Carrese Calls for Renewed Commitment to Civic Education at UVA’s Batten Hour

As the nation commemorates the 238th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution and approaches the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the University of Virginia hosted political scientist Paul O. Carrese to reflect on the document’s enduring role in American life and the importance of civic education.

Carrese, a professor in the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University and former director of its Center for American Civics, spoke at the Batten Hour event The Constitution and Civic Education on Sept. 15 in Garrett Hall. The talk was part of UVA’s annual recognition of September 17^th as Constitution Day.

Christa Acampora, Buckner W. Clay Professor of Philosophy and dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, said Carrese’s remarks highlight an urgent priority for higher education. “Education that is rooted in the liberal arts and sciences combined with a deep understanding of our political traditions and forms of government is essential students’ intellectual development as well as the health of our democracy. Productive disagreement is an inherent feature of our form of government. Cultivating an understanding of the values and habits of mind that enable full participation is a calling we share at the University,” she said.

Carrese began by acknowledging the recent political violence in the United States, noting the urgent need for stronger civic and citizenship education. He argued that the U.S. Constitution presupposes citizens who possess both civic knowledge and civic virtues but that modern education has too often neglected this responsibility.

“We are failing at civic education, citizenship education,” Carrese said. “This failure is one cause of the increase in political violence we are suffering.”

Drawing on his experience at the Air Force Academy, where officer candidates study both liberal arts and American civic principles, Carrese stressed the need for a “higher civics” across all educational levels. He identified three essential civic virtues — civil disagreement, civic friendship across political divides, and what he called a “reflective patriotism,” a combination of gratitude for the American constitutional order and a willingness to question and improve it.

Carrese cited surveys showing declining civic knowledge and waning confidence in democratic institutions, particularly among younger Americans. He noted that fewer than one-third of U.S. college students can identify James Madison as the father of the Constitution. 

“Ignorance fuels both demagoguery and apathy,” Carrese warned, calling on universities to help rebuild the civic foundation necessary for democratic self-government.

Carrese also urged the UVA community to remember the University’s founding principles. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, he said, considered civic education to be central to the university’s curriculum when it was established in 1819. He encouraged educators to renew their commitment to that vision by requiring the study of American political history, constitutional debates and the practice of civic virtues.

Carrese closed with a challenge to the audience: “Don’t despair about America; don’t despair about or be afraid of politics; don’t check out. It is a blessing to live in our free constitutional order, but it’s not immortal or self-perpetuating. It’s fragile, requires constant effort from its citizens, and includes constant debate. Yet, that civic duty is also a delight, an indispensable part of a happy, fulfilling life.”