Making Political Anger Possible: A Task for Civic Education

The article asks whether political anger has a legitimate place in a democracy, as this is a political system designed to resolve conflicts by peaceful negotiation. It distinguishes personal from social anger and political anger, to focus explicitly on the latter. It argues that both the feeling and expression of political anger are subject to normative constraints, often specific to social status and gender. The article examines arguments, including those of Seneca, in favour of an anger‐free society. It concludes, however, that a democracy cannot dispense with political anger, which has a vital role to play in protecting things of value. This role demands a civic education such that when democratic values are under threat citizens will not feel apathetic or simply fearful, but angry and possessed of a repertoire of ways of expressing democratic anger.     

THE SWISS SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

We have received numerous requests to present in “Higher Education in Europe”, in relatively short form, the main features of higher education systems in the different countries of the Unesco European Region.

As partial response to these requests, we present below a survey on the Swiss system of higher education, written for “Higher Education in Europe” by Dr. Esther C. Garke from the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science, and CEPES Liaison Officer in Switzerland.

We also take this opportunity to invite our readers to provide us with papers or documents for similar presentations.