Dr. Nicholas Longo, the inaugural Director of the Rutgers Democracy Lab (RDL) and Dr. Elizabeth Matto, Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics recently published an op-ed in NJ.com.
In The Forgotten Lesson from 1776 That Could Rescue Democracy in 2026, Longo and Matto ruminate on a consequential revision made by Thomas Jefferson when crafting the Declaration of Independence to remind readers that democracy requires active, engaged citizenship as opposed to passive participation.
If we want to build citizens rather than subjects, civic education must be pursued with intention and purpose. If we do, young people will be at the forefront of building the democracy we need.
The work of Rutgers Democracy Lab and the Eagleton Institute of Politics serves as a model for how higher education is uniquely positioned to teach citizenship at scale by embedding civic education and dialogue into curricula, programming, and general campus culture. For instance, the Byrne Seminars push students to connect historical ideals to civic challenges, RDL’s Think & Do Tank provides students with tools to develop actionable solutions to “wicked problems,” and Eagleton’s Café Democracy event series nurtures spaces akin to American taverns to share ideas on strengthening American democracy, to name a few.
Democracy is not a spectator sport, and learning by doing is the most powerful way to teach students what it means to be part of a democratic community.
Read the full article here.
