Democracy and the teaching of public administration
| Author | John Diamond,David Schultz |
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0144739418775800 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
Democracy and the
teaching of public
administration
John Diamond
Co-editor, Teaching Public Administration
David Schultz
Former editor, Journal of Public Affairs Education
There is a spectre haunting the world – the spectre of authoritarianism and of a retreat
from democracy. Across the world, be it in the established democratic regions of
Western Europe and North America, or in the emerging or transitional places such as
South America, Eastern Europe, Africa or Asia, democratic values and governance seem
besieged and in retreat. In the face of what seems to be an unprecedented attack on
democracy, Teaching Public Administration and the Journal of Public Affairs Education
decided to collaborate in jointly publishing a symposium on ‘Democracy and the
Teaching of Public Administration.’
The editors of Teaching Public Administration and the Journal of Public Affairs
Education initially prepared this editorial as news of the 2017 Manchester, England,
terrorist bombing was emerging. Since the events of 9/11, it was yet another example of
how terrorists sought to undermine democracy and freedoms by instilling fear and
carnage. But where such senseless violence were the sum of the attack on the United
Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain, Germany, or a host of other countries, that
would not be as dangerous as a far more insidious threat hidden within these attacks and
other ostensibly non-violent acts across the world that are undermining democracy.
Historian R.R. Palmer (2014) once wrote in his The Age of the Democratic Revolu-
tion: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760–1800, that the American and
French Revolutions ushered in the modern era of democracy. Combine it with the British
Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 and what we see in them are the foundations of a 200
year plus period of liberal democracy sweeping the globe. Alexis DeTocqueville’s
Corresponding author:
John Diamond, St. Helens Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L39 4QP, UK.
Email: diamondj@edgehill.ac.uk
Teaching Public Administration
2018, Vol. 36(3) 203–206
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0144739418775800
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