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“An accurate, basic understanding of America’s history and philosophy is absolutely critical to our continued ability to talk to each other, build community, and function as Americans,” writes Sheila Suess Kennedy, an Emerita Professor of Law and Public Policy at IUPUI. “When people don’t understand when government can properly impose rules and when it can’t, when they don’t understand the most basic premises of our legal system, our public discourse is impoverished and ultimately unproductive.” | Photo via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Sheila Kennedy: Civic Literacy ‘Critical’ to a Functioning Democracy

Sheila Suess Kennedy

Sheila Suess Kennedy, Emerita Professor of Law and Public Policy, says that when people don’t understand the most basic premises of our legal system, our public discourse is impoverished and ultimately unproductive. “Unfortunately,” she writes, “that civic knowledge is in very short supply.” Click here to read Professor Kennedy’s article on why civic literacy is critical to the American Idea.