Civics education since 1998
Preparing tomorrow’s leaders today.
Since 1998, Dave Racer has taught high school students how American government was designed to work, and how it really works. He founded the Student Senate in 2001 and has written, edited, and/or published more than 60 books.
Named a Top Teacher of the Year by Fox 9 News in the Twin Cities. Watch the story · Who’s Who release
28+
Years teaching American Government to high school students
500+
Student Senators have completed the program
60+
Books written, edited or published, 24 of them on health care
MLitt
Master of Letters, Oxford Graduate School
Programs
Civics you learn by doing
Students research real issues, hear expert witnesses, write bills and pass or defeat them, the way a legislature works.
Summer Senate
One intense week each July: committees, expert witnesses, floor debate, and a bill signing (and vetoing) ceremony to close the session.
Dates, cost and how to apply
Student Senates Across America
More than twenty-five years of Student Senate, turned into a model that communities across the country can run for their own teens.
How it works and how to help
Civics curriculum
Dave’s courses include two textbooks plus a training course for anyone who wants to lead a Student Senate.
See the project
Nothing I love more than teaching: adults, high school students, and myself. I’m learning every day.
Dave Racer, MLitt
The textbooks
Dave’s entire government and civics course, now in book form
Written for high school students and just as useful for adults who want to understand their government.
Volume I
How We the People Designed our Government to Work
The textbook for our Republic. The U.S. government as it was understood in 1787: the Declaration, the Constitution and the founders’ intent. Preserving the Republic takes civic virtue, as John Adams said, and this book helps readers see today’s events through a constitutional lens.
Volume II
How Our Government Really Works
How U.S. government really works: elections and campaign money, Congress, parties, the presidency, the bureaucracy, lobbyists, activists and the media. For informed, engaged citizens of any age who want to protect liberty.
About Dave
Teacher, author, speaker
Alice and David Racer Sr. raised me in St. Paul, Minnesota. I graduated from St. Paul Johnson High School and attended Macalester College, the University of Minnesota and the University of Southern Mississippi while serving in the U.S. Air Force. I earned my Master of Letters degree from Oxford Graduate School.
Rosanne and I have been married since 1967 and have five children. In January 2026 I completed my 64th book; 24 of them deal with health care. My passion is teaching and writing.
From the blog
America’s Civics Teacher
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Fixated on Donald J. Trump and Deaf to Everything Else
Fixating on President Trump’s every move blocks debate about debt, health care costs, immigration and safe streets. Time to get on with self-governance.
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Why Care About How Government Works?
Chapter One of Dave’s textbook How Our Government Really Works: government is run by those who show up, and every citizen can show up…
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Passivity with Servitude, or Active Knowledge to Live in Liberty?
Which government would you choose: one that runs your life, one that underwrites it, or one limited to protecting it? As government grows, liberty…
Support
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