11/25/2024

Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal starts off by highlighting the latest content from the Jack Miller Center.

First, JMC President Hans Zeiger interviews Jeffrey Rosen, President of the National Constitution Center, about Rosen’s bestselling book “The Pursuit of Happiness.” They discuss what the American Founders can teach us about living a good life, the need for an educated citizenry, and prospects for civic literacy in our own time.

Second, Anika Prather recounts her experience at the latest National Summit on Civics Education that JMC hosted last week in Philadelphia. Prather notes that as she “looked up the bios of the speakers and other attendees,” she “realized that this event was a nonpartisan gathering (there are a lot of organizations that say they are non-partisan and it’s not really true)—celebrating democracy and the passion for training the next generation on how to participate in this great American conversation.” The event featured “people from different political affiliations, organizations, and faiths,” she writes. “Some I agreed with, and some I didn’t.” But Prather concludes that “we all agreed on one thing: that we each have the equal right to exist, think, believe, and speak as we do, and to show respect for others’ right to do the same.”

At City Journal, Joshua Katz highlights The High School Law Review, “an organization that aims to promote the study of constitutional law among young people and to do so in a way that models…‘agreeable disagreement.’” Katz writes that in light of the “monolithic thought” in many K-12 schoosl, as well as at colleges and universities today, “we should applaud efforts” like the establishment of organizations like the High School Law Review that attempt to transcend political polarization. Katz concludes that this is an “inspired effort that deserves wide recognition” – and wide efforts to replicate throughout the United States.