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Public Agenda

Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that helps build a democracy that works for everyone and fuels progress on critical issues. Public Agenda works to strengthen democracy and expand opportunity in America by fostering thoughtful public opinion, meaningful public participation and responsive public institutions. It builds progress on critical issues through: Research that illuminates people's views and values. Engagement that gets people talking, learning from each other and working together on solutions. Techniques for managing the human side of change. A capacity building ethos.Communications that build momentum for change.


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United States Capitol building with US flag

United States Capitol building shows classical architecture and an American flag waving against a clear blue sky.

Getty Images

Our Democracy Is a Beast, When It Should Be a Buffalo

The Fulcrum is committed to nurturing the next generation of journalists.

We asked Alejo Cruz, a Fall Fulcrum Fellow, to share what democracy means to him and how he sees its current health.

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Hand with "VOTE" stickers

Hand with "VOTE" stickers

Photo provided

California’s 22nd District and the Myth of the Predictable Voter

For years, I thought California’s Central Valley presented one of the more puzzling electorates I encountered as a public-opinion researcher.

I conducted dozens of surveys throughout the Valley, including communities that would eventually become parts of David Valadao’s congressional districts. One pattern was difficult to miss. Democratic registration, particularly among Latino voters, often suggested a considerably more Democratic electorate than appeared on Election Day. Participation was uneven, and Latino Democratic registration did not translate into equivalent electoral strength.

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Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on September 21, 2026, in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

Mixed Economy, Sour Mood: Voter Anxiety Threatens Trump in November

Less than two months before the November election, it is turning into a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term. The key question that is usually asked in referendum elections like this one is: “Am I better off now than I was two years ago, at the time of the last election?

In answer to that question, the United States is kind of in a schizophrenic place—stuck between statistical indicators of how the economy is doing and individual Americans’ perceptions of how their own personal situation is faring in the Trump economy. Looking at the economic indicators – which at this point are unlikely to change between now and November – the performance is fairly mixed. Not great, but not horrible.

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