Civic Learning on Campus: Bringing Political Science In Mini-Conference I: “Engaging Citizenship”: Teaching Democracy in an Era of Rising Authoritarianism

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Part of Mini-Conference

• Civic Learning on Campus: Bringing Political Science In Mini-Conference I

Session Description

Democratic erosion in the United States—rendered vivid in the events of January 6, 2021—as well as the global decline of democratic regimes should push us to reflect on how we introduce politics to students. What responsibilities do we have as teachers, as we promote political engagement which may expose students to the risks of political violence and repression? Further, these reminders of the vulnerabilities of democratic institutions—in the U.S. and elsewhere—also highlight ongoing challenges of democratic life, such as the saturation of disinformation, state violence, and undermining of democratic norms, as well as the legacies of white supremacy, racism, and colonialism that persist in the United States and globally.
This roundtable will focus on Balasco, Forestal, and Abernathy’s Engaging Citizenship, a forthcoming introduction to politics textbook (Oxford University Press 2025). Engaging Citizenship introduces foundational concepts in political science through the lens of citizenship, democracy, and civic engagement, highlighting the relevance of the discipline to students' lives and encouraging them to become engaged and empowered citizens. The authors ground Engaging Citizenship in three learning goals for students: 1) to explore the main subfields of Political Science, 2) to develop a broad understanding of the U.S. political system within a global context, and 3) to engage with the political process as educated and empowered citizens.
As the authors debated, drafted, and shaped the meaning and purpose of this book, the following questions came to the forefront:   
• How does democratic erosion in the United States inform our teaching of political engagement?  
• Do current global and national trends in populism and authoritarianism require us to teach introductory politics courses differently than in the past?  
• What experiential learning and civic engagement activities promote critical thinking about what it means to live under a democracy?  
In this Author Meets Critics roundtable, we explore these questions through the lens of Engaging Citizenship. Within introductory politics courses, faculty encounter a range of academic abilities and levels of interest in the classroom. How we approach the subject of democratic erosion and place it in conversation with the value of democracy and political engagement, then, requires pedagogical skills and strategies that promote empathy, accessibility, and openness. The stakes of a shared commitment to a deeper and more inclusive democracy are high, as the costs of democratic engagement evolve in light of increasing populist authoritarian movements. Faculty who teach introductory political science courses confront these realities in the classroom, and Engaging Citizenship offers a framework for teaching about the value of democracy to an often skeptical student population.

Sub Unit

• Theme Panel

Cosponsor

• Division 10: Political Science Education

Chair

• Lauren Marie Balasco Stockton University

Presenters

• Claire Abernathy Stockton University

• Jennifer Forestal Loyola University, Chicago

• Lauren A. Farmer Temple University

• Danielle Rochet Gougon Rowan University

• Leah A. Murray Weber State University

• Allison Rank SUNY, Oswego State