The Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper articulated a concept of sphere sovereignty that translates, in policy terms, into principled structural pluralism. The Dutch experience is highly relevant for the present situation in the United States: deep political and social as well as cultural divides between a liberal elite and the values and interests of many of their fellow-citizens. Popular schooling is often a primary focal-point for attempts to make effective the hegemony of the sovereign state over every aspect of society. Employed in a monopolistic manner, it poses the profoundest threat to freedom. Educational pluralism, of the sort that emerged spontaneously in the United States but has been under growing threat in recent decades, is the best protection against this profoundly undemocratic abuse.
Charles L. Glenn, "Democratic Pluralism in Education," Journal of Markets & Morality 21, no. 1 (Spring 2018): 117-140