The vanguard of efforts to change basic values could be reforms of the civil service and the education system.

CNN: REFORMING THE THAIS

The middle class expanded fast thanks to jobs in state-owned companies, the public education system and the bloated civil service.

ECONOMIST: Beyond Wisteria Lane

The states are ceding many blocking powers, but in return for new ones from the federal level, particularly in higher education, the penal system and civil-service law.

ECONOMIST: German reform

Asserting access to athletic programs as a civil right is a big step forward for our education system and, of course, for people with disabilities.

FORBES: Obama Administration: Playing Sports Is Now A Civil Right

Nevertheless, whether our candidates are debating the fairness of our tax code, or the proper priorities of funding our education system, such discourse is a necessity to a civil society.

FORBES: A Missouri Compromise Akin to Real Progress