Nonprofits & NGOs
Civil Society as Public Conscience
Civil society can help make sure that we in America do not turn our back on fundamental values, or forget about those who lack market and political power.
Tag: Democracy
Civic Engagement
On Shared Vision and a New Social Compact
Civic engagement and community voice make up the secret sauce of US democracy. We need a new, community-generated social compact to assert the vision and policy framework for an inclusive 21st-century America.
Civic Engagement
Civic Virtues and the Healing of Partisan Divides
In a time when many are drawing a line between communities and ideologies, the best line to draw is one that goes right through every human heart—a line that leads to five essential civic virtues.
Advocacy
Is Anybody Listening?
A new model for advocacy groups and organizations can help them identify and effectively communicate with persuadable audiences.
Civic Engagement
Civil Society and Authentic Engagement in a Diverse Nation
Discourse and dialogue have always been the hallmarks of civil society, but when the power of government is used systematically to divide and exclude, it is the stinging conversations and actions at the leading edge of civil society that will reestablish the democratic ideals of an equitable democracy.
Civic Engagement
Parallel Universes? Lines and Ties in Civil Society
The history of America’s Hispanic community shows how civil society can create a refuge for those excluded from society at large. But allowing such demarcation lines is never good enough. For a civil society to be effective, sustainable, and worthy, it must tie together all who reside in that society.
Civic Engagement
The American Context of Civil Society
In both the conservative and progressive imagination, civil society is valued—for opposite reasons—as an arbiter between the individual and the national state. But by viewing civil society as the core of America’s social life, we can see our way toward a politics that might overcome some of the dysfunctions of our day.
Civic Engagement
The Adaptive Challenge of Restoring Trust in Civil Society
Driven by a confluence of powerful secular trends, Americans’ trust in civil society has declined to alarming levels. Without addressing these trends and reversing the loss of trust, the ideal of private action for the public good could be at risk.
Advocacy
When Philanthropy Meets Advocacy
Increasing numbers of Americans want charitable organizations to step into the public policy arena and lead the causes they care about. Open access to this article is made possible by Civitas Public Affairs Group.
Nonprofits & NGOs
Civil Society Confronts Authoritarianism
My experience in Erdoğan’s Turkey has taught me that NGOs need to avoid polarizing politics, focus on core values, and find allies to survive and thrive in closing societies.