisciplinary institute of Hanover College; it is dedicated to exploring contemporary moral and political issues in the context of the fundamental and enduring questions of human existence. The core of the Center's civic education initiative is a series of symposia that will be held on the campus of Hanover College. Twice each year the Center will bring to campus a group of influential and important scholars from a variety of disciplines to participate in a series of lectures and roundtable discussions on a specific issue of contemporary moral and political concern. This initiative builds on the Center's existing symposium series, but will also seek to extend its impact beyond the academy to what might be called the "thoughtful citizenry"-those who embrace the role of citizen and strive to function well in it. Each scholar who participates in each symposium will be charged with preparing an original presentation that is both intellectually substantial and accessible to a general audience. Members of this "thoughtful citizenry" will be invited to participate, along with Hanover students and faculty, in all aspects of the symposia. That is, they will be invited to be not only passive members of an audience at a formal lecture, but also participants in more informal discussions with visiting scholars. Further, the Center will seek to enhance the impact of these symposia regionally and nationally by publishing the proceedings in its quarterly journal and in a series of Working Papers. Like the other components of the symposia, these publications will be designed to be both intellectually substantial and accessible to a general audience. By this means, the Center hopes to nurture civic engagement where it is present, to plant the seeds of it where it is absent, and to shape public discourse by bringing important issues to the fore.
The Center's symposium series was initially implemented to enhance the educational program of Hanover College by fostering the kind of research that is characteristic of the liberal arts. This research typically exhibits at least three important features. First, it is interdisciplinary, because academic disciplines are more conventional than natural and, thus, they oppress the mind just as they liberate it. Second, it is grounded in a thorough knowledge of the relevant history, because the distinction between past and present is unavoidably arbitrary. And third, it pursues what the ancient Greeks called wisdom, the ability to live well in one's circumstances, rather than mere abstract understanding or technological competence of some sort.
It is no coincidence that these are precisely the characteristics of effective civic education. The writings of such democratic theorists as Thomas Jefferson, John Stuart Mill, and their many intellectual heirs are pervaded by respect for this model of education. This approach to education has its roots in the old Roman notion of the artes liberales, the arts that make a person free. Free from what? Ignorance, primarily. To function effectively as a citizen-that is, to live as a free member of a self-governing community-a person must be able to integrate the wealth of specialized knowledge that shapes our public discourse, to see clearly how the present has emerged from the past, and to move confidently from understanding to action. With its civic education initiative, the Center for Free Inquiry seeks to carry this model of education beyond its traditional home in liberal arts colleges, and thereby to enhance the freedom and the ability to govern themselves of those whom it reaches.
For more information about the Center for Free Inquiry or to participate in this or any CFI programs, call 812-866-6848 or email cfi@hanover.edu.