Revising Deliberative Democracy as the Guiding Ideal for Civic Education

• In Event: 41.069 - Deliberation, Democracy, and Justice

Abstract

This paper contributes to the discussion of what virtues ought to be taught as part of civic education. I argue that the discussion of civic virtues in the deliberative democracy literature too narrowly focuses on what dispositions, emotions, attitudes, and capacities would be useful for citizens to cultivate in ideal circumstances. In order to develop an account of civic virtue that will be useful, we need to look at the non-ideal circumstances citizens face. Drawing from feminist theory, I argue that what ought to be seen as a civic virtue is contextually determined, and what we call a virtue in one context might be opposed to what we call a virtue in another.

Author

• Macy M. Salzberger, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill