Civic Education in a Constitutional Democracy: A Critique.

As the title indicates, this paper considers the problem of civic education in a constitutionalist order. The animating question is: To what extent may a constitutionalist order regulate education so as to (re-)produce its own citizens? The paper proceeds in three parts. First, it reviews present-day liberal-democratic arguments for a strong program of civic education. Second, it provides a comparative history of two sets of educational policies in the United States: one concerning the education of American Indian children through the 19th century and another concerning the education of African Americans after the Civil War. Third, it considers constitutionalist justifications for and objections to muscular programs of civic education. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]