Kettering Foundation

Kettering explains a whole, or coherent, story of politics emerging from our research. Democracy is proving to be fragile around the world, even in stable democracies like the United States, where citizens are worried that they can’t make a difference.

Democratic practices, the things people do to govern themselves, are distinctive, yet they are just variations of the things that happen every day in communities—but without involving many citizens. For these routines to become public, communities don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary—they just have to do the ordinary in different ways. A version of this article is also available here.

How academic institutions meet their obligations to democracy is crucial. Colleges and universities have an understanding of citizenship that is implicit in nearly everything they do, including the kind of education they provide to undergraduates, the kind of leadership they champion in leadership programs, and the services they offer to their communities.

Many citizens have lost a sense of ownership of the public schools, and educators have lost sight of democracy’s role in education. But when educators and citizens partner together in support of public education, democracy prospers and schools benefit.

Political power lies in the ability to act, to do something that makes a difference. That is the significance of the things that citizens make through their collective efforts. The ability to act together effectively depends on the ability to make sound decisions about which collective efforts to undertake.

Download the Spanish version of this article, which was featured in the August 26, 2007, issue of Contraste, a publication of the Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

We don't make decisions about our citizenship in the abstract; we decide in the context of the major issues of the day. Decisions being made in deliberative forums aren't just about which civic actions or government policies are best, they are also about what we will do as citizens. And these decisions are going to define the kind of democracy that will characterize this century.

Deliberative politics' ultimate objective is action through the collective efforts of citizens and through representative institutions. Face-to-face forums are not only opportunities to talk together but also doorways into citizen-based politics.

Today there are a number of deliberative initiatives. But their significance is misunderstood because of the tendency of institutional politics to miss the political significance of what happens in public life. "Organic" politics is dismissed because it doesn't look "political."