I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion. (Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William Charles Jarvis, 28 September 1820). Few statements speak so eloquently of the need for an informed citizenry in a democracy. Jefferson joined Jean Jaques Rousseau and John Stuart in advocating a classical theory of democracy, the most distinctive feature of which is the concept of an active, informed citizenry. Jefferson’s lifelong commitment to public education is a clear reflection of this view of the citizen’s role in a democracy.
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