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Deliberative Citizenship Initiative
Building Democracy, One Conversation at a Time
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Spring 2023 D Teams are here! The deadline to register is January 23 — learn more here and sign up today!
The DCI is also pleased to share its 2021-2022 Annual Report, which highlights the people, programs, and events that were a part of the DCI’s second year of creating spaces for productive engagement in the Davidson community.
Keep scrolling to watch the DCI’s introductory video, and check out other videos on the Fellows, D Teams, Deliberative Forums, and Training pages!
Introducing the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative
Responding to Our Current Moment
Our contemporary public sphere is in crisis. We have deep concerns about our society, and yet we feel unheard and unrecognized. We want to understand the concerns of others, and yet we are anxious about interacting with those we disagree. Our civic life has thus become fragmented and incapable of fostering deep engagement on the issues that most animate and trouble us.
Simultaneously, our conception of citizenship has become infected by provincialism and pettiness. Instead of bringing us together around a shared sense of identity, it has been subsumed by divisive debates about “who counts” as citizens. Rather than extending citizenship as an uplifting set of fundamental political rights and responsibilities that we hold in common, we have reduced it to questions of geography, ethnicity, and immigration status.
Against this backdrop, Davidson College has initiated the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative, a campus- and community-wide project focused on the uses of deliberation as an alternative to the non-constructive cross talk that has come to dominate our public discourse.
Such deliberation welcomes rather than fears productive disagreement and good argument, which lie at the heart of intellectual and democratic life. It is based in the belief that any real, long-term progress on our society’s challenges requires public discourse that is animated by key deliberative dispositions, including open-mindedness, empathy, and an action orientation.
To learn more about the work of the Initiative, click on the image below or keep scrolling to see our latest blog posts and recent and upcoming events.
Latest Blog Posts

Spring 2023 D Teams are Here! Register Today!
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Fall 2022 D Teams
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Deliberation in African Homes: Gamechanger
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Digging Deeper: On the Challenges of Agreement
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How do we get people to the table?
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Deliberation vs. Debate: Fostering Understanding and Respect
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How to Bridge the Gap between the Old School and the New Kids?
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In the Midst of the Midterms: Timely D Team Deliberations about Electoral Reform
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First Words and First Steps: Introductions, Identities, and Deliberation
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Hot-Button Issues in Three Acts: Promoting Deliberation in a Social and Political Philosophy Course
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Events
Upcoming Events
Past Events

Economic Mobility Forum
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Free Speech and Inclusion Forum
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Our Housing Future: Needs, Goals, and Solutions
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Spring Deliberative Speaker Series: Debra Hawhee
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Reforming the Supreme Court: An Expert Panel and Deliberative Forum
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