Report|
DEC 2025
Publications
Report|
OCT 2025
Expanding Representation: Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century
Research Paper|
OCT 2023
The Case for Supreme Court Term Limits
Research Paper|
DEC 2021
The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives
Authors Lee Drutman, Jonathan D. Cohen, Yuval Levin, and Norman Jay Ornstein
Report|
JUN 2020
Nuestro propósito común
Research Paper|
FEB 2020
The Data Driving Democracy
Author Christina Couch
Research Paper|
FEB 2020
The Political and Civic Engagement of Immigrants
Author Caroline B. Brettell
Research Paper|
OCT 2019
The Internet and Engaged Citizenship
Author David Karpf
Events
Event |
Can Congress Better Represent Americans?
Featuring John M. Carey, Andy Craig, Michael Li, Norman Jay Ornstein, Laurie L. Patton, and Maria Perez
Online
Event |
Our Common Purpose Champions Convening
Featuring Danielle Allen, Stephen B. Heintz, Eric P. Liu, and Goodwin Liu
Cambridge, MA
Event |
How to Fortify Civic Culture in America
Featuring Ben Klutsey, Eric P. Liu, Goodwin Liu, Laurie L. Patton, and Natalie Tran
Zoom Videoconference
Event |
Political Polarization and Political Violence
Featuring Paige Alexander, Rachel Kleinfeld, and Marty Smith
Zoom Videoconference
Event |
Building Demand for National Service: New Insights from Public Opinion Research
Featuring Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Kristen Bennett, Kaira Esgate, Josh Fryday, Goodwin Liu, Doris Matsui, Pete Peterson, and Betsy Super
Virtual Event
Event |
Supreme Court Term Limits: Rethinking Life Tenure on a Divided Court
Featuring Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Sarah A. Binder, Stephen McAllister, and Diane P. Wood
Washington, DC
Event |
The Legislative Path to Supreme Court Reform
Featuring Akhil Reed Amar, Charles Fried, David W. Oxtoby, Gabe Roth , Patti B. Saris, and Kimberly Atkins Stohr
Boston, MA and Online
Event |
Safeguarding American Democracy: Civic Literacy for a Secure Nation
Featuring Danielle Allen, Louise Dubé, and James N. Mattis
Zoom Videoconference
Event |
The Promise of Proportional Representation for Democracy
Featuring Andy Craig, Steven Olikara, Norman Jay Ornstein, Alora Thomas-Lundborg, and Grant Tudor
Zoom Video Videoconference
Event |
A Radical Old Idea: Expanding the U.S. House of Representatives
Featuring Danielle Allen, Earl Blumenauer, Derek Kilmer, Yuval Levin, Norman Jay Ornstein, David W. Oxtoby, and Pete Peterson
Zoom Videoconference
Event |
Academy Members Lunch in Phoenix
Featuring Stephen B. Heintz and Eric P. Liu
Phoenix, AZ
Event |
Bridging Divides in America
Featuring Andy Barr, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Derek Kilmer, Farah Pandith, Laurie L. Patton, Eric P. Liu, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
What Does it Mean to be an American? Reexamining the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
Featuring E. J. Dionne, María Teresa Kumar, John Shattuck, Danielle Allen, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Should the House of Representatives Be Expanded?
Featuring Ruth Bloch Rubin, Lee Drutman, Jonah Goldberg, Kevin Kosar, and Yuval Levin
Video Livestream
Event |
How Higher Education Can Save American Democracy
Featuring Melody C. Barnes, Ronald J. Daniels, Lisa Garcia Bedolla, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
American Democracy Under Construction
Featuring Judy Woodruff, Hahrie C. Han, Wallace B. Jefferson, Yuval Levin, Norman Jay Ornstein, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Reckoning with Organizational History
Featuring Claudia Rankine, John J. DeGioia, Susan Goldberg, Brent Leggs, Ben Vinson, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Finding a Shared Historical Narrative
Featuring Danielle Allen
Online
Event |
Investing in Civic Education and Our Democracy
Featuring Danielle Allen, Shawn P. Healy, Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, David McCullough III, David W. Oxtoby, and Tammy Waller
Online
Event |
How Political Institutions Shape Outcomes and How We Might Reform Them
Featuring Danielle Allen
Online
Event |
“Our Towns” Virtual Screening and Q&A
Featuring Steven Ascher, Deborah Fallows, James Mackenzie Fallows, Jeanne Jordan, Dee Davis, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
The Ash Center Presents Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century
Featuring Danielle Allen, Stephen B. Heintz, Eric P. Liu, and Archon Fung
Online
Event |
Using Civic Media to Build A Better Society
Featuring Danielle Allen
Online
Event |
Empathy and Our Future
Featuring Eric P. Liu, Sherry Turkle, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Why America Needs Service, Now More Than Ever
Featuring Kristen Bennett, Josh Fryday, Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, Darryl Lester, David W. Oxtoby, and Fareed Zakaria
Online
Event |
American Democracy and Civic Participation in 2021: A Conversation with Danielle Allen and Eric Liu
Featuring Danielle Allen, Helene D. Gayle, Eric P. Liu, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Telling Our Regional Story: The Narratives that Unite and Divide in North Carolina
Featuring David E. Price, John Aldrich, Phoebe Stein, William Sturkey , Terry Magnuson, and Paula D. McClain
Online
Event |
Reinventing Democracy for the 21st Century: A Humanities Day Discussion
Featuring William G. Howell, Thomas B. Ginsburg, Tracey L. Meares, Susan Carol Stokes, Diane P. Wood, Eric Slauter, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Can We Rebuild Social Cohesion in the U.S.?
Featuring David B. Brooks, Danielle Allen, Eric Klinenberg, Shaylyn Romney Garrett, and Robert David Putnam
Online
Event |
Does Meritocracy Destroy the Common Good?
Featuring Michael J. Sandel, Anna Deavere Smith, T.J. Jackson Lears, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Youth Democracy Summit
Online
Event |
Democratic Citizenship: A Discussion with the Commission’s Leaders and Academy Members
Featuring Danielle Allen, Stephen B. Heintz, Eric P. Liu, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
Event |
Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century
Featuring Danielle Allen, Stephen B. Heintz, Eric P. Liu, Judy Woodruff, David B. Brooks, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
News
In the News
|
December 10, 2025
Support for Enlarging the House of Representatives in the Boston Globe
Source
Boston Globe editorial
Academy Article
|
November 25, 2025
Update on Proportional Representation
Press Release
|
October 9, 2025
Publication on Expanding Representation in Congress Issued
Academy Article
|
July 24, 2025
Update on Federal and State Investments in Civics Education
Academy Article
|
May 29, 2025
Ahead of Nation's 250th, Monticello Exhibit Invites Reflection
Source
New York Times
Academy Article
|
May 28, 2025
Update on Ranked Choice Voting Legislation at Federal and State Levels
Academy Article
|
April 29, 2025
State Legislative Update: Independent Citizen-Redistricting Commissions
Bulletin
|
Our Common Purpose Champions Convening
In the News
|
January 16, 2025
Poll: Voters seek overhaul of Congress for a stronger democracy
In the News
|
How to Fix America's Two-Party Problem
Source
New York Times
Press Release
|
October 23, 2024
Tacoma, Washington Joins Our Common Purpose Communities Project
Press Release
|
September 26, 2024
Academy Releases Roadmap for Fortifying Civic Culture
Academy Article
|
March 29, 2024
Helping to Build Demand for National Service
Academy Article
|
January 2023
Our Common Purpose - Reflections at the Midpoint
In the News
|
December 21, 2023
American democracy is cracking. These ideas could help repair it.
Source
Washington Post
In the News
|
November 21, 2023
David Souter showed the Supreme Court how to free itself from politics
Source
Washington Post
In the News
|
November 7, 2023
Massachusetts should move local elections to even-numbered years
Source
Boston Globe
Academy Article
|
October 26, 2023
Event Celebrates and Considers New Publication on Supreme Court Term Limits
In the News
|
October 25, 2023
Law360: New Report Champions Term Limits For Supreme Court.
Source
Law360
In the News
|
October 25, 2023
Bipartisan Legal Scholars Urge Supreme Court To Impose 18-Year Term Limits
Source
Forbes
In the News
|
October 25, 2023
US Judge, Scholars Urge Supreme Court Term Limits in Bipartisan Push
Source
Reuters
Academy Article
|
October 5, 2023
General Mattis, Civics Education, and National Security
In the News
|
September 27, 2023
Danielle Allen on PBS NewsHour: I’m asking the American people to claim their power.
Source
PBS NewsHour
Academy Article
|
August 14, 2023
Our Common Purpose Inspires Conversation Series at Ohio Senior Center
In the News
|
April 15, 2023
Pros and Cons of Expanding the House
Source
Congressional Digest
Academy Article
|
February 10, 2023
Discussing Democracy and Civic Renewal in Arizona: Flinn Foundation Hosts
Academy Article
|
December 19, 2022
Academy Hosts Conference on Reinventing Democracy at the Local Level
Press Release
|
December 9, 2022
The Our Common Purpose Communities Project Launches: Lexington, Kentucky Inaugurates National Initiative
Academy Article
|
Democracy was a Big Winner in the Midterms
In the News
|
KET Interview with Renee Shaw
Academy Article
|
October 27, 2022
Statement Issued in Advance of Midterm Elections
In the News
|
October 25, 2022
See how your votes aren’t equal
Source
CNN
Academy Article
|
October 21, 2022
Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship Returns to Lexington, Kentucky
In the News
|
October 13, 2022
It shouldn’t matter so much whether Elon Musk buys Twitter
Source
New York Times
Bulletin
|
What Does It Mean to be an American? Reexamining the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
In the News
|
How social media has undermined our constitutional architecture
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
Connecting Communities: Libraries as Invisible Infrastructure
Source
NLC - National League of Cities
Academy Article
|
A Convening on the Power of Civic Infrastructure: A Community Solution with National Potential
Bulletin
|
Reckoning with Organizational History
Press Release
|
President Jimmy Carter Joins Majority of Americans in Supporting a Proposed U.S. Constitutional Amendment to Address Election Spending
In the News
|
Should we expand the House of Representatives? The Founders thought so
Source
The Hill
In the News
|
How to boost voter turnout to nearly 100 percent
Source
The Boston Globe
In the News
|
Philanthropy Can Help Build a Thriving Democracy by Building Up Programs and Places That Fuel Civic Involvement
Source
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
In the News
|
December 9, 2021
One way to reform the House of Representatives? Expand it.
Source
Washington Post
Academy Article
|
Developing a Youth Agenda for American Democracy
In the News
|
Use infrastructure dollars to support our democracy
Source
The Hill
Press Release
|
NOV 5, 2021
Reimagining Our Economy: A New Commission
Press Release
|
OCT 27, 2021
German-American Dialogue on the Political Responsibility of Universities
In the News
|
Political Polarization, Civility, and Deliberative Democracy: A Conversation with Carolyn Lukensmeyer
Source
Then & Now (podcast)
In the News
|
Biden will host an international summit on ‘democratic renewal.’ He should start at home.
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
Advice to Leaders on Strengthening Civic Culture & Trust in Government
Source
Federalism.US
Bulletin
|
Empathy and Our Future
Bulletin
|
A Conversation with Architect Jeanne Gang
In the News
|
Museums Can Renew America Through the Semiquincentennial
Source
American Alliance of Museums
In the News
|
Joint Series on Public Governance and Civic Engagement
Source
National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA)
Press Release
|
APR 19, 2021
Academy Receives $1M Grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to Strengthen Democracy
In the News
|
Cochairs Call for Expansion of U.S. ‘Civic Infrastructure’
Source
The Harvard Crimson
In the News
|
Danielle Allen on achieving democracy’s ideals
Source
Democracy Works (podcast)
In the News
|
AmeriCorps service nurtures professional development, civic duty
Source
The Baltimore Sun
Academy Article
|
MAR 16, 2021
On the Passing of Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. (1925-2021)
Bulletin
|
Does Meritocracy Destroy the Common Good?
In the News
|
The Ambitious Plan To Save Democracy
Source
Moderate Party (podcast)
In the News
|
No More Normal: Our Common Purpose
Source
KUNM
Academy Article
|
Message from Our Common Purpose Cochairs Celebrating Election Workers
In the News
|
Pulling Our Politics Back from the Brink
Source
The New Yorker
In the News
|
Opinion: There is no more important step in Biden’s first 100 days than this
Source
CNN Opinion
In the News
|
Democratic Citizenship at the Chicago Humanities Festival
Source
Chicago Humanities Festival
In the News
|
Heintz Joins Panel on Strengthening U.S. Democracy
Source
Council on Foreign Relations
In the News
|
Vote for president and the Senate. But pay attention to these reforms on state ballots, too.
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
Meet the reformer: Sterling Speirn, promotor of 31 fix-the-system ideas
Source
The Fulcrum
In the News
|
Make the Supreme Court Less Political. Put Term Limits on Justices.
Source
Real Clear Policy
In the News
|
OCT 2020
America’s Plastic Hour Is Upon Us
Source
The Atlantic
In the News
|
Amanpour and Company features Our Common Purpose
Source
Amanpour and Company
In the News
|
A Playbook for Regaining Our Common Purpose
Source
The Art of Association
In the News
|
The justices themselves can turn down the heat — by creating their own term limits
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
Revitalizing Democracy During COVID-19 and Beyond
Source
AMA Journal of Ethics
In the News
|
Our Towns: Three Guides to the Next America
Source
The Atlantic
In the News
|
Why on this Fourth of July, America urgently needs to reinvent itself again
Source
USA Today
In the News
|
WRONG WAY?
Source
Anniston Star (Alabama)
In the News
|
Commentary: Fixing Democracy
Source
Daily Yonder
In the News
|
The radicalism of the American Revolution — and its lessons for today
Source
Vox
In the News
|
For Philanthropy to Achieve Its Goals, Democracy Must Work
Source
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
In the News
|
Tech companies are finally being shamed into action
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
Why Coronavirus Is an ‘Existential Crisis’ for American Democracy
Source
Politico
In the News
|
Rebuilding Trust in American Democracy
Source
BYU Radio
In the News
|
NPR On Point: Reimagining Democracy for the 21st Century
Source
On Point, National Public Radio
In the News
|
Etats-Unis : du « besoin urgent » de réinvention
Source
Le Monde
In the News
|
Democracy, Citizenship, and Community
Source
VISION | Knight Foundation
In the News
|
Here are a whole bunch of good ideas to reform our democracy
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
Trust In American Institutions Has Been Dropping For Decades
Source
NPR
In the News
|
Study commission calls for constitutional amendment limiting influence of money on elections
Source
Augusta Free Press
In the News
|
The Work of Democracy Starts Right Here
Source
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
In the News
|
Amid inequality and polarization, how can we strengthen American democracy?
Source
PBS NewsHour
In the News
|
We seek reforms to policing. But something even deeper needs repair.
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
America’s neck is broken. We can survive, but we have to act.
Source
The Washington Post
In the News
|
The situation is dire. We need a better normal at the end of this — and peace.
Source
The Washington Post