How Should the Public Learn?—Reconstructing Common Purpose and Civic Innovation for a Democracy in Crisis

Democracy requires the capacity to receive information through media and from experts and to use that information to support collective deliberation. Various forces have put this process under strain. Trust in all forms of expertise–including science–has eroded in recent years. Bruce Jennings is co-principal investigator on this project and his work aims at learning how to improve civic and public understanding of complex issues in ways suited to the current era. It seeks, that is, to improve civic learning processes—public mechanisms for gathering information, deliberating, and building consensus. Project funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through The Hastings Center, 2018-2020.

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The Hastings Center