Kettering Foundation

Media Center

Videos

  • "The process of involving people, even if they have different points of view, maybe conflicting points of view, is very important."

    Svetlana Chernikova

  • Coping With the Cost of Health Care:

    What Is The Public Voice?

    Video Podcast

  • "We can improve the conversation and that directly impacts people's lives."

    Martin Carcasson

  • DDEX

  • Ibtesam, Rhanda Slim

    Mideast Network

  • "In our research, we look at what ideas community leaders have about the role of the public in deliberating issues and forming policy."

    Alberto Olivas

  • "When I'm working with the different Pacific Island communities, I must make sure that their way of being is always respected and regarded."

    Moerangi Falaoa

  • "You can't sustain an urban community without the voice of its citizens."

    Louise Spiegel

  • "Students have more of a sense that 'maybe we can do that, too.'"

    Katy Harriger

Podcasts

  • David Mathews discusses Education Research
  • Speaking of Politics Interview

Community Politics

Kettering studies the nature of the work citizens do when they join together to take responsibility for both community problems and the way the community makes decisions about those problems. The foundation has found that citizens are particularly intent on having the ability to shape the future of their communities. They should be because the first place citizens have to exercise self-rule—the first place they have to make a difference—is where they live. That is where collective or public action is essential in addressing wicked problems.

Collective, public, or joint action requires people to come together as a community but that never happens all at once. One or a few have to step out first. Such initiative or leadership is crucial and may be linked to innovation, which is equally crucial.

The work of a democratic citizenry can be broken down into a number of practices, including naming problems, framing issues, decision making, identifying and committing resources, organizing public acting, and learning as a community.

The work of the citizenry must be supported by ad hoc and formal civic organizations. Kettering research also looks for ways that institutional routines might be productively aligned with democratic practices.

Explore Research in this Area


Communities at Work
Why are people in certain communities able to join forces and get a handle on their problems while others aren’t? Kettering has learned a great deal about how people in communities work together to solve their problems.

Democracy’s Organic Dimension
Democracy exists at two levels: at the institutional level, which includes elections, lawmaking, and the delivery of services; and an organic foundation of ad hoc associations and civic organizations. This organic level is at the foundation of the institutional system, and that is where political democracy is rooted.

The Little Republics of American Democracy: Why the Public Needs to Act
Communities that act effectively to gain greater control over their futures have usually made fundamental changes in their politics. They have changed themselves by changing the way they go about their collective business, and have put the public back into the public’s business.

Communities of Actors: Dealing with the Problems Communities Face
The challenge in public life is often not that people and organizations are inactive or disengaged. There are all kinds of activities, but the actions not only fail to complement each other; they are often at odds. We must recognize and reinforce the practices and institutions through which people engage their issues. What can increase the capacity of communities to act on the challenges they face?

A Movement to Revitalize Democracy in America
A civic renewal movement that aims to revitalize democracy in the United States has emerged over the past decade. By working to renew and modernize our civic and institutional infrastructure, the movement seeks to foster self-government in the broadest sense. It also entails investing in civic skills and organizational capacities for public problem solving on a wide scale and designing policy at every level of the federal system to enhance the ability of citizens to do the everyday work of the republic.

Coming Together to Address Wicked Social Problems
Issue framing is about community-building. It attacks the dysfunctional aspect of today’s communities in which common problems go unsolved. It is brings together people who care very much about the well-being of others and believe in the importance of building viable, sustainable communities capable of making decisions about challenging, everyday problems.

Publications

  • Naming and Framing Difficult Issues

    The Kettering Foundation is updating an earlier work, Framing Issues for Public Deliberation, with ... [ MORE ]

  • Tupelo

    By Vaughn L. Grisham Jr. Grisham, a professor at the University of Mississippi and a volunteer wit ... [ MORE ]

  • Politics for People

    Americans make no secret of their disenchantment with the political system. Politics for People, b ... [ MORE ]

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