Cornett and Smith address these issues in their article Civic Literacy in a Global Age: Imperatives for Teaching and Learning. They recommend building a highly effective civic education program through personal commitment on the part of school leaders, planned school-based learning experiences and links with community resources such as the American Bar Association.
Burger explicates how an ethic of caring can provide the framework for building the next generation of leaders through communicating, decision making and modeling on the part of empathetic adults.
Bill Betzen provides an overview of a program designed to place a positive projection on the future lives of middle school students who otherwise might face an uncertain future devoid of images of hope.
John Wheeler unpacks the foundations of American democracy not as common language, culture or customs. Rather he observes that law preserves a republic and the basic tenets upon which it is based - in our society, concepts of freedom, liberty and equality.