Restore Citizenship Through Liberal Education

Higher education should reorient from producing narrowly skilled workers or activist cadres to teaching the habits, texts, and practices of citizenship — historical literacy, deliberative argument, and toleration. That curricular pivot would deliberately form citizens able to sustain collective self-government rather than merely pursue social-justice activism or economic utility. — If universities prioritized civic formation, it would shift campus culture, political recruitment, and the narratives available to voters, strengthening democratic resilience against illiberal movements.