ABSTRACT
Abstract Near the end of The Public and Its Problems, John Dewey writes that the
consummation of democracy will involve the art of full communication. The internet
might appear to fulfill Dewey’s vision, increasing opportunities for inquiry, interaction,
and renewal through the social construction of meaning. Yet certain forms of
technologically mediated communication threaten the development of much needed
skills for democracy. While citizenship education may be facilitated by digital technology,
it also demands pedagogy of a more traditional sort, one characterized by embodied,
experiential interactions between teachers and students. We employ pedagogical theory,
democratic theory, evolutionary psychology, and neuroscience to underline the crucial
importance of these embodied, experiential interactions and their relationship to the
challenge of sustaining democracy in our times.
