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University of Georgia College of Education lecturer Brian Dotts illuminates the emergence of democratic thought from Aristotle and Machiavelli to more contemporary influences from the British Commonwealth tradition in his new book titled, The Political Education of Democratus: Negotiating Civil Virtue during the Early Republic.

Dotts, a lecturer in the department of workforce education, leadership, and social foundations, examines how the radical educational and democratic ideas of Algernon Sidney, James Harrington, John Milton, Joesph Priestley, and Thomas Paine developed a rich design among the Democratic-Republican Societies that emerged during the 1790s.  The Societies were some of the first advocates of universal public schooling, and they advocated for political education grounded in critical thinking and public deliberation.  Their radical ideas and the civic virtues they exhibited are worth reconsidering amid the widespread presence of political apathy and educational standardization today.

Dotts teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the history and philosophy of education and multiculturalism. His research interests include the history of education during the American Revolutionary and early national eras. His specialties in philosophy include critical theory and the Frankfurt School.

The book was published March 2012 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.