Patriotism is in the air as the United States prepares for the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence in July. Yet the true meaning of patriotism and how to cultivate it among citizens is a matter of fierce debate. Steven Smith attempts to bridge current ideological chasms and offer a unifying brand of American patriotism in his 2021 book Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes (Yale University Press).

The United States, from its inception, was a “creedal nation,” meaning that being an American meant adherence to a set of core beliefs: equality, individual rights, liberty, and limited government, among them. This is juxtaposed with an ascendant nationalism on the political right, and a cosmopolitan, or “citizens of the world” concept, prevalent on the left. Smith attempts to reclaim patriotism from these poles in this fraught political moment.

The author defines patriotism as “a form of loyalty to…one’s constitution or political regime.” American patriotism is aspirational: “To be an American is to be continually engaged in asking what it means to be an American.”

Moreover, patriotism, Smith writes, is a “learned disposition” as opposed to indoctrination. Instead, it is a “component of an educated mind.” In this sense, one of the strongest acts of patriotism we can all engage in for A250 is simply the learning and the seeking of knowledge and understanding of history and civics. 

Smith compares the Declaration of Independence and Constitution with core religious texts: the former emphasizes individual rights, while the latter establishes self-government through federalism. These seminal documents breed a form of “civic faith,” what Lincoln called the “political religion of the nation.”

We are therefore a textual people, participants in ongoing debates over the true meaning of our creed. These debates are core to American patriotism and its enlightened form that Smith elevates as the root of what makes America exceptional.

In this year of the semiquincentennial, may the teaching of American virtues, namely civility, rule of law, mutual respect, responsibility, and leadership, among others, flourish in our K–12 classrooms and cultural institutions as we pass along this precious birthright to our posterity.

A recent report found that experiential learning and a focus on core civic knowledge are critical pillars of a comprehensive civic education. Experiential Civic Learning for American Democracy, produced by the Task Force on the Value of Experiential Civic Learning—composed of several CivxNow partners—defines experiential civic learning and identifies its goals, teaching practices, and barriers to participation and implementation:

• The Task Force’s definition of experiential civic learning emphasizes the need to “actively practice democracy through real or simulated civic action.”
• The goals of experiential civic learning align with the standard set for the field: building civic knowledge; developing civic skills; and fostering civic dispositions and virtues.
• Barriers include policies that marginalize and deprioritize civics and a culture of conscious disengagement from our body politic. Acknowledging that traditional standardized tests fail to measure the skills and dispositions cultivated by experiential civic learning, the report also sets forth parameters for program evaluation.

The report is a companion to the 2021 Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy, and highlights best practices that can unite practitioners across diverse ideological contexts, open access to experiential learning to more students, and contribute to depolarizing the nation.

This month, CivxNow partner, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), published Civic-Ready Students, a civics-focused issue of their peer-reviewed journal, the State Education Standard. This edition consists of a wide variety of recommendations to state boards of education to ensure students are prepared to engage in and defend constitutional democracy in the United States. Authoring organizations include CivxNow coalition members, such as the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, Thinking Nation, History Co:Lab, Jack Miller Center, Illinois Civics Hub, Aspen Institute, Harvard University’s Democratic Knowledge Project, and iCivics.

This comprehensive collection of articles explores modern challenges and the importance of crafting high-quality civics instruction for all students, while emphasizing the need to balance foundational civic knowledge with virtues such as reflective patriotism and civil disagreement. The article, “The Science of Experiential Civics,” discusses the links to cognitive science and experiential learning, all while making the case for experiential civics in curricula. The piece, “The State of Youth Civic Engagement,” examines the attitude of our nation’s youth toward democratic participation and suggests how states could address disengagement.

While each article presents a unique case for improving civic learning, the authors harmonize in their conclusion that this discipline has suffered from a long-standing underinvestment. This issue represents a pivotal moment for our field, as it not only validates our shared goals but also illustrates a clear path forward for state education leaders to advance civic education.