America’s Sickness and Its Remedy 

The American body politic is sick, driven by hyper-partisanship and weakened by ignorance and anger. The root of this national disorder is civic illiteracy, a condition which, left unchecked, leaves swaths of the American public susceptible to misleading critiques that distort their understanding of our country’s history, system of government, and position in the world. The result is a widespread loss of trust in our nation’s civic and social institutions. 

A March 2022 Quinnipiac University poll asked Americans across the country if they would stay and fight if Russia invaded our borders. Only 45% of men between the ages of 18 and 34 said they would stand and fight instead of leaving the country. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) posed similar questions to college students in a 2024 survey, finding that over half of students would flee the country if the U.S. were invaded. The survey also uncovered shocking levels of ignorance among college students on basic facts about American history and government. 

Fortunately, Iowa is joining ranks with other states seeking to reverse this shameful crisis in civic knowledge. House File 437 would establish a school of intellectual freedom at the University of Iowa. An independent academic unit within the university, the new school will focus on “the texts and major debates that form the intellectual foundation of free societies, especially that of the United States.” It will offer instruction in “the principles, ideals, and institutions of the American constitutional order” and “the foundations of responsible leadership and informed citizenship.” 

Iowa’s bill mirrors a similar bipartisan effort by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2021 under the leadership of Governor Bill Lee, which established the Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee–Knoxville. The institute is devoted to strengthening “civic education and participation while reviving thoughtfulness, civility and respect for opposing viewpoints in national discourse.”  

Other states have acted as well. The University of Florida’s Hamilton Center, which received initial state appropriations for its establishment in 2022, “is devoted to research and teaching on Western civilization and the principles of a free society.” In 2023, Ohio committed $24 million for the establishment of five centers at universities across the state that will “conduct teaching and research on the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order.” 

Iowa’s students will benefit greatly from the legislature’s effort to restore civic education at the state’s public institutions. According to an ongoing study of the core curricula at over 1,100 four-year public and private institutions across the country, none of Iowa’s three major universities require instruction in American history or civics.  

Let us be clear: ignorance and contempt for our freedoms and civic institutions go hand in hand. Those who do not understand the value of freedom, or the price paid to guard it by those who have gone before us, will not have the will to cultivate and defend it. The Iowa legislature must pass House File 437.