McFreedom? Packaging Democracy for Student Consumption

Abstract

High school students are increasingly being exposed to the concept of “packaged democracy” in social studies textbooks, curricula, and learning resources. Democracy is defined in pleasing and palatable images that promote the narrow economic, political, and socio-cultural interests of corporate giants. Very little space is devoted to critical thought and analytical inquiry about the differences between popular-democracy (i.e., freedom, majority rule, protection of minority rights, free and open elections) and market-democracy principles (i.e., unrestrained consumption, efficiency, power and access based on wealth and free/open trade). This article examines how social education teachers and students are being offered packaged democracy for mass consumption in two social studies textbooks published by McGraw-Hill.