“Democracy needs to be born anew every generation, and education is the midwife.”
- John Dewey -
In recent years, the global landscape has been defined by significant challenges to the democratic ideal. Considering the growing threat of democratic backsliding, the health and resilience of contemporary democracies cannot be addressed through institutional reforms alone. A crucial way to address this problem is through democratic education, through which higher education can play a pivotal role in fostering the next generation of informed and engaged citizens.
The quest for 21st-century higher education to take the lead in providing citizen-participatory education has become a significant topic of discussion. For example, a report published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) advocates that higher education should play a pivotal role in prioritizing civic learning. According to the report, universities have a responsibility to make civic learning and democratic engagement an expected part of undergraduate education and create more suitable environments for students to acquire civic competencies (A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future, AAC&U).
In the field of political science, the American Political Science Association (APSA) has emphasized that education for civic engagement and responsive governance were founding objectives of the political science profession from the beginning of the 20th century and remain essential for the 21st century. For example, the three consecutive volumes on civic engagement education edited by APSA and uploaded on its website stress that universities hold a unique position as key institutions that can lead the preservation and development of democracy in society and the nation (Civic Education & Engagement, APSA).
In a similar vein, the International Political Science Association (IPSA) embarked on a new General Track on Political Science Teaching and Learning in 2023 at the Buenos Aires World Congress. The legacy will continue through 2025 at the Seoul World Congress. Not only the General Track on Political Science Teaching and Learning but also other special sessions and panels on citizen education and civic engagement education will be organized to discuss a range of challenges to and opportunities for the teaching of political science in universities and colleges around the world (Track GL13 Political Science Teaching and Learning).
This special high-level roundtable will be structured with speeches and discussions among distinguished leaders of higher education and political science associations throughout the world, focusing on how the institutions of higher learning and the profession of political science join together to embrace and act on their mission to educate students for informed, engaged, open-minded, and socially responsible citizenship, committed to the common good, and practiced in ‘doing’ democracy.
Roundtable Participants
Honglim Ryu, President and Faculty Member of Department of Political Science and International Relations of Seoul National University (South Korea)
Aiji Tanaka, President of Waseda University and Past President of IPSA, (Japan)
John Ishiyama, Past President of APSA, 2021~2022 (USA)
Pablo Onate, President of IPSA (Spain)
Francesca Longo, Vice-Rector, University of Catania and Executive Committee Member of IPSA (Italy)
