Higher education’s duty to defend democracy

Abstract

The author’s cardinal claim is thus: colleges and universities cannot sit idly by with democracy under incessant stress. Since higher education organizations shape society through action (and inaction), it would be scandalous to watch the decay of political structures when they can play such an additive role. After all, the world is at a critical juncture with a global pandemic, economic challenges, antidemocratic populism, and a fragile international order. To that end, Daniels renders four key functions to map the road forward for our beloved universities: social mobility, civic education, stewardship of facts, and purposeful pluralism. Daniels organizes the argument and structure of the book around these four themes, and these are Chapters 1–4.