Human Rights
Umbrella Soldiers
As both a symbol and a tool, the umbrellas used by Hong Kong protesters serve as a cunning accomplice in their fight to sustain democracy.
Tag: Democracy
Civic Engagement
Equity, Power-Sharing, and Renewal of Civil Society
The United States can restore the trust that allows civil society to flourish by emphasizing the values that have long bound us together and by adopting the newer values of shared power and racial equity.
Excerpt
Government
Rethinking Democracy, the Social Contract, and Globalization
Renovating Democracy explores how the digital revolution has irrevocably altered how we engage with participatory democracy and with how democracy works for us.
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Realizing Democracy
As long as it is more profitable to rig the rules than play by them, our better angels are unlikely to thrive. Part of the Winter 2020 issue's Realizing Democracy supplement funded by the Ford Foundation.
Civic Engagement
Opening Public Contracting to Citizen Participation
By understanding the impact of public contracting on their daily lives, citizens become more aware of the need for transparency and accountability. A Viewpoint from the Winter 2020 issue.
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Other People’s Money
When corporate engagement with governments serves narrow interests and money is critical for campaigns and influence, the system causes “corruptive dependencies,” exacerbates inequality, and leads to the perception that our “captured economy” is rigged and unjust. Part of the Winter 2020 issue's Realizing Democracy supplement funded by the Ford Foundation.
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Against Nostalgia
Three takeaways to establish the structural and institutional guardrails necessary to creating a serious, concerted, and holistic effort to address issues of power and inequality across civil society, government, and the economy. Part of the Winter 2020 issue's Realizing Democracy supplement funded by the Ford Foundation.
Cities
Urban Renewal?
The Fairmount Corridor project revealed a central tension in community development: Community-based organizations both enhance and undermine democracy. A Research article from the Fall 2019 issue.
Government
Strategies for Overcoming Systemic Social Failures
Our work in Israel promoting socioeconomic equity for Arab municipalities shows how to improve public service provision and cross-sector collaboration. A Viewpoint from the Fall 2019 issue.
Social Services
Inside Switzerland’s Radical Drug Policy Innovation
A look at how Switzerland radically and successfully changed its approach to drug policy following a heroin epidemic in the late 1980s and 90s, and what the effort teaches us about the social innovation process.