Civic education is vital in preparing students for the responsibilities and obligations of democratic citizenship. But a third of native-born American citizens fail the history and civics exam administered to immigrants who are seeking U.S. citizenship.
Michelle Chen | Posted 04.16.2012
Who'd have thought that voting to add trash cans on the street or renovate public housing could be a democratic milestone?
Madeline Janis | Posted 04.24.2012
I love the fact that hundreds of people are attending the hearings to express their views on how to best represent the incredible diversity of interests in Los Angeles.
Peter Levine | Posted 01.23.2012
No one knows how many young adults will vote in 2012. But we can be virtually certain that college students will vote at twice the rate of their peers who have no college experience.
John Bridgeland | Posted 06.21.2011
Three young Egyptian women spoke movingly this morning about their part in Egypt's revolution. Americans should listen to their voices to understand what's at stake across Northern Africa.
Sayu Bhojwani | Posted 05.25.2011
When faced with bureaucracy, xenophobia, and the persistent sense that you don't belong, it takes perseverance to reach full citizenship on paper.
Lorelei Kelly | Posted 05.25.2011
We speak our world into existence, so we'd better say some good things about it. After the tears, the best that we can do for John, Gabe, Dorothy, Christina, Dorwin and Phyllis is to carry on stronger than before.
Ben Berkowitz | Posted 05.25.2011
From the evolution of Linux to the distributed mechanisms of the US Coastguard, a new book shows us that inclusive decision making can reshape democracy for the 21st century.
John Milewski | Posted 05.25.2011
Everyone has a story to tell about why the midterm elections went the way they did, and it's not surprising that in most cases the narrative presented affirms the storyteller's particular world view.
Lorelei Kelly | Posted 05.25.2011
The Tea Party has pointed out how absent we've been in building a common narrative about modern American citizenship. But the American people long for a novel, not a sitcom. It's time for the rest of us to step up.
Peter Levine | Posted 05.25.2011
A few months ago, after months of debate and negotiations, health insurance reform passed Congress: the biggest social reform in decades. Yet youth--...
Steven G. Brant | Posted 05.25.2011
As we watch the quality of the civic conversation in America continue to deteriorate, the question of process seems to be even more important than it was three years ago.
Rep. Charles Rangel | Posted 05.25.2011
There's really nothing like a handwritten note from a constituent you've known for years. But I'm excited to harness the power of technology that's making it easier to stay in touch with my constituents.
Mark Olmsted | Posted 05.25.2011
The American paradox is that everyone wants small government and high services, low taxes, and a balanced budget. The genius of the Republicans is that they've convinced a huge swath of America that all of this is actually possible.
Steven G. Brant | Posted 05.25.2011
The news media must start reporting which side's argument is correct, and stop reporting only the argument between the two sides itself.
John W. Whitehead | Posted 05.25.2011
Those who get rowdy in voicing their disagreement with government policies are made into targets for the media and politicians. However, it's the so-called troublemakers who have actually changed things for the better.
Deborah Plummer | Posted 11.17.2011
Upstanders are people who, when faced with information that is troubling because of injustice, take a positive stand and act on behalf of themselves and others.
Joel Shatzky | Posted 05.25.2011
We face the danger of a future American citizenry which is no longer equipped to analyze political issues rationally, unaware of what "democracy" even means.
Brian Ross | Posted 05.25.2011
I stood outside of a town hall meeting the other day to interview people who had participated and recorded this really amazing interview with one of the more influential speakers on health care reform.
Sam Chaltain | Posted 05.25.2011
It is possible -- indeed, essential -- for schools to find the right organizational balance between individual freedom and group structure.
Lisa Honig Buksbaum | Posted 11.17.2011
The simple actions of giving and receiving rejuvenate us because these gestures remind us what it means to be human.
Michelle Cote | Posted 11.17.2011
"I'm comiiiiinggg!" Tutu sings out from the adjacent room, the words rolling off his tongue in a playfully high-pitched refrain, before he comes wheeling and teetering -- all 5'2" of him -- around the corner of his suite at the Atlanta Grand Hyatt.
Marianne Schnall | Posted 05.25.2011
I recently spoke with the inspirational former Supreme Court Justice about her new web site, the judiciary and her legacy as the first woman on the Supreme Court.
BlackAndBrownNews | Posted 05.25.2011
With News Corp's purchase of neighborhood publications like the Brooklyn Paper, all that annoying journalism that challenges pesky things like protecting citizens from eminent domain is all but lost.
Mark Miller | Posted 05.25.2011
Boomers were a big force in Obama's army of campaign foot soldiers, and tapping them for broader public service would have a huge impact -- in part because there are so many of us.
Bob Kerrey | Posted 05.26.2012