Doing Democracy: How a Network of Grassroots Organizations Is Strengthening Community, Building Capacity, and Shaping a New Kind of Civic Education

Kettering Foundation. 200 Commons Road, Dayton, OH 45459. Tel: 937-434-7300; Fax: 937-439-9804; Web site: http://www.kettering.org

N

36

Nongovernmental Organizations; Social Networks; Citizenship Education; School Community Relationship; Service Learning; Role; Democracy; Community Leaders; Leadership; Community Development; Public Policy; Higher Education; Theory Practice Relationship; Social Capital; Local Issues; Adoption (Ideas); Participative Decision Making; Conflict Resolution; Cooperative Learning; Citizen Participation

California; Colorado; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Michigan; Missouri; New Hampshire; New York; Ohio; South Dakota; Texas; Virginia; West Virginia

978-0-923993-32-0

This paper examines a burgeoning network of organizations that is inventing new forms of community renewal and citizenship education. Their names vary--some call themselves public policy institutes, others centers for civic life--yet they share a common methodology, one aimed at tackling tough public issues, strengthening communities, and nurturing people's capacities to participate and make common cause. Today, there are more than 50 of these centers operating in almost every state in the union, most of them affiliated with institutions of higher learning. Except for a handful that are freestanding, the centers combine the best of what colleges and universities provide--civics courses, leadership development, service-learning programs, community-based research--with the kinds of hands-on, collaborative problem solving traditionally done by nongovernmental organizations. Because they operate at the intersection of the campus and the community, their impact extends to both: they nurture and sustain public life while at the same time enriching higher education. This paper surveys the state of the network today, how it has evolved over the years, and what it has achieved. It also looks at how the centers carry out their activities, the varying orientations and essential practices that define their work, and some of the challenges they face in coming years as they continue to deepen and expand their efforts.

ERIC

2010

ED512514