Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century

On June 11, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, co-chaired by Rockefeller Brothers Fund President Stephen Heintz, launched its final report with recommendations to reinvent U.S. democracy to be more representative, responsive, and effective.

Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century draws on dozens of community listening sessions around the country to identify concrete steps to unite Americans and deliver on our nation's founding promise of peace and justice for all. It seeks to increase citizens’ capacity to engage in their communities, call attention to promising local initiatives around the country, combat rising threats to democratic self-government, and rebuild trust in political institutions.

Members of the Commission—including some of the foremost leaders from academia, civil society, politics, and business and across the ideological spectrum—set aside their differences to reach unanimous agreement on a set of recommendations that touch our political institutions, civil society, and civic culture.


Read the full report.