It’s Not Just Roads and Bridges: Our “Civic Infrastructure” is Crumbling, and Here’s How to Fix It
The signs of a broader decay in our public information ecosystem are everywhere: disappearing local news coverage, a lack of trust in our elections and political processes, lackluster government service delivery as illustrated with chaotic vaccine signup systems, rampant scams that make it difficult for the average American to tell legitimate government communications from phishing attacks. Our “civic infrastructure” is depleted, underfunded, and inadequate for a 21st-century democracy.
The OMB Equity RFI: YES, you should submit comments!
The Office of Management and Budget, the main administrative agency for the federal government, issued a “Request for Information” — an (RFI), asking the public to provide input on “Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through Government.”
This is an unprecedented opportunity for researchers, advocates, public servants, community leaders, citizens, and more to raise their ideas and work to the highest levels of government, and set the agenda for reshaping the federal government for equity for all.
NEW REPORT: How Deliberative Forums Could Improve Constituent Engagement in Congress
We worked with one Member of Congress and their staff to conduct a week-long, online, asynchronous, policy forum between the Member and a representative sample of their constituency. The goal of this forum was to pilot a new way for Members of Congress to interact with constituents using qualities found in deliberative democracies around the globe. Our new report highlights important findings from this experiment.