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Deliberative Citizenship Initiative
Building Democracy, One Conversation at a Time
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Applications to become a DCI Fellow are now open! All Davidson students are welcome to apply — May 30 is the priority deadline.
The DCI recently co-hosted a Deliberative Forum on Guns in America. Below is a short video montage of the audience’s discussions after the panel.
Keep scrolling to watch the DCI’s introductory video and learn more about the DCI below.
Deliberative Forum on Guns in America
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.
Blog Post Categories
Events
Upcoming Events
Click here for information about our Fall 2024 events and programs!
Past Events
![AI slide](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AI-slide-2-300x168.png)
Deliberative Forum on Artificial Intelligence
![Slide of Guns in America forum.](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Guns-Slide-300x169.jpg)
Deliberative Forum on Guns in America
![Bonner Scholars DCI Forum on The Future of Democracy.](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Challenge-Bonner-300x169.jpg)
The Challenge for Democracy: To What Extent Should the U.S. and Other Democratic Nations Defend and Promote Democracy Around the World?
![Cover Image for DCI's The Future of Democracy Forum.](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Challenge-1-300x169.jpg)
The Challenge for Democracy: To What Extent Should the U.S. and Other Democratic Nations Defend and Promote Democracy Around the World?
![Introductory Image of Guest Speaker Christy Vines.](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Vines-300x169.jpg)
Faith, Race & Politics: Can empathy help bridge our divides in a polarized world?
![DCI Forum on Social Media.](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Slide11-300x169.jpg)
Social Media: How Should We Engage and/or Regulate it, If at All?
![Introductory Image for Guest Speaker Eric Liu.](https://deliberativecitizenship.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Eric-Liu-300x169.jpg)