We're concerned with good government, the American experiment, and building a political system that breeds public trust and engagement. We offer our perspectives on today's issues and topics.
This is the first essay in Civic Way’s series on the pandemic and the lessons to be learned from our successes and failures. In this essay, we summarize what has happened thus far during the pandemic. In our next essay, we address the political pandemic. In a future essay, we will discuss the lessons that…
The Case for Making Elections More Impartial and Competitive This is one of several essays issued by Civic Way on state and local elections. Our intent is to step back from the interminable partisan battles over election integrity and voter rights. Our goal is to offer a comprehensive, yet pragmatic approach to reforming our election…
If Tomorrow Matters, We Need Fair and Reliable Elections This newsletter introduces a few essays on issues impacting the integrity, fairness and competitiveness of America’s elections. This series will address gerrymandering, voter registration, voter access, voting methods, election administration and post-election audits. Our goal is to present pragmatic ideas for restoring public faith in the…
Haiti’s Cautionary Tale for America’s Next Generation This is another Civic Way essay on the importance of good government and engaged citizenry. And how the next generation must invest in government and citizenship to prepare for future crises. The author, Bob Melville, is the founder of Civic Way, a nonprofit dedicated to good government, and…
A Shared Sense of our Past, a Shared Vision of our Future This is a commentary on the need for a shared sense of American History, first posted on February 15, 2021 in Between Hell and High Water. The author, Michael Koetting, writes a regular column, Between Hell and High Water, and is an advisor…
Rethinking the Media’s Role in Saving Democracy This is Civic Way’s fourth commentary (of four) on America’s broken politics, with a special focus on reforming the media. The first commentary introduced the threat of extremism, the second commentary explained how extremism infects politics and the last essay offered some ideas for using good government to…
How Good Governance and Informed Citizenship Can Save America This is Civic Way’s third commentary on the state of politics in America, outlining some potential strategies for improving governance, rebuilding citizenship and fixing our politics. The first commentary addressed the threat of extremism and the last commentary discussed media extremism and political polarization. The author,…
Extremism’s Threat to State and Local Government This is Civic Way’s second commentary on the state of politics in America. How biased media are corrupting public discourse. How the insistence of some national leaders on relitigating the past hinders our ability to meet the future. How extremism is crippling our ability to govern, not just…
How Political Extremism is Destroying America This is Civic Way’s commentary on the state of politics in America. How political extremism is putting our future at risk. How extremism must be understood to be defeated. How our two-party system, once thought to protect us from extremism, is irrevocably broken. The author, Bob Melville, is the…