Where Does Civic Education Fit in the Liberal Arts?
By Emily Andrews
As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, the time is ripe for reflection about what it means to be a citizen of this great nation. Although it is true that a republic grants its people profound freedom of choice, it is equally true that it lays a significant weight of responsibility on the shoulders of its citizens. The right to vote for our laws and leaders demands we be equipped with moral sensibility, as well as the ability to make careful observations and sound judgments. Cultivating such qualities has historically been the domain of education.
Civic Education Protects Self-Government
From the very beginning, the Founding Fathers were aware of the crucial role education would play in sustaining the governing system they imagined. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson, an early advocate for publicly-supported education, wrote in his proposed education bill for the state of Virginia:
…the most effectual means of preventing the perversion of power into tyranny are to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts which history exhibiteth, that possessed thereby of the experience of other ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition under all its shapes, and prompted to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes.
Jefferson believed that self-government could only thrive if every citizen acquired broad historical knowledge. That knowledge would then equip voters with eyes to see current events through a lens of ancient wisdom, preventing them from being swayed by the tyranny of passing fads or false promises.
Since Jefferson’s time, however, the priorities that shape modern education have shifted dramatically. On the one hand, many students are never encouraged to look beyond the demands of the present: they learn only what is purported to make them competitive in the job market. On the other hand, though some students do chase after the white towers of academia, their focus becomes so specialized that they fail to step back and catch a glimpse of their place in the grand scheme of things.
Preparing Students for Real Life
One modern educational model becomes all-consumed with the needs of the body; the other with the impulses of the mind. Traditionally, however, education was intended to synthesize both facets of human life.
Even for classically educated students, there is sometimes a temptation to become enamored with the ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty to the extent that complex realities of material existence become distasteful. Books become substitutes for neighbors. This tension is in part what underlies Plato’s vision of the Philosopher King in The Republic. In his famous Allegory of the Cave, Plato lays out the progress by which ignorant prisoners, delighted by false shadows in the darkness of the cave, are led out to see true things, illuminated by the light of day. Once above ground, they enjoy their free state and have no desire to return back to the ignorance of the cave. Rather than allow those who have ascended to remain basking in the light of the Good, however, Plato insists they must be forced against their will to again descend and dwell among the muddied concerns of the cave’s inhabitants, to “parktake of their labors and honors, whether they are worth having or not.”
The reason for compelling such people to return to the cave, he says, is that those who have seen truth, goodness, and beauty as they really are will be best suited to nurture the State: “The truth is that the State in which the rulers are most reluctant to govern is always the best and most quietly governed, and the State in which they are most eager, the worst.” Government is the arena most vulnerable to the ills of humanity, but it is for that very reason truly educated people have a responsibility to serve in some kind of social capacity. It is therefore critical that educators take civic responsibility into account when shaping their students’ curriculum.
Civic education is a significant component of the liberal arts because it prepares students to translate the beauty of the ideas they study in the classroom to what is often an ugly reality outside that classroom. After all, it was James Madison who observed in Federalist No. 51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” To live in the real world is not to live in the world of Plato’s Ideal Forms. Those who have given themselves over to contemplating truth, goodness, and beauty, however, are far better equipped to effect real change for good within their communities.
Reconnecting Knowledge and Virtue
CLT’s mission statement declares that we exist to reconnect knowledge and virtue. Nowhere is that connection more crucial than in the civic realm, where ideas inform actions that directly affect the lives of our family, friends, and neighbors. It is for that reason we are taking steps to revive the art of civic education. Through recent developments such as our Government & Politics pilot exam for the new Classical Baccalaureate program, we are actively participating in ensuring that the next generation of voters understands the mechanics of U.S. government and are informed about their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
For the next month, CLT will be highlighting the role of civic education in traditional learning. We will look at what historically shaped the studies of those bound for public service, how great authors treated the subject of civic responsibility in their writings, and how liberal learning shaped the decisions of those responsible for designing the government of the United States. We hope you’ll follow along and join us in celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
Emily Andrews is the Marketing Content Manager for CLT. She lives with her husband and daughter in Spokane, WA and enjoys hoarding books, eating good meals, and failing to complete crossword puzzles.
If you enjoyed this piece, be sure to check out The Anchored Podcast. For more Journal content, check out our author profile on Thomas Jefferson. From all of us at the Journal, thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week.
Published on 3rd June, 2026.