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Is America a Democracy or a Republic?
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Is America a Democracy or a Republic?

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From the Penn State McCourtney Institute for Democracy:

New Democracy Discourse Lesson Addresses an Age-Old Question

Is the United States a democracy or a republic? The answer to that question often varies depending on who you ask. We explore the differences in the newest episode of Democracy Discourse, our educational series on YouTube.

In this lesson, host Brandon Stover explores the definitions and distinctions between different types of democracy, including direct and representative democracies, as well as liberal and illiberal representative democracies.

We also discuss the concept of a republic and how it contrasts with monarchy. The video features insights from experts including Francis Fukuyama and provides a comprehensive overview of the principles of democracy and liberalism in the United States, as well as the impact of federalism.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Primary Reform and Pivotal Voters
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Primary Reform and Pivotal Voters

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From the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers:

Primary Reform and Pivotal Voters: A discussion of research on how ideological purity gets translated into representation, the concept of the pivotal voter, and what’s on the horizon.

Join the National Association of Nonpartisan Reforms for a conversation with Sam Wang, Ph.D., from Princeton University, regarding his research on the impact of primary reform on electoral outcomes, how "pivotal voters" play into the dynamic, and what electoral reformers should keep in mind moving forward.

- YouTubeyoutu.be


Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month
Podcasts

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

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In the first episode of Rev. Dr. F. Willis Johnson’s podcast, Collage, Johnson discusses the promise of Black History Month.

Listen here.

Video: The dignity index
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Video: The dignity index

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UNITE is a national initiative to ease divisions, prevent violence, and solve problems. UNITE designed the Dignity Index, an eight-point scale that measures the level of contempt or dignity in a selected passage of speech. Lower scores (1-4) reflect a lack of dignity and the presence of contempt, with the lowest score (1) showing the most contempt. The higher scores (5-8) reflect language grounded in dignity, with the highest score (8) showing the most dignity.

In September 2022, a team from the University of Utah that included the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, the David Eccles School of Business, and the Hinckley Institute of Politics joined the project UNITE effort to pilot the Dignity Index in Utah. With a team of 22 student coders from politically and ideologically diverse backgrounds, the Utah pilot tested using the Dignity Index in coding passages in Utah political campaigns.

Trustworthy Elections Report
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Trustworthy Elections Report

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Conservatives and liberals distrust our electoral system for vastly different reasons—from voter fraud and election security to voter suppression and peaceful transfer of power. Leading up to the 2024 election, Braver Angels worked to rebuild this trust by seeking solutions supported by people across the political spectrum.

This report is based on 26 workshops with 194 evenly-balanced Red and Blue participants. Together, they found 727 unanimous points of agreement across values, concerns, and solutions. This report has distilled those into three principles:

  • “Voting should be easy. Cheating should be hard.”
  • “Every citizen should have an equal say in who will govern them; this is done through free and fair elections.”
  • “The American government will fail if candidates refuse to accept any outcome other than victory.”

This report—based on hundreds of cross-partisan conversations—could provide a blueprint for restoring trust in our elections.

Read the report.

ActiVote App
Research

ActiVote App

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The easy-to-use, nonpartisan app ActiVote – learn more about the features – educates voters on important issues, when and where they can cast their vote, connects them with their elected officials, and allows them to make their voice heard by quickly answering key polling questions.

Join voters in all 50 states, of all parties and all ages & join in on #DailyDemocracy.

Learn more about ActiVote

Redistricting
Glossary

Redistricting

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The redrawing of legislative district boundaries. A 1967 federal law requires House members be elected from single-member districts that (within each state) have nearly identical populations. House maps must be redrawn after reapportionment but before the first congressional election of each decade, based on population changes in each state revealed by the census.

Read more about redistricting.

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