On the moral requirement of a teaching service

Abstract

A teaching service offers citizens the opportunity to contribute to civic education. Two arguments are provided to support the thesis statement. The first section defends a teaching service by arguing that civic education is a public good. The principle of fairness requires a contribution to the good from which one benefits. Subsequently, a liberal objection is considered, which requires justification of government involvement to secure a citizen’s freedom. Eventually, two academic perspectives are presented to defend that contribution to civic education via a teaching service is more valuable than taxation. The second section of this thesis defends a teaching service by arguing that contribution to civic education is a civic duty. The republican political tradition emphasizes that democratic governments should mandate a teaching service as a means to live in a democratic society as a free citizen. Furthermore, citizens have a duty to contribute to civic education not to be dominated by the producers of the good. Finally, the third section considers two objections to a teaching service. In sum, democratic governments are morally required to mandate a teaching service.