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(The following is taken from the Introduction to Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role.)

Fed up with politics and a widening partisan divide, many Americans are turning away from public life.  We are, most of us, spectators rather than participants in a political process that seems to have little to do with citizens.  What has gone wrong, and what should we do about it?

Approach One-  Democratic Values: Rebuilding democracy's moral foundation

As a nation, we have become self-indulgent and self-absorbed, inclined to accept neither hard choices nor sacrifice.  The emphasis on individual rights and personal freedom has undermined democracy.  In recent decades the moral curriculum has been neglected; this is a key element in our public troubles.

Approach Two- Web of Connections: Reinventing citizenship

Democracy requires the ability to work together on common concerns, civic skills that most people learn in clubs, church groups, and local associations.  The public square is emptying because many Americans aren't making the civic connections that form the habits and sharpen the skills of citizenship.

Approach Three- By the People: Bringing the public back into politics

Government is no longer "of, by, and for the people."  Governance is something politicians do, not something that involves us.  In a democratic nation where the people are supposed to be sovereign, citizens have lost control of the government.  The political system has to be fixed so citizens once again have a central place in it.

*If you use the 8-page version of the Discussion Guide, please also download the Post-Forum questionnaire; have forum particpants complete it after the forum, and send all questionnaires to the address at the bottom of the questionnaire.

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