Mandating civics in schools won't fix American democracy

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy proposed raising the voting age to 25 for Americans without civic experience.

Julian Zelizer : But there are good reasons to doubt that dialing up civics instruction would strengthen democracy.

He says only nine states and the District of Columbia require a full year of U.S. government or civics, with the rest requiring only a semester or nothing at all.

Zelizer says Americans ' ability to answer basic civics questions does not mean much anyway.

Julian Zelizer : Civics education seems to increase political polarization rather than reducing it.

He says the urge to use public schools to shape ideology ensures endless political battles over what constitutes good civics education.

Zelizer says expanding school choice reflects a core American civic virtue: pluralism.