Title: Democracy, education and economics

Authors: Zohreh Emami, John Davis

Addresses: Alverno College, 3400 S. 43rd St., Milwaukee, WI 53234-3922, USA. ' University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Economics, Marquette University, P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA

Abstract: This paper examines the connections between democracy and education, particularly as it concerns economics. We adopt a pluralist proceduralist view of democracy, and argue that this requires a view of individuals as active decision-makers able to deliberate and reflect on their different ideas and opinions – a view not available to mainstream economics with its preference-based view of the individual. The paper examines the nature of learning and its implications for teaching, and then applies this to economics education. An important aspect of this is students| exploration of their values. We argue this approach requires a pluralist educational philosophy.

Keywords: education; democracy; economics; pluralism; individual; agency; instrumentalist; proceduralism; cognitive science; teaching; learning; economics education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2009.028963

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2009 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.37 - 45

Published online: 16 Oct 2009 *

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