Civic Education for Democracy

Abstract

What kinds of consideration are appropriate in politics, and what values should inform and shape political life? In answering these questions it has been argued that the reasons offered in political debate should be public, or reasonable, and that politics should be informed by such public values as the commitment to view others as free and equal moral persons and to offer fair terms of social cooperation. Crucially, in promoting and defending values and ideas, public reasons are to be offered in their defence, reasons it is reasonable to expect others to accept. So far, debate and disagreement have been observed between those adopting such a political conception on the one hand and on the other those who believe political debate should be based on comprehensive moral doctrines, including liberals defending the values of autonomy and liberty, along with communitarians defending the shared values of a community or tradition. This debate will be returned to now when considering the topic of civic education.