Civics for Life

How to Save Democracy, with Josiah Ober

Is democracy in trouble? Many Americans believe so: recent polls consistently rank "threats to democracy" as one of respondents' top concerns. In the new book The Civic Bargain, authors Brook Manville and Josiah Ober look to history for examples of democracies under threat. By examining the ways in which historical democracies confronted their own challenges, the authors are able to distill lessons and principles that can benefit us today.   You can find us at: https://civicsforlife.org/ [https://oconnorinstitute.org/] Follow us on: * Twitter [https://twitter.com/CivicsForLife] * Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CivicsForLife/] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/civicsforlifeorg/] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUv9BjxM15h4N1fKOmhUYuA] * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@civicsforlife]

Why Rural America Is Thriving, with Elizabeth Currid-Halkett

The story often told is that rural America is in decline, and that rural Americans are resentful of their suburban and urban counterparts. But Elizabeth Currid-Halkett argues in her new book The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What It Means For Our Country that rural Americans and rural America are in many ways actually thriving. Currid-Halkett joins Institute director of public policy Liam Julian for an enlightening discussion. You can find us at: https://civicsforlife.org/ [https://oconnorinstitute.org/] Follow us on: * Twitter [https://twitter.com/CivicsForLife] * Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CivicsForLife/] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/civicsforlifeorg/] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUv9BjxM15h4N1fKOmhUYuA] * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@civicsforlife]

The Future of the Court

Civics for Life and the O'Connor Institute welcome Professor Cristina Rodríguez and Mr. Adam White as they join host Liam Julian,  director of Public Policy at the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute, for an online conversation and share diverse perspectives on the Future of the Court. Rodríguez and White both served as members of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, formed by President Joe Biden's Executive Order 14023 in April 2021.   The Commission’s purpose was to provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform, including an appraisal of the merits and legality of particular reform proposals. The topics examined by the Commission included the genesis of the reform debate; the Court’s role in the constitutional system; the length of service and turnover of justices on the Court; the membership and size of the Court; and the Court’s case selection, rules, and practices. At its public meeting on December 7, 2021, the 34-member Commission voted unanimously to approve the submission of the final report, concluding that it had met its charge to provide an account of the current debate over the “role and operation of the Supreme Court in our constitutional system." You can find us at: https://civicsforlife.org/ [https://oconnorinstitute.org/] Follow us on: * Twitter [https://twitter.com/CivicsForLife] * Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CivicsForLife/] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/civicsforlifeorg/] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUv9BjxM15h4N1fKOmhUYuA] * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@civicsforlife]

The Pros and Cons of Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting

Do open primaries and ranked-choice voting have the potential to improve American elections, or will they create more problems than they solve? Kevin Meyer, former lieutenant governor of Alaska; Steve Goldstein, executive director of Save Democracy AZ; and Jaime Molera, former Arizona superintendent of public instruction join the O'Connor Institute and Civics for Life to discuss the issue. You can find us at: https://civicsforlife.org/ [https://oconnorinstitute.org/] Follow us on: * Twitter [https://twitter.com/CivicsForLife] * Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CivicsForLife/] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/civicsforlifeorg/] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUv9BjxM15h4N1fKOmhUYuA] * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@civicsforlife]

Art's Role in Civil Society, with Jed Perl

Civics for Life and the O'Connor Institute welcome Jed Perl as he joins Liam Julian, director of Public Policy at the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute, for a discussion on the relationship between art and society, the artist’s role in society, and whether art and artists have definite social and political responsibilities. Perl is the author of nine books, including a two-volume biography of the American sculptor Alexander Calder; a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship; an art critic for the New Republic for twenty years and a contributing editor to Vogue for a decade. He now writes regularly for the New York Review of Books. In his book Authority and Freedom: A Defense of the Arts, Jed Perl argues that “authority and freedom are the lifeblood of the arts.” Are they also the lifeblood of civil society—and especially democratic society? You can find us at: https://civicsforlife.org/ [https://oconnorinstitute.org/] Follow us on: * Twitter [https://twitter.com/CivicsForLife] * Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/CivicsForLife/] * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/civicsforlifeorg/] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUv9BjxM15h4N1fKOmhUYuA] * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@civicsforlife]