Constitutional expert urges civic education in nation’s time of need

In a special Batten Hour event on Monday, renowned constitutional scholar and author Paul Carrese delivered a clear message: The U.S. Constitution cannot endure without citizens who are schooled in civic principles and history and, importantly, prepared to practice civic virtues.

The Batten School is UVA’s official host for Constitution and Citizenship Day, an annual nationwide commemoration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. Carrese is director of the Center for American Civics and founding director of the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University (ASU). A Rhodes Scholar and Fulbright Fellow, he co-founded the honors program of liberal education and civic leadership at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Speaking to dozens of students and faculty in Garrett Hall, Carrese said this is a “dark moment for American politics,” citing the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week. “Universities should consider at this moment that we are failing at civic education, citizenship education, and that this failure is one cause of the increase in political violence we are suffering,” he said.

The Constitution in crisis

Constitution Day was established by Congress in 2004 to strengthen civic education, which had already begun to wane just three years after a surge of patriotic spirit in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks. Caresse said that surveys show a steady erosion over the last two decades of basic civic knowledge and patriotism, especially among younger Americans.

A self-described “academic conservative,” Carrese noted the trends are nonpartisan. “Civic ignorance fuels the two extremes dominating our civic decline. At one end, the rising appetite for demagoguery and political violence, on both left and right; at the other extreme, substantial civic apathy among many Americans, which cedes the civic sphere to the polarized combatants.”

Pillars of civic virtue

Central to Carrese’s remarks were three civic virtues he sees as indispensable to a healthy constitutional order.

• Civil disagreement — debating differences without demonizing opponents.
• Civic friendship — maintaining mutual respect across partisan and philosophical lines.
• Reflective patriotism — combining gratitude for the country with a willingness to critique and improve it.

“These virtues are not just abstract ideas,” Carrese told the audience. “They are habits that allow a diverse republic to function without sliding into violence or apathy.”

Turning to history, he said the very structure of American democracy was designed to hold the plurality of opinions and experiences in the young nation. “The separation of powers in the federal government and the distribution of powers between state and federal governments, along with the First Amendment protections of speech and other modes of civic discourse, all presuppose a citizenry that will constantly disagree and argue – yet maintain a civic order,” he said.

And the role of higher education was clear, Carrese said, in both America’s founding and UVA’s own history. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both envisioned the university as a place where civic education would be central, embedding courses in rhetoric, political economy, and government into the curriculum.

“Our current civic decay calls for the University of Virginia, of all places, to recover the wisdom in the founding plan for the university,” he said.

Signs of renewal

Despite the troubling trends, Carrese pointed to reasons for optimism. Since 2016, more than a dozen public universities have established centers or departments devoted to civic thought, while private institutions like Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University, have added civics course requirements.

At ASU, Carrese helped develop a “Socratic Pocket Constitution,” which supplements America’s founding documents with Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The collection, he explained, shows students that American civic life has always been defined by debate and aspiration.

“They remind us that civic friendship and reflective patriotism are not new ideas,” Carrese said. “They’ve always been part of the American story.”

A challenge to UVA

Carrese closed by challenging his audience to think seriously about UVA’s own role in civic education. “You are the University of Virginia,” he said. “Given who you are, and given America’s circumstances and needs in 2025, what more should you do regarding civic education?”

His advice to students was straightforward: Stay engaged, even when the political climate feels discouraging. “Don’t despair about America, don’t be afraid of politics, don’t check out,” he urged. “Our constitutional order isn’t self-perpetuating. It requires effort from its citizens, and that effort can be one of the most rewarding parts of a fulfilling life.”

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