Civic Engagement

An On the Media / ProPublica collaboration. "Historians and legal experts say there is no comparable figure in American jurisprudence. To the extent Leo is known, it’s for his role helping to install the conservative supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court. But his reach extends far beyond that. Decades ago, he realized it was not enough to have justices on his side. Those jurists needed to decide the right cases, brought by the right lawyers and heard by the right lower court judges. He built a machine to do just that."

BlitzWatch is a campaign to monitor, track, and defeat attempts by Christian Nationalists to implement their distorted view of religious freedom.

"Right Wing Watch exposes and disrupts antidemocratic forces through reporting and analysis, in-depth investigations, informative media production, and tools for activists. Right Wing Watch serves as an early warning system on dangerous candidates and movements—and an accountability mechanism for “establishment” players who embrace and enable them."

"Experts agree that the health of U.S. democracy has declined in recent years—but what does that mean? The United States is experiencing two major forms of democratic erosion in its governing institutions: election manipulation and executive overreach."

"With more than a year to go before the 2024 election, a constellation of conservative organizations is preparing for a possible second White House term for Donald Trump, recruiting thousands of Americans to come to Washington on a mission to dismantle the federal government and replace it with a vision closer to his own..."

A new American creed has reconstructed the social contract. Generations from 1890 to 1940 took for granted that citizenship entailed voting, volunteering, religiosity, and civic consciousness. Conspicuously, the WWII generation introduced collectivist notions of civic obligations--but such obligations have since become regarded as options. In this book, David H. Kamens takes this basic shift as his starting point for exploring numerous trends in American political culture from the 1930s to the present day. Drawing on and synthesizing an enormous array of primary and secondary materials, Kamens examines the critical role of macro social changes, such as the growth and expansion of government and education, often in response to the emergence of globalization. From these tectonic shifts erupted numerous ripple effects, such as the decline of traditional citizen values, the rise of individualism, loss of trust in institutions, anti-elitism, and dramatic political polarization. In this context, antagonism to government as an enemy of personal freedom grew, creating a space for populist movements to blossom, unrestrained by traditional political parties. Beyond painting a comprehensive picture of our current political landscape, Kamens offers an invaluable archive documenting the steps that got us here.

What can be done about polarization in the United States? Reviewing a decade of research reveals unexpected findings.

"...the dynamics behind today’s congressional polarization have been long in the making. The analysis of members’ ideological scores finds that the current standoff between Democrats and Republicans is the result of several overlapping trends that have been playing themselves out – and sometimes reinforcing each other – for decades."

Political Polarization in American Politics provides short, accessible chapters about the nature and extent of political polarization within the American public and in American political institutions. These chapters capture the central ideas and debates in political science research on polarization, and are written by leading scholars in this subfield. Each chapter is accompanied by discussion questions and a guide to further reading, making this a great addition to any course looking at issues of polarization.

Do you know the shape of your congressional district? Do you know its shape has changed many times in the past and will probably change again after the 2020 census? Efforts to control the redistricting are already underway. So too are efforts to reform the partisan mapping of congressional districts, known as gerrymandering, that has long vexed the U.S. system of congressional representation. Gerrymandering's impact on voters is explained in Franklin Kury's lucid and timely book, Gerrymandering: A Guide to Congressional Redistricting, Dark Money, and the U.S. Supreme Court. It relates current practices to a dramatic history of legislation, court cases, and constitutional amendments and furnishes citizens with a "toolbox" for engaging in the process that in many states weakens the power of their votes. Kury's book offers crucial information about the threat of "dark money" and proposed reforms to the U.S. system of congressional representation. It concludes with an appraisal of the Supreme Court's upcoming decision on several cases of alleged gerrymandering. According to Kury, nothing less than revolution could be on the way. Written in accessible language and illustrated with helpful maps and photographs, Gerrymandering is recommended for concerned citizens, students in political science and government courses, and those seeking a deeper understanding of America's unique democracy.

"The Gerrymandering Project does nonpartisan analysis to understand and eliminate partisan gerrymandering at a state-by-state level. We bridge the gap between mathematics and the law to achieve fair representation through redistricting reform."

"New CAP analysis finds that the impacts of partisan gerrymandering are comparable to switching the majority of votes in 22 states."

"Gerrymandering -- drawing political boundaries to give your party a numeric advantage over an opposing party -- is a difficult process to explain. If you find the notion confusing, check out the chart above -- adapted from one posted to Reddit this weekend -- and wonder no more."

"Voting is a fundamental act of civic participation through which young people contribute to democracy. While it’s just one of many ways to engage in civic life, it is a powerful way for young people to make their voices heard and to have an impact on issues that affect them.

"Historically, young people have voted at lower rates than older adults. That's starting to change: recent elections have seen historically high youth voter turnout. But major inequities in voting rates by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, region, and age group remain—often the product of highly unequal access to information and opportunities to participate.

"Our work is aimed at broadening youth voting for a more equitable electorate and a more robust and representative democracy."

"Since 2008, states across the country have passed measures to make it harder for Americans—particularly black people, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities—to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot. These measures include cuts to early voting, voter ID laws, and purges of voter rolls." News, commentary and ACLU initiatives.

"Vote suppression has a long and ugly history in the United States, and over the last two decades, it has resurfaced with a vengeance..."

"To fix the dysfunction in American politics, reformers should consider fundamental changes to the electoral rules..."

"A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. There are multiple forms of ranked-choice voting. This page focuses on the most commonly used form of RCV, and provides some supplemental information on other forms of this electoral system."

"Ranked choice voting (RCV) — also known as instant runoff voting (IRV) — makes our elections better by allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

"RCV is straightforward: Voters have the option to rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third and so forth. Ballots that do not help voters’ top choices win count for their next choice.

"It works in all types of elections and supports more representative outcomes. RCV means better choices, better campaigns, and better representation. That’s why it’s the fastest-growing nonpartisan voting reform in the nation."