Constituting the American Higher-Education Elite: Rush and Jefferson on Collegiate Civic Engagement

Luke Foster ()
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Luke Foster: School of Government, Hillsdale College, Washington, DC 20002, USA

Laws, 2024, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: The foundation of new centers for civic education has sparked a new round of debate over the political independence of the public university. Do legal mandates by state legislatures undermine academic freedom? The underlying debate concerns alternative visions of elite formation, as comparing Benjamin Rush and Thomas Jefferson’s arguments during the Founding period makes apparent. Both believed that the American constitutional order depended on educated citizens of a certain character, requiring coercive authority in education to instill moral and political commitments. But whereas Jefferson made an exception for educational coercion, Rush viewed education as an aristocratic element that could complement democracy. Rush’s prioritizing of duties over rights offers a more helpful framework for the task of reforming elite education today to restore trust between leaders and people.

Keywords: constitutionalism; civic education; legal coercion; academic freedom; Benjamin Rush; Thomas Jefferson (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D78 E61 E62 F13 F42 F68 K0 K1 K2 K3 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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