Final report outlines how to strengthen our democracy

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September 2, 2009 | |

Strengthening Our Nation's Democracy II conference report: "Working Together to Build a Stronger Democracy: Ten Recommendations" lays out recommendations for both the Administration and the democracy reform movement itself.

We are happy to present to you, "Working Together to Strengthen Our Nation's Democracy: Ten Recommendations," a report from this summer's Strengthening Our Nation's Democracy II conference.

On August 2-4, experts and advocates for strengthening our nation's democracy came together to create new momentum and plans for bringing together the emerging democracy reform movement behind a common set of priorities. At the second Strengthening Our Nation's Democracy conference, participants shared what they have been learning from their work across the country, and rolled up their sleeves to create collective recommendations and action steps.

Participants came from across the 'democracy reform and civic engagement' community: public deliberation practitioners, community problem solvers and organizers, election reformers, advocates for transparency and accountability, national service proponents, media reformers, educators, and others. Some of the cross-field collaboration was relatively new, while some has been developing over the past several years. Yet the meeting reflected a strong sense of a diverse and growing community to strengthen democracy in the United States, and a strong belief that we will remain committed to working together.

The enclosed report detailed recommendations for both the Administration and the democracy reform movement itself. The recommendations are not meant to be a comprehensive agenda for the democracy reform movement, but rather a set of broadly supported steps that can be taken to move us closer towards our collective goals.

Already, significant progress has been made on several of these recommendations. In the coming months, we look forward to reporting on the success of the many work groups that have been created to advance the outcomes of the conference. If you are interested in contributing to any of these groups, please contact one of the co-chairs listed on page 31 of the report.

Read the full report.