"In this monograph, author Elizabeth Lynn describes the subsequent creation of state humanities councils, beginning in 1971, as 'an ongoing experiment.' The result has been a continually evolving attempt to work out, on the ground, just what the humanities can and should be to the American public and what kinds of citizens a democracy needs. Lynn writes that the humanities' answer to the latter question has evolved over the past half-century. In the 1950s and 1960s, democracy needed autonomous individuals; in the 1970s, informed voters; the 1980s, prepared pluralists; the 1990s, thoughtful Americans; and the 2000s, engaged citizens." --Kettering Foundation web site