Pedagogy for "Extraterrestrials": Political Science's Duty to Explain Democracy Beyond Myths and Fatalism

This paper starts from an urgent premise: while academia theoretically debates "the dark times of the alleged end of democracies," citizens require tools to inhabit the "imperfect reality" that constitutes the democratic regime. Based on the epistemological and pedagogical proposal of my book, Democracy for Extraterrestrials (Ariel, 2nd ed.), and on ongoing research regarding the teaching of political science in Colombia, this work critiques the hermetic nature of our discipline. It is argued that political scientists have failed to communicate the true nature of democracy, allowing for the proliferation of "myths and fatalisms that have been used for decades to attack this political system." The presentation exposes how traditional teaching has become cryptic and proposes a radical shift toward a clear, mass-scale pedagogy. The objective is to "debunk" catastrophic narratives using "historical facts and verifiable data," explained with such simplicity that "even an extraterrestrial newly arrived on Earth could understand it." Finally, the paper posits that the defense of democracy relies not only on institutions but also on the experts' capacity to translate complexity into "simple acts of good citizenship." Rather than joining the chorus of laments regarding the crisis, this proposal seeks to transform political science into a vehicle enabling anyone to contribute to the "improvement of this magnificent gift of history."