Political Education

Introduction to history of national politics, brief notions of governance, quality of political systems and their impact on the life of citizens are the basic pedagogic framework of any education in politics at the rudimentary level. The purpose of such an introduction to political education is distinctly utilitarian. It is designed to promote political awareness, ideas of rights and duties

- APARNA ROY & RUDRASHIS DATTA

In his autobiographical Seventh Letter, Greek philosopher Plato famously remarked, “The human race will have no respite from evils until those who are really philosophers acquire political power or until, through some divine dispensation, those who rule and have political authority in the cities become real philosophers”. Plato's retreat to his 'Academy' for implementing his political ideals in contemporary Greek politics ended in abject failure and his Academy closed down in 529 BC. His later writings reveal the difficulty of shaping political systems on sound philosophical ideals and the crisis that he pointed out in the face of politics minus ideals has remained an unresolved enigma in the world of politics even today.

There is universal agreement that the best education in politics begins in schools. Introduction to history of national politics, brief notions of governance, quality of political systems and their impact on the life of citizens are the basic pedagogic framework of any education in politics at the rudimentary level. The purpose of such an introduction to political education is distinctly utilitarian. It is designed to promote political awareness, ideas of rights and duties, and the shaping of democratic systems and individual's participation in them.

While the broad educational framework of political education is generally agreed, the methodology and applied pedagogy of the subject remains a contentious issue across the world, more so in India, where the education of politics more often slips into a politics of education that carries with it unhealthy acrimony and discord.