Deliberative Citizenship Initiative

Building Democracy One Conversation at a Time

Events

Bridging Differences on the Democratic Process: DCI Hosts First Fall Forum on the Future of Elections

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Participants seated around a round table engaged in discussion during a Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) deliberative forum.

Bringing together diverse perspectives on one of the nation’s most vital topics, the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) hosted its first Fall Forum of 2026 on “The Future of Elections: Accessibility, Security, and Fairness” on October 6.

The gathering drew approximately 160 participants from across the country. Around 80 attendees joined in person at the DCPC Congregation House in Davidson, while nearly 80 others participated virtually. The cross-generational audience included Davidson College students, alumni, faculty, staff, and local community members, along with participants representing the 24 member institutions of the Deliberative Citizenship Network (DCN).

The event marked the 22nd deliberative forum organized by the DCI since its founding in Fall 2020, and the very first to feature active participation from the broader DCN network.

Experts Explore Core Democratic Values

Panelists seated on stage around a table during the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative's "The Future of Elections" forum.

DCI Faculty Director Graham Bullock opened the evening by setting the stage for productive civic dialogue. Emphasizing the core mission of both the DCI and DCN, Bullock reminded participants that DCI’s forums aim to create constructive spaces for people who hold well-intentioned but fundamentally differing viewpoints.

“If we want others to understand our perspectives, then we need to be willing to listen and understand other people’s perspectives, particularly those who we deeply disagree with,” Bullock shared.

The first half of the forum featured an expert roundtable moderated by Dr. Michael Bitzer, Professor of Politics and History and Director of the Center for North Carolina Politics and Public Service at Catawba College. Bitzer framed the discussion around key democratic principles: ballot accessibility, security, accuracy, fair representation, and public trust.

The distinguished panel brought a range of national viewpoints to the table:

  • Ben Ginsberg, Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and veteran election law attorney, discussed the decentralized, local nature of American elections across thousands of jurisdictions and the inherent tension between local federalism and uniform national standards.
  • Tori Wenger, Attorney and Manager of the Black Voters on the Rise Initiative at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), highlighted the importance of federal safeguards to protect ballot access, meet ADA compliance, and ensure fair representation for systematically disenfranchised communities.
  • Don Palmer, Senior Legal Fellow for Election Integrity at The Heritage Foundation and former U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Chairman, focused on election administration, voter roll accuracy, and balancing accessible voting options with strong security measures.
  • Dustin Wahl, Executive Director of Fix Our House, advocated for structural electoral reforms, such as proportional representation, to address gerrymandering and make legislative bodies more truly representative of the electorate.

Moving from Panel to Deliberation

Participants engaged in a small-group discussion around a round table during a Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI) event.

Unlike traditional town halls where audiences passively listen, the DCI forum required audience members to step into active deliberation.

Following the 50-minute panel, attendees transitioned into small group discussions designed to build understanding across differences. In-person participants gathered around tables of 6–7 people combining students and community members, while online attendees entered Zoom breakout rooms.

Each small group was led by DCI-trained facilitators, primarily Davidson College students, who guided participants through a structured Deliberation Guide (available below) written over the summer by DCI Senior Fellow Cavan Klein ’25, with leadership support from Assistant Director for Civil Discourse Programs Bob Ritchie.

During the small-group sessions, participants explored competing democratic values, debated the responsibilities of government versus individual voters, and weighed potential policy trade-offs regarding election accessibility and integrity. They also examined different reforms, such as proportional representation, that have been proposed to make elections more fair.

The evening concluded with closing reflections and a post-event survey, encouraging attendees to continue practicing deliberative dispositions, humility, open-mindedness, curiosity, and grace, in their daily lives and local communities.

View the full Forum and read the Deliberation Guide below

DCI Elections Deliberation Guide 2026Download

Event Recap: Media Bias, Misinformation, and Literacy

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By Garratt Rothberg ’27

Garratt Rothberg ‘27, along with the Center for Political Engagement, hosted a speaker event and deliberation on media bias, misinformation, and media literacy. The event began with a presentation by Isaac Saul, the founder of Tangle News, who spoke about his experience founding a news organization dedicated to unbiased and balanced reporting in a media landscape rife with highly politicized news outlets. 

Following Isaac’s talk, the audience of students and community members took part in an interactive Menti poll on topics such as their personal media consumption habits and their confidence in navigating media bias. Through Menti, participants saw each other’s selections to each question in real time, allowing them to get a sense of how news consumption attitudes differed throughout the crowd. Many of the results from the Menti poll sparked surprise among the audience, leading them into a deliberation on the generational divides in views towards media polarization. 

While the group discussed their own news habits and encounters with misinformation, Isaac answered questions and provided additional background knowledge from his career as a news editor. After the event, Garratt compiled the results of the Menti poll to create an infographic displaying key findings from the poll, which will be posted on social media pages and distributed around campus.

The discussion emphasized the importance of nonpartisan news sources, as well as the challenges towards democracy that a highly politicized media presents. Deliberation allowed audience members of different generations to better understand each other’s views and habits, demonstrating that deliberation is a critical tool in building a sense of mutual understanding among diverse groups.

Event Re-cap: Watch Party of the Fourth Expert Roundtable in the American Values Deliberative Forum Series 

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Photo of auditorium with audience and tv showing expert roundtable.

On March 24th, The Deliberative Citizenship Initiative wrapped up its American Values Deliberative Forum series with its final installment, Justice and the Rule of Law: The Case of Constitutional Rights and Judicial Interpretation.

Our watch party brought together more than 50 students, faculty, staff, and community members to watch a livestream of the panel that was being held live at Duke University. Attendees gathered in Hance Auditorium and enjoyed refreshments and a popcorn bar during the event.

The roundtable explored questions surrounding constitutional rights, judicial interpretation, and the role of the courts in shaping how justice is understood and applied. As the final event in the series, it offered participants one last opportunity to hear directly from experts grappling with complex and timely issues in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

While the watch party itself centered on viewing the discussion, it also served as an important entry point into deeper engagement. Participants will continue these conversations in upcoming D Team sessions, where they will have the opportunity to reflect, deliberate, and share their own perspectives in a more interactive setting.

With strong attendance throughout the series, DCI’s live forums and watch parties have created space for the community to come together, engage with expert insights, and prepare for meaningful dialogue beyond the event itself.

Missed the event or want to watch it again? Click Here to view the recording! You can also check out our flyer and deliberation guide for the event below.

Justice-and-the-Rule-of-Law-Expert-Roundtable

DCI-Justice-and-Rule-of-Law-Deliberation-Guide

Davidson Represented at Leadership Symposium on Civil Discourse

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people sitting around a large conference table

By Graham Bullock (DCI Faculty Director)

On November 13–14, 2025, I had the opportunity to participate in a Leadership Symposium on Civil Discourse: Conversations in the Classroom, Quad, and Community, hosted by Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill and the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) in partnership with Emory University.

Dr. Merrill, CIC’s Senior Director for Civic Learning and Free Expression Projects, used the  symposium to bring together faculty members and higher education leaders from across the country to share ideas and strategies for strengthening civil discourse on our campuses. The gathering, held in Emory’s Student Center, focused on how institutions can foster thoughtful dialogue in classrooms, co-curricular programming, and the broader campus community.

I was honored to have the opportunity to co-lead Session III, “Civil Discourse Co-Curriculars,” with Daryl Lowe, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Spelman College. Our session explored how colleges can build meaningful opportunities outside the classroom that equip students to engage across difference with curiosity, respect, and intellectual rigor.

Wide angle view of conference attendees at main table

The symposium featured an impressive range of institutions and perspectives. Participants and session leaders represented colleges and universities including Emory University, Spelman College, Trinity University, Dickinson College, Hartwick College, Agnes Scott College, Oglethorpe University, Dalton State College, The University of the South, Carnegie Mellon University, Presbyterian College, The College of Wooster, Goshen College, and the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

Throughout the two days, discussions emphasized practical approaches to navigating disagreement, supporting faculty and student development, and embedding civil discourse into the fabric of campus life. I was grateful for the chance to share insights from Davidson’s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative and to learn from colleagues who are leading innovative programs in dialogue, free expression, and student engagement at their institutions. At a moment when many in higher education feel under siege from multiple fronts, the symposium offered a powerful reminder that colleges and universities remain vital spaces for rigorous inquiry, principled disagreement, and meaningful community-building. I look forward to continuing the conversations that we started in Atlanta and following up on the great ideas we discussed together. The more we can share, the more we can make our own work better.

Event Recap: “Davidson in Reverse”

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Photo of debaters sitting at tables

Davidson in Reverse was initially conceived of as a group project in Professor Bailey’s “Debate & Deliberation” course. It was designed to get students to examine difficult issues from a variety of perspectives. By encouraging students to take on an issue from the opposite side of their preferred view or perspective, the project helped them to resist the temptation of conducting a superficial review of the thinking of those with whom they have passionate disagreements.

Students quickly got on board with the assignment during class sessions and worked with two Davidson residents, Paul Wetenhall and Andrew Shepard, to explore their chosen topic of “anti-Whiteness” and “wokeness” and whether they are hurting or helping America. They co-organized a public “Davidson in Reverse” debate that was held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 in the 900 Room of the Davidson Student Union. The debate included the two conservative/libertarian-leaning community members and two liberal/progressive leaning students from the class.

photo of debaters speaking to the audience.

The “reverse” dynamic involved the debate participants arguing for the side that they disagree with; the two students argued against “woke” diversity policies while the two residents argued for the policies. Professor Dan Aldridge offered an expert analysis of the debate after it concluded, and the panelists took questions from the audience as well.

Photo of Dan Aldridge speaking to the audience

The event included food and was co-sponsored by the Deliberative Citizenship Initiative. It was less about trying to change minds than showcasing the ability to argue in good faith by making an opponent’s best case, as well as the importance of examining important-contentious issues through a 360-degree lens before coming to a definitive judgment.