In the first of a new series of events co-hosted by Braver Angels and the National Institute for Civil Discourse, ‘America’s Public Forum’
Professor Timothy J. Shaffer of the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy at Kansas State University has been thinking and writing about democracy questions for more than a decade. Democracy has often been defined as “government by talking.” In what way is that true? And what can it tell us about the meaning of citizenship? What can it tell us about the United States today?
In this first forum, Professor Shaffer kicked things off by telling us about the “discussion movement” of the 1930s and 1940s and what, in his view, this remarkable history means for us today. Then we’ll talk things over, both with Professor Shaffer and one another, about the role of public discussion and debate in safeguarding democracy.
Sponsored by Braver Angels and the National Institute for Civil Discourse