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Occasional Paper  

Problem-Solving at the Community Scale: A Deweyan Approach to the Democratic Practices of Minoritized Groups within the United States, South Africa, and Australia

By:

  • Katharina Liesenberg
  • Michael Lucas
  • Stefan Chavez-Norgaard

Programs

Reimagining Democracy Program

Issues

Democratic Reform

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The democratic “recession” across the globe is emerging as a political hallmark of the 21st century. This is evidenced by the incremental breakdown of formal, political democratic practices and institutions among many nations, including in the North Atlantic states, as well as by the fear or anticipation of democratic erosion. This paper uses a pragmatist approach to demonstrate how, in the face of democratic breakdowns, resilient democratic practices are taking form in remarkably varied ways in the common structural context of settler-colonial nation-states that are nominally in stages of advanced democratic consolidation.

 

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In Appearance Before Congress, Bruce Schneier Raises Concerns about DOGE Data Handling Practices
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Commentary

In Appearance Before Congress, Bruce Schneier Raises Concerns about DOGE Data Handling Practices

In a warning to lawmakers, cybersecurity expert Bruce Schneier testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sharply criticizing the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) handling of federal data. Describing DOGE’s security protocols as dangerously inadequate, Schneier warned that the agency’s practices have put sensitive government and citizen information at risk of exploitation by foreign adversaries and criminal networks.

Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List
Picture of colorful bookshelf

Feature

Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List

The official start of Summer is almost here, and Stephen Richer, Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and former elected Maricopa County Recorder, shares his summer reading list with a range of books focused on his work of democracy and elections, as well as his personal favorites.

 

More on this Issue

Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List
Picture of colorful bookshelf

Feature

Stephen Richer’s Summer Reading List

The official start of Summer is almost here, and Stephen Richer, Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy and former elected Maricopa County Recorder, shares his summer reading list with a range of books focused on his work of democracy and elections, as well as his personal favorites.

 

Information Inequality Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
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Policy Brief

Information Inequality Can Be a Matter of Life or Death

In this paper, Mary W. Graham, co-director of the Center’s Transparency Policy Project, examines how unintended information inequities undermine critical health and safety alerts. Focusing on three key policies — wildfire alerts, drinking water reports, and auto safety recalls — she identifies common roots of these disparities and highlights efforts by policymakers to address them.