Democracy did not emerge as a form of organizing politics because it was efficient. It emerged because human beings, over centuries, developed the idea that every person holds an equal measure of dignity that deserves recognition and room to grow. For a long stretch of history, this belief lay dormant, as societies organized around the assumption that authority comes from above and that ordinary people are not to be trusted with power.

It was only 300 years ago that a mental shift began to gain traction. After centuries of religiously defined hierarchies and conflicts, secular philosophies – often drawing on lessons gleaned from indigenous peoples of North America (Graber/Wengerow, 2023) – advanced the notions of human rights, equal dignity, and the need for ordinary people to co-create the terms of their governance. The rise of printing presses, cafes, and civic associations made it possible for individuals to form, debate, and refine ideas together. Democracy became thinkable.

But it was the 19th century that made democracy felt and necessary. The Romantic movement that swept Europe and the Americas insisted that each person possesses a unique inner life of longing and moral imagination. Poets, philosophers, and artists awakened their contemporaries to the idea that humans are not merely rational, but are meaning-making individuals (Innes & Philp, 2005). Out of this fusion of Enlightenment reason and Romantic fire emerged democracy’s promise that all people “are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights”, including the freedom to pursue their view of happiness in community with others.

In the roughly 150 years since, the longing to realize this promise of freedom has fueled struggles for abolition, civil rights, and national self-determination. One of the most quintessentially American expressions of this commitment to freedom was articulated as the United States entered World War II. Speaking to a country bracing for loss and sacrifice in the fight against Nazi Germany, Franklin Delano Roosevelt named the Four Freedoms that America stood for, at home and abroad: freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. In essence, he was defining what he believed to be the conditions for human thriving: the ability to have a voice. To hold one’s own convictions. To build a life supported by one’s gifts. To face the future without terror.

Fast forward to our world today – a world marked by global economic and political insecurity, rapid technological change, and fraying social trust. In this moment, Roosevelt’s four essential freedoms are precisely what many young people feel they lack. They do not feel free to say what they think or believe (Knight Fdn, 2024). They fear for the future and are unsure what work or contribution will be possible for them in an age of AI (Gallup, 2024). Growing up in near-constant and hardly controllable visibility, they navigate unrelenting judgment, comparison, and the pressure to appear correct before they have had the chance to risk being wrong. Many feel stuck, without a clear pathway toward purpose or mobility (Pew, 2025).

Given this state of essential freedoms: What must learning systems look like to develop young people as engaged, informed participants in a pluralistic democracy? The answer lies in the design of environments and experiences in which young people develop the foundational skills for and experience the conditions of freedom: where they use their voice, explore beliefs in relationships, build purpose through real work, and realize that they are capable of shaping the future. 

Through design work with researchers, youth and communities, we have articulated a set of 18 essential learning journeys every young person should have by age eighteen. These experiences, which can be offered anywhere, by any adult in any setting, cultivate the dispositions and competencies required to be a free human being, advocating for his/her freedom in community with other free individuals. They are not specific to civics instruction, but they form the foundation for individuals and communities to learn, grow, imagine and create. 

We have grouped these experiences by how they develop the four essential freedoms FDR placed at the heart of democracy and human thriving:

Freedom of Speech: The Courage to Think and Speak for Oneself
To feel free to speak, a young person must first hear their own voice. This grows through experiences that require articulation and deliberation:

• Civil discourse on a contentious topic
• Writing/delivering a public speech
• Creating a public narrative or podcast
• Deep reading journeys 
• Civic Solitude/the formation of one’s own values 

In these conditions – where disagreement is safe, curiosity is welcomed, and ideas are debated – young people learn the foundational lessons of civic freedom and pluralism: My mind and thoughts are my own. I can honor yours, even when our values and ideas differ. 

Freedom of Belief: Encountering Difference Without Fear
At the heart of our nation’s story is the assumption that human beings should be free to embrace whatever religion they please. Young people need structured encounters with different worldviews, cultures, and moral imaginations, for example through

• Conducting oral histories across generations
• Researching and interpreting community histories
• Participating in deliberative bodies where diverse perspectives meet

These experiences allow young people to appreciate differences in values as a sign of humanity, not of righteousness,

Freedom from Want: Discovering One’s Capacity to Create and Contribute
Freedom from want is not only material; it is existential.  It is the confidence that I have gifts the world needs. To develop this freedom, young people must experience themselves as creators and individuals with potential:

• Creating a piece of original art
• Designing a game
• Completing a challenge of self-mastery
• Contributing work that is displayed, shared, or performed

Mastery of skills builds dignity and purpose, allowing young people to find pathways to meaningful roles adding value to their community.

Freedom from Fear: Understanding How Systems Work – and How to Shape Them
To be free from fear requires knowing what threats are made of, and recognizing that the future is not fixed.  This requires experiences that reveal how society works:

• Mapping a complex system
• Shadowing a public leader
• Co-designing a solution to a community problem
• Organizing and doing something that changes a real outcome
• Hosting a public exhibit or community ritual

When young people see that people just like them make and remake the systems around us, a new belief takes root:  We are not spectators of history. We are its authors. This is the essence of agency, and an antidote to despair.

Democracy and economic opportunity run on the desire for dignity, belonging, purpose, justice, and a better future.  AI, a technology meant to make our lives easier, can do many things. But AI cannot desire nor help us realize our common purpose in freedom. 

The education system we need for an era of AI is clear:  one that ensures that every young person feels what it’s like to be fully free as a human, so that they may choose to defend the system that guarantees freedom and flourishing for them and for others.