Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship Returns to Phoenix, AZ
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On February 3, the Our Common Purpose team, together with the Arizona Civic Life Partnership, will host a full day of programming in Phoenix, Arizona to highlight the inspiring work Arizona community leaders are undertaking to build a more resilient civic culture and renew a commitment to constitutional democracy. The program will include a panel discussion featuring Stephen Heintz (Rockefeller Brothers Fund) and Eric Liu (Citizen University), cochairs of the American Academy’s bipartisan Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, and Commission member Steven Olikara (Millennial Action Project), followed by a reception that will bring together leaders from Arizona’s public, private, and nonprofit sectors to learn about this important work.
Read more about the full day of events in Phoenix here.
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Civic Education, Civic Infrastructure, and National Service Receive Significant Boost from Congress
December 22, 2022 – The year-end omnibus bill, passed by Congress on December 22, includes a significant increase in funding for K-12 civic education, from the current $7.75M to $23M. The bill also includes robust investments in public spaces that bring Americans together, as well as $1.3 billion for AmeriCorps, a 14% year-on-year increase. Read this press release from CivXNow, an OCP Champion, on what the federal funding means for civic education. And check out this synopsis from Reimagining the Civic Commons highlighting a handful of examples of the many civic infrastructure projects supported by this federal funding.
The Our Common Purpose report calls for increasing investment in civic education (Recommendation 6.5), dramatic expansion of America’s bridging capacity through investment in civic infrastructure (Strategy 4), and creating a universal expectation of national service (Recommendation 6.1).
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The Atlantic: Why We Need Civics
January 22, 2023 – In an op-ed published by The Atlantic, Richard Haass argues that the most urgent threat to American security and stability stems not from abroad, but from internal political divisions that jeopardize the future of American democracy and even the United States itself. According to Mr. Haass, the way to bridge these divides is through civic education: “For a people to understand and appreciate its collective identity is a matter of teaching, not biology,” Mr. Haass writes.
Read the op-ed here.
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Civic Genius Presents: "Lessons from South Africa: Moving Beyond Toxic Polarization in America"
Civic Genius, an OCP Champion, is partnering with Beyond Conflict to host an in-person conversation THIS WEEK with Mohammed Bhabha and Roelf Meyer, two legendary leaders who helped negotiate the end of apartheid in South Africa. The conversation will focus on how Americans can develop skills for moving beyond toxic polarization. Strategy 4 of Our Common Purpose calls for a dramatic expansion of America’s civic bridging capacity.
DATE: January 27, 2023, from 11:15AM – 1:00 PM EST | The City Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH | Reserve a spot here.
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Citizen University Requests Proposals for a Global Learning Project about Civic Culture
Citizen University, a nonprofit co-founded by Eric Liu, cochair of the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, is seeking a contract researcher or research team for a 9–10-month project that will explore global practices of building a stronger civic culture. The first part of the project will take the form of a major research initiative, and the second part will include learning exchanges to connect with select global practitioners in person. Interested parties should email Brooke Prieskorn at [email protected] by January 31 to schedule a 30-minute exploratory conversation. Proposals are due by March 24.
Read the RFP for the Civic Culture Global Research Project here.
Read the Project Brief here.
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Extended: 'Bridging Divides' Grant Opportunity Deadline
The deadline to submit a grant proposal for the Strengthening Democracy Challenge (SDC), a joint project between academics and practitioners to crowdsource interventions to reduce anti-democratic attitudes, has been extended to March 1, 2023. Grants of up to $50,000 will be allocated on a competitive basis to new or existing teams of practitioners and researchers. To learn more about the application process, please see the call for proposals here. For additional updates related to the Strengthening Democracy Challenge, please see here.
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