Category: civic engagement
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What Do We Think When We Hear “Civic?”
I am proud to be a board member for the funders’ affinity group Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), a group which provides an important learning space for organizations at the forefront in thinking about civic life. PACE has released a significant new report that details the results of a rigorous and searching effort to…
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The Resistance to Democracy
Lately I have been thinking about resistance to democracy. By democracy I mean people exerting citizenship (that is, making choices and acting together on shared challenges), starting in their communities (the places where people make decisions and act), supported by governing institutions (such as government, NGOs, businesses, and other organizations). Three problems can fundamentally interfere…
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The Gymnasia
Imagine you walk into a gymnasium. Different people doing different things all over. There are all sorts of stations: weightlifting areas, cardio machines, fitness rooms. There is a yoga room and a room for a spin class. There is a basketball court. Too, there are all sorts of people all throughout the gym. They’re each…
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Thoughts on Civic Muscle
I have the privilege to be part of PACE, a network of philanthropies who think together periodically about fundamental questions related to civic engagement. Over the past two days we have been exploring the idea of flexing and developing “civic muscle,” especially at a time when society faces multiple crises at once. The idea of…
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A Decade of Deliberation
Today marks ten years as executive editor of the Kettering Foundation’s issue guide series. The team of colleagues that I have been working with to develop these materials is remarkably talented and insightful, and has grown to be a second family. I am grateful to have had this opportunity to do meaningful work to further…
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Forest Rangers in Community
A kind of entity that may exist in a community: one that sees its role as developing the capacity of the community to address shared problems and opportunities. Note that the role is developmental, and not focused on execution. There are a myriad of entities in any locale that are working directly on projects. This…
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Announcing the Hidden Common Ground Initiative
I am pleased to announce a new initiative in which I am playing a small part in my role at the Kettering Foundation: The National Issues Forums network and the Kettering Foundation are joining a major initiative spearheaded by Public Agenda and USA TODAY to examine how Americans think and talk about the most urgent…
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Naming Public Issues: Economic Concerns Illustrated
Two reasons that people find it difficult to work on shared problems are that the way they are talked about obscures their nature, and an assumed course of action is implied even though there is not broad agreement on either. When developing materials for people to deliberate together on shared problems, we try to mitigate…
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Ways of Addressing Political Division
Broadly speaking, I am in a field in which many are trying to address the political division that appears to be increasingly engulfing our nation. One way to make sense of all these efforts is to explore what appear to be the assumptions underlying their approaches. What do the designers of an initiative think will…
Brad Rourke 