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It argues that authoritarian, business-oriented information delivery and hierarchical classroom authority can train students to depend on ready-made answers from authority. Drawing on John Dewey and Socrates, it contrasts student-centered inquiry and dialogic learning with examples from a public university that ultimately constrained its democratic mission. The authors call for teachers to rethink reliance on lectures, textbooks, and exams to cultivate dialogue, collaboration, and free thought.",{"@graph":69,"@context":114},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-lure-of-autocratic-education-in-a-somewhat-democratic-society/592847/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-lure-of-autocratic-education-in-a-somewhat-democratic-society/592847.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Marglet","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How do Dewey and Socrates function in the article’s argument?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They are presented as educational models whose philosophies expect students to find, evaluate, and develop their own answers rather than submit to hierarchical delivery of information.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":116,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":118,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":120,"site_id":62},592847,1792208904,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":123},{"doc_id":120,"user_id":124,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":131,"language":132,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":133,"faqs":134,"seo_title":135,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":136,"read_time":137,"preview_page_count":4},2336477982702,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","The Lure of Autocratic Education in a Somewhat  \nDemocratic Society  \nBy Xenia Coulter􀀍 & Lee Herman†  \nThe United States (US) has since its inception considered the education of its citizens as critical for preserving democracy. The recent attractiveness of autocratic leaders, not only in the US but across the world, raises questions about the dominant educational model now in place. We argue that the authoritarian and business-oriented structure and the information delivery model of learning today produce students who learn to rely on readymade answers from those in authority. We describe, in contrast, the educational practicesand philosophies of John Dewey and Socrates that expect students to find and evaluate their own answers. We also describe our experiences as professors in an American public university that for some time promoted through its policies and procedures equality between teacher and student and diversity among students through individualized learning activities. The result, we argue, were students comfortable with dialogic learning, collaborative inquiry, and independent thinking. We also describe how, despite its initial promise, our college, along other such schools, could not be sustained. We suggest that while the fragility of democratic education may be due to external factors over which we have no control, it is also due to certain human traits: a predisposition for efficiency and immediate decision-making, which makes it difficult to acknowledge ignorance or engage in self-examination; and the need for control, the lure of power and its corollary, the will to submit. If teachers would critically examine their reliance upon lectures, textbooks, and exams and consider other models of teaching, we believe they could, within their own classrooms, create communities of dialogue, collaboration, and free thought. We call upon both teachers and students to explore ways of learning that are inherently democratic andwill help democracy, not autocracy, flourish in society and all its institutions.  \nKeywords: democracy, Dewey, dialogue, progressive education, Socrates.  \nIntroduction  \nEvery government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. And to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree. This indeed is not all that is necessary, though it be essentially necessary. An amendment of our constitution must here come in aid of the public education. Thomas Jefferson (2011, p. 254)  \nThe recent emergence of populist autocratic leaders in nations across the world, including the United States, raises questions about the role of education in encouraging this alarming development. The United States has since its inception regarded education as critical to forming and sustaining democracy. Even as the US Constitution was approved, Thomas Jefferson called for citizen education as key to the success of this new experiment in government. Leaders in any situation,  \n􀀍Professor Emerita, SUNY Empire State College, USA.  \n†Professor Emeritus, SUNY Empire State College, USA.  \n[https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.7-4-1](https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.7-4-1) doi=10.30958/aje.7-4-1  \nhe argued, will inevitably succumb to tyranny; and in a democracy, only the people have the power to prevent this from happening. To be aware of this danger and to know how to respond, people must be educated. It is from this tradition that we as American educators, ask now whether educational institutions and practices might be changed so as to prevent or at least temper the current lure of autocracy.  \nIn this article we will argue that in our colleges and universities today, it is not surprising that our graduates seem disturbingly comfortable in autocratic social, political and economic environs. We will then describe the educational practicesand philosophy of John Dewey on the one hand and Socrates on the other that were exquisitely in tune w","cbCairV0fE2jjMxt","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairV0fE2jjMxt","pdf",464942,21,"English","# Introduction\n# Education Today","[{\"question\":\"How do Dewey and Socrates function in the article’s argument?\",\"answer\":\"They are presented as educational models whose philosophies expect students to find, evaluate, and develop their own answers rather than submit to hierarchical delivery of information.\"}]","The Lure of Autocratic Education in a Somewhat Democratic Society | PDF",1792075923,53]