ABSTRACT
How can we ameliorate the maladies of state government? We point to an old wine in a new bottle—proper civic education. While several of the problems identified in the previous chapters could be addressed with major institutional reforms, doing this is not feasible. Civic education, in contrast, is a realistic policy intervention that has been proven to increase political knowledge and participation. Throughout K-12 education, students should learn about the institutions, electoral features and policy jurisdictions of state governments. In addition, curricula should focus on how citizens can meaningfully engage with their state governments.
