If You Want to Improve Local Democracy, Start by Getting to Know Your Community

December 1, 2023

If you want community members to participate productively in public meetings, it helps to have a high level of knowledge about their attitudes, history, and networks. Where do you they...

Using Democratic Innovation to Rebuild Trust between Elected Officials and Citizens

December 1, 2023

According to Pew Research, public trust in government is among the lowest it has been in 70 years of polling. Today, 25% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they trust...

Essay IX: Mapping the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem 

November 22, 2023

  Democracy and citizenship continue to evolve, spurred by new threats and new opportunities. In order to exert some control over these changes, we need to understand the nature of...

Practitioner Lessons for the Operation of Citizens’ Assemblies

October 30, 2023

In recent years, citizen assemblies have grown in popularity across the world. In the United States, notable organizations like the Democracy Creative, Healthy Democracy, Berggruen Institute, Deliberative Democracy Lab, and...

Local Civic Leaders Report

October 12, 2023

Download the Full Report The Center for Democracy Innovation interviewed a variety of local civic leaders to better understand how they are faring amidst a variety of challenges facing American...

Essay II: Local Civic Leaders: Facing Threats to Democracy in Communities

October 3, 2023

By examining the work of local civic leaders, we can get a better sense of what is happening to democracy, including the threats we face and what we might do...

Announcing the Democracy Innovations for Better Public Meetings Project

September 29, 2023

Local democratic meetings are facing significant challenges. Some of these challenges include poor or limited attendance, polarized atmospheres that consist of division between members of a community and between members...

Innovating Public Meetings through Asynchronous Online Engagement

September 27, 2023

  ‘Time is a gift. Every minute. Every second.’ -Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking Glass  ‘If you knew Time as well as I do, said the Hatter, ‘you wouldn’t...

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