In many, if not most, American homes the value and importance of civics is not a lesson taught to children by their parents. The schools then make courageous efforts to take up the slack, but without a interest in learning, those lessons are memorized and soon forgotten. And regretably some of the teachers themselves do not seem to understand the basic workings of government or how elections are conducted in the US.
The amazing lack of knowledge among college graduates about the facts surrounding the workings and the history of the US Constitution astonishes me, and that says nothing about the same knowledge deficit concerning their state and local issues.
Some time ago, I had a friend, who ran political campaigns, starting out like me mostly as a volunteer. In time because of his expertise, he was selected as the Political Director of the Republican Party in my state. I tried to have lunch with him at least once per month, and I remember something he said to me about 20 years ago while we were at lunch. He was talking about a recent visit he had made to the Political Science Dept in our alma mater, and his meeting with some graduate students and faculty. He made the comment that his discussion with students and faculty made him realize that the theories taught at the gradate level in that University's Political Science Dept had absolutely no bearing or resemblance to the real world of elections and governance that we both knew. He then gave me examples that made me laugh out loud. The theories taught to those interested in the subject were so abstract that they were meaningless in the real world. I have thought of the those words many times over the years when I note the opinions of commentators on TV, radio, internet opining about elections and electoral strategies.
The subject of civics, like geography, or math, must be made interesting, challenging, and relevant in order to have an impact on children. But, most of all, parents must be convinced that these are subjects which are worthwhile to teach children. Unfortunately, it is fashionable to be loudly cynical about the validity or usefulness of understanding politics. I personally have never known ignorance to be a desirable condition, once upon a time, those who were "ignorant" were ashamed of their ignorance and sought to change their condition. Today many seem to wear their cynical ignorance on their chests like a badge.
