Book contents
- Teaching America
- Teaching America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 What Is American Civics and Why Does It Matter?
- 2 Can Reflective Patriotism Protect Civics from Propaganda and Partisanship?
- 3 What Should American Schools Teach?
- 4 What Should American Colleges and Universities Teach?
- 5 How Should Civic Culture Sustain America’s E Pluribus Unum?
- 6 The Duty and Delight of Civics and Civic Friendship
- Index
Introduction
Can We Sustain the American Idea?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 May 2026
Book contents
- Teaching America
- Teaching America
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 What Is American Civics and Why Does It Matter?
- 2 Can Reflective Patriotism Protect Civics from Propaganda and Partisanship?
- 3 What Should American Schools Teach?
- 4 What Should American Colleges and Universities Teach?
- 5 How Should Civic Culture Sustain America’s E Pluribus Unum?
- 6 The Duty and Delight of Civics and Civic Friendship
- Index
Summary
This chapter begins by examining America's civic crisis and the failure of civics in K-16, with remedies proposed including the national-consensus approach of the Educating for American Democracy 2021 study and the renewal efforts in higher education, including public university reforms that establish departments of Civic Thought and Leadership. It then turns to three sections: (a) Franklin’s warning and Lincoln’s: America’s crisis and our civics failure; (b) Rediscovering America’s reflective, discursive patriotism; and (c) American Hopefulness and Exemplars Sustaining the Republic (introducing Washington, Douglass, Lincoln, Stanton, Anthony, and King)
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Teaching AmericaReflective Patriotism in Schools, College, and Culture, pp. 1 - 30Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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