Political education: challenges and opportunities

We have seen how democratic self-governance can be seriously undermined by the lack of civic competence in shaping public policies or electing representatives. The problem has been exacerbated by politicians who seek to reduce even further the influence of citizens who are economically disadvantaged, socially marginalised and/or discriminated against by prevailing institutional attitudes and practices. Through gerrymandering, facilitating donations from the wealthy elite, manipulation of conventional and social media, imposition of restrictions to deter poor voters, and subversion of oversight institutions, they erode democracy to ease their path to power. They are able to do this because too many people possess neither the skills nor the understanding to see through such manoeuvres, let alone oppose them.

Recent decades have shown that democracy cannot be sustained by the vote alone. When there are so many ways to mislead people about what options are on offer, or nudge them towards giving up on engaging with politics altogether, it is hollow to insist that all is still well just because everyone has a vote. If citizens are truly to shape their own governance, they must learn about the issues that matter, what to make of rival claims, and how to establish and pursue their common objectives. To achieve that, political education is indispensable.

However, those who fear that political education could shine a light on their anti-democratic ploys have come up with a number of countermeasures to hamper its development. First, there is the cynical invocation of freedom to justify the teaching and promotion of false, misleading and vicious claims. On the surface, the argument rests on the premise that there should be no limit on what can be taught and discussed in a free society, especially when it takes place in an academic institution.4 But, on reflection, it is clear that the freedom to communicate does not extend to the putting forward of malicious slanders, discredited dangerous claims, confidential information, statements to incite violence and others that are ruled out in every free society. Proponents of ‘no limit’ on what can be said in educational institutions would not hesitate to back the banning of attempts to teach the necessity of overthrowing the government in the name of communism or Islamic fundamentalism.