1	Democracy’s Challenge: 12/05 to 9/06: NIF in 45 states and District of Columbia
2	Democracy’s Challenge Democratic Values: Rebuilding democracy’s moral foundation Web of connections: Reinventing citizenship By the People: Bringing the public back into politics
3	Methodology To prepare report, Doble Research: 20 moderator interviews Observed 3 forums 1,000 questionnaires 5 video-taped forums A Public Voice 2006 6 research forums
4	What has gone wrong, and what should we do about it?
5	Democracy’s Challenge Framework Fed up with politics Widening partisan divide Many turning away from public life Most are spectators rather than participants in political process
6	Conventional Wisdom vs. Public’s Starting Point CW: Americans voted for change; the system worked; all is well with the U.S. vs. NIF: Discontent much deeper and more pervasive Far more threatening to the democracy
7	Something’s Wrong Alienated and cynical A nation of consumers Spectators, not participants – except in their communities
8	3 Reasons Core values slipping away Self-absorbed Rights vs. responsibilities Community life out of balance Increased isolation – public space Decline in community work Unresponsive political system Special interests Money and politics
9	Not the Whole Story CW: Country is polarized – Red and Blue NIF: Agreement on an array of core values Tensions as we struggle to balancing values we all agree are important
10	Democratic Values Values Bedrock of moral and religious values vs. separation of church and state Core values vs. whose values and do they belong in school?
11	Democratic Practices Community Involvement vs. today’s realities and desire to get ahead Service vs. mandatory service
12	Democratic Government Accountability How to make gov’t responsive to broad, general public interest Reduce influence of special interests and the role of money vs. how?
13	In Sum Disaffected to “Initial take not quite right” Connections Values connect to community life Both connect to politics All 3 add up to something more Psychological ownership “Our” problem, not “their” problem Democracy’s challenge = our challenge