Walter C. Parker is professor emeritus of social studies education at the University of Washington, a member of the National Academy of Education, a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, and author of Education for a Liberal Democracy and Teaching Democracy: Unity and Diversity in Public Life.
On March 8, Walter Parker published Democracy dies without truth and trust: Shore up civics in Schools on the Seattle Times. The piece addresses the crises facing democracy in the United States today. Parker begins,
The two pillars of democracy — trust and truth — are now cracked. Many Americans believe the political system is corrupt (e.g., rigged, racist) and some don’t believe the results of elections, even certifiably fair ones. Related, we have lost a shared standard of truth and, with it, shared criteria for distinguishing fact from falsehood.
The trust crisis has been brewing at least since the Vietnam War. The truth crisis is newer and due mainly to the splintering effects of cable news and social media (each pod with its own reality). This has blurred the distinction between journalism and gossip. Making matters worse, we suffered a president who lied brazenly and relentlessly, redefining the way citizens talk about public policy.
The crises are linked. As sci-fi author Neal Stephenson observed, “The ability to talk in good faith about a shared reality is a foundational element of civics that we didn’t know we had until we suddenly and surprisingly lost it.”
Civic education at school should do what it can, and here are two fundamentals that are well within its wheelhouse.
Read the full essay at the Seattle Times