American Politics and the Liberal Arts College

This paper argues that mainstream approaches to teaching American politics not only fail to give students the intellectual tools they need to become effective citizens, they also help to legitimize the market values that threaten liberal arts curriculums today. The American Political Development (APD) approach to teaching American politics is best suited for teaching a critical civic education and nurturing democratic values, such as civic engagement, public service, and social solidarity, at liberal arts colleges. Moreover, liberal arts colleges provide a particularly effective educational setting for taking an APD approach to American Politics.