Democracy's Midwife

The philosopher-educator John Dewey wrote that ''Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.'' In an America where every vote—though considered equally—counts for very little, Democracy''s Midwife offers the vision of a new kind of democratic system: a deliberative democracy energized by an educated citizenry. Jack Crittenden''s excellent new study looks behind the modern democratic rhetoric to reveal a system of government that excludes citizens from participating directly in decision-making. The book combines a thorough examination of the theoretical underpinnings of democratic education with radical solutions for the overhaul of a system of civic education dating back to the Founding Fathers. Democracy''s Midwife is both a denunciation of an education system that has failed to prepare future citizens for participation in public life and a timely blueprint for the creation of a civic-minded electorate prepared for the responsibility of self-government.