The problem of political stability is the problem of how a society can justly sustain
a common set of institutions and policies although its populace holds many
fundamental beliefs that are incompatible with one another. One solution to this
problem might be to utilize education to transmit liberal norms (such as moral
autonomy, equality, respect, and individuality) to younger generations of citizens.
John Rawls objects to this idea, arguing that such education would necessarily
alienate citizens, and their children, who hold reasonable illiberal moral beliefs.
Instead, Rawls advocates for the adoption of a civic educational system that solely
endorses morally neutral political virtues, combined with a contention that, given
sufficient time, individuals with divergent personal commitments will come to
form an overlapping consensus, freely choosing to participate in, and abide by, the
policies of the state. Rawls’ answer to the problem of stability, however, is
mistaken. Political stability is unlikely to be obtained solely via reliance on the
emergence of an overlapping consensus of reasonable citizens, but rather requires
the adoption of precisely the type of educational system that Rawls objects to, one
which publicly enables, and advocates for, the cultivation of morally liberal values
among its citizenry.
