LAUSR

Abstract The rise of various conspiracy theories has left many Americans worried and wondering about the future of democracy. Education has been singled out as part of the solution. Linking Dewey’s conception of the purpose of education as growth, the happiness of “eudaimonia,” to “pursuit of happiness” as a human right, the author explores recent research related to what education and educators can do to weaken conspiracy thinking while also considering ways of building and strengthening understanding of and commitment to democracy as a distinctive way of life. Noting that democracy is not natural and that the central problem with conspiracy theories is that they undermine human growth, the argument is that rather than bulk up the civics curriculum what is needed most is to rethink the kind and quality of life lived within schools understood as a “special environment,” as Dewey said, one within which democracy is both studied and practiced.