This commentary is by Rich Clark, Ph.D., a resident of Clarendon and a professor of political science at Castleton University, where he has served on the general education committee for 10 years.
We are at a time in our history where the democratic experiment in the United States is in peril. The Economist Democracy Index moved the United States from full democracy to flawed democracy in 2016, and the U.S. index score has continued to fall since then.
The guardrails that support our democracy are at stake in large part because we have failed to focus on citizen education.
At a time when American democracy is under attack, when one-third of Americans believe that the 2020 election was either probably or definitely illegitimate (YouGov Poll, December 2021), and 32 percent agreed with the statement that “there is a group of people in this country who are trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants who agree with their political views,” (AP-NORC Poll, December 2021) it is time to reconsider and reinvest in public support for liberal arts education.
The liberal arts foster independent thinking and support values consistent with democracy rather than authoritarianism. Higher levels of education are associated with greater support for democratic values.
With all of the talk about the individual benefits of higher education, we often lose sight of the fact that higher education is mostly a public good. Public goods, by definition, are nonexclusive and inexhaustible.
While college graduates benefit directly from their college educations, the entire community benefits when the number of college-educated citizens rises. Communities with a high proportion of college graduates see better health outcomes, lower crime, and greater civic participation than communities with low levels of college-educated residents. A rising tide of education lifts all boats.
As for the impact on the economy, college graduates with liberal arts degrees are essential to a strong workforce; the American Association of Colleges and Universities conducted studies to show that “employers overwhelmingly view the knowledge and skills developed across the entire educational experience, including through broad study in the liberal arts, to be most important for career success.”
Still, we focus too heavily on the private benefit of higher education to the detriment of the public good. We repeat the narrative so often that the purpose of college is to put the student on the pathway to a good job, with good pay and a higher standard of living.
We have spoken of the student as if she were merely an indiscriminate part of the economy and not a person with interests beyond the workplace. We have played down the role of citizen, focusing instead on producer and consumer. While we give passing comments in favor of voting as a right and obligation, we act as if it is not the job of higher education to help inform the student to be an intelligent voter and an engaged citizen well beyond the ballot box.
If we were to focus more on the public good of higher education, we might recast the purpose to help develop good citizens. Of course, good citizens also contribute to the economy; they are competent professionals, often with narrowly focused areas of specialization. But they are also neighbors, parents, friends. They participate in civic life to build better communities. They are political actors who exercise the values of tolerance of differences and respect for their fellow citizens. They care about interests beyond their personal gain because they are attached to a community.
None of this support for a liberal education is to say that vocational training and technical schooling are not important; skilled craftspeople are vital to our economy. However, the option of learning a trade does not necessarily replace liberal arts education. The study of anthropology and literature may not make someone a better plumber or electrician, but it may make their lives richer outside of the workday. And it may also help the tradesperson understand others better, leading to better customer and employee relations. It may also help that tradesperson connect with the broader interests of the community.
Education changed my life far beyond preparing me for a career in teaching and public opinion research. I am a first-generation college graduate from a family that did not place a high premium on formal education. My parents raised my five siblings and me to value hard work and to get an honest job.
So I found full-time employment in retail while I worked on obtaining a liberal arts degree. My education gave me meaning and joy. Of course, when I attended the California State University system back in the 1980s, the tuition was reasonable, and I could pay it without incurring debt because the state supported its universities.
I believe the residents of Vermont deserve no less than what I had. Vermonters, those coming out of high school as well as older Vermonters, deserve the opportunity of a liberal arts education.
Students should not be denied a liberal arts education because the cost is too great, nor should they be discouraged from a liberal arts degree because it is not “practical.” The liberal arts are both practical and valuable to the individual and to the larger community. And the liberal arts could potentially save our democracy.
