Description
Book SynopsisA study of the democratic theory of education. It tackles a range of issues, from the democratic case against book banning to the role of teachers' unions in education, as well as the vexed questions of public support for private schools and affirmative action in college admissions.
Trade Review"The finest contribution to the literature on democratic education of the last seventy years."--Mark Yudof, Ethics "A small masterpiece of political theory with implications far beyond the educational context."--Suzanna Sherry, University of Texas Law Review "Gutmann has created a theory of extraordinary coherence, comprehensiveness, and depth."--Alison M. Jaggar, The Philosophical Review "Dr. Gutmann attempts to construct a democratic theory of education with great conceptual clarity and good common sense... Democratic Education belongs in a liberal tradition that goes back to the birth of the Republic... It is a tradition that began with the founders and is represented today by people like Thomas Nagel and John Rawls. It is the America de Tocqueville celebrated."--The Times Higher Education Supplement "Amy Gutmann has written a courageous book... One of Gutmann's most remarkable successes is her ability to sustain a principled argument through a dazzling range of issues of great moment and complexity."--Herbert M. Kliebard, Academe "[Democratic Education] is unusual in offering a specifically political theory of education... [The theory] is rigorously deployed and its practical implications are conscientiously demonstrated in close, well-documented and instructive discussion of controversial issues in the politics of American education."--Jean Floud, The Times Literary Supplement
Table of ContentsPreface to the Revised EditionIntroduction: Back to Basics31States and Education192The Purposes of Primary Education483Dimensions of Democratic Participation714The Limits of Democratic Authority955Distributing Primary Schooling1276The Purposes of Higher Education1727Distributing Higher Education1948Extramural Education2329Educating Adults256Conclusion: The Primacy of Political Education282Epilogue: Challenges of Civic Minimalism, Multiculturalism, and Cosmopolitanism292Works Cited317Index339
