Told You So…Repeatedly
September 1, 2025WFYI recently reported on a new business alliance focused on improving civic education. It’s a welcome development. The Indiana Business Alliance for Civics will provide resources and...
View ArticleJustice Souter
May 18, 2025David Souter died earlier this month. When George H.W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court, I watched the confirmation hearings on television. I saw a brilliant, thoughtful jurist. His...
View ArticleTaking Credit
January 8, 2025What do scolds like yours truly mean when we bemoan low levels of civic literacy ? Rather obviously, it’s an accusation of lack of knowledge of America’s legal/philosophical...
View ArticleAddressing The Civics Deficit
I spent a considerable part of my academic career focusing on what I described as the civic deficit. Soon after joining the faculty–and especially when I taught undergraduate classes–I came face to...
View ArticleWhy I Love David French
I make it a point to read anything I come across from David French, whose writing I love because it is both eloquent and thoughtful–and admittedly, for the same reason most of us like writers: he...
View ArticleChristian Grievance
Sometimes, a news article will hit several of my hot buttons. This recent one managed to do so. (Not that it is particularly difficult to piss me off…the older I get, the crankier…) Here’s the gist of...
View ArticleI Know I’m A Broken Record…
Can you stand one more diatribe about the importance of civic literacy? Especially now, as Congressional hearings and Supreme Court decisions demonstrate not just how close we’ve come to disaster? An...
View ArticleBut I Repeat Myself…
Last Thursday, I delivered the following speech to a Kiwanis group in Northwest Indianapolis. Longtime readers of this blog will recognize the “theme”…It’s also considerably longer than my usual posts,...
View ArticlePolicy, Politics And Reality
Paul Krugman condenses our current democratic dysfunction into one pithy paragraph. In principle, voters should judge politicians by their actions; they should support politicians who pursue policies...
View ArticleStuff I Know You Know…
At noon today, I’m speaking (via Zoom) to a Columbus, Indiana human rights organization. Here are my prepared remarks. (Long one–sorry.) ____________________________________________________ Over the...
View ArticleIt’s All Connected
Americans today face an unprecedented challenge. The Internet, which has brought us undeniable benefits and conveniences, also allows us to occupy “filter bubbles”—to inhabit different realities. One...
View ArticleIt Isn’t Just Media Literacy
Americans today face some unprecedented challenges–and as I have repeatedly noted, our information environment makes those challenges far more difficult to meet. The Internet, which has brought us...
View ArticlePast Time For These–And Other–Reforms
Americans shouldn’t allow Trump’s COVID diagnosis to become the ultimate distraction from the electoral choices that face us, or the structural challenges we will face even in the best of electoral...
View ArticleCivic Ignorance and Democratic Accountability
Published in Loyola Law Journal There is growing recognition that Americans’ diminished civic participation and the erosion of democratic norms are linked to low levels of civic literacy, defined as a...
View ArticleWhy I Harp On Civic Literacy
In yesterday’s post, I listed elements of necessary political reform, beginning with reinvigorated civics instruction in the public schools. I would understand if regular readers of this blog shrugged...
View ArticleHow Children Become American
A couple of weeks ago, I came across a column in the Washington Post addressing the critical role of the nation’s schools in integrating the children of immigrants into American culture. Public schools...
View ArticleMore Confirmation Of Civic Ignorance
One of the most obvious–and infuriating–characteristics of the Keystone Kop administration that Trump has cobbled together is its utter cluelessness about the government they have been installed to...
View ArticlePontificating About Civic Literacy
Friday, I participated in a conference titled “Democracy in America–Promises and Perils” at Loyola Law School in Chicago. My concerns will not come as a surprise to regular readers. Here’s what I said....
View ArticleWhat We Can Do
Yesterday, I spoke to the Danville Unitarians about–surprise!–the importance of civic knowledge, and what each of us can do to encourage its acquisition…Here’s what I said. Apologies for the length....
View ArticlePublic Affairs Month
IU Northwest sponsored several lectures during its recent Public Affairs Month. I was asked to participate; here is the talk I gave, slightly edited for length. (Regular readers will notice...
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