2/13/2023

Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal starts with Adam Carrington’s op-ed that commemorates the 235th anniversary of Federalist 51, which he describes as an “important summary of the principles that inform the U.S. Constitution – principles we’ve forgotten.” These principles include the purpose of government being the protection of inherent, natural rights, the nature of human beings, which diverges in fundamental ways from that of “angels,” and political rule by fallen men and women being rightful and aimed toward justice rather than tyranny. The Constitution makes this possible, Carrington says, through separating powers horizontally between three branches and also vertically between the federal and state governments. “‘We, the People’ would do well to recapture the wisdom found in Federalist 51,” Carrington concludes. “Without a proper view of justice, we lose our compass. Without a right diagnosis of human nature, we risk being deceived. And without understanding the separation of powers, federalism, and the purpose of political coalitions, we risk failure even in our most noble endeavors.”

At The Hill, the Jack Miller Center’s Thomas Kelly gives advice to civics educators and advocates on traversing our present-day culture minefields. He argues that “civics advocates need to have frank conversations with parents and the broader public about what we mean by civics,” which means that “teaching principles should have priority” over action-oriented civics. An “emphasis on skills and action” is “good – and arguably necessary – but” is “incomplete.” And in our current climate, he says that a recent survey commissioned by JMC shows that focusing on the political ends of civics only results in parents thinking teachers are forwarding “a partisan agenda” that is “intent on fostering political change through student action, rather than preparation for active citizenship grounded in the American tradition of self-government.” “We must resist the temptation to turn classrooms into political battlegrounds,” Kelly writes. “Doing so is corrosive to learning and can turn students to cynicism, expressed as either activism or apathy."