Powerful stories and guidance for civic leaders to strengthen community bonds and improve the health of our constitutional democracy are featured in a report from The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Habits of Heart and Mind: How to Fortify Civic Culture.
Much of the discourse around how to improve American democracy centers, understandably, on reforming the nation’s political institutions. Abolish gerrymandering. Enact Supreme Court term limits. Adopt ranked-choice voting. Curb money in politics.
Each of these ideas, and many others, would improve our politics. But institutional renewal can only go so far in repairing what ails American society. Fortifying our civic culture – how we live together, serve our communities, and participate in civic life – is just as urgent.
A recently re-released publication from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Habits of Heart and Mind, identifies seven key pillars that we can all employ to build a stronger civic culture on both small and large scales. They include:
- SHARED JOY: The more online we become, the more important face-to-face experiences become for helping us stay engaged. Shared moments of joy help us feel connected to something larger than ourselves.
- HABITS OF SERVICE: Service, from military duty to small acts like helping a neighbor, is central to a thriving American society.
- SPACE FOR FREE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS: Americans value diverse opinions. A healthy civic culture relies on open discourse and creating spaces for the trading, testing, and sharpening of ideas even across deep divides.
- CODESIGN AND DECISION-MAKING: Americans are often doubtful of their ability to effect change. We can reverse this by involving community members in decision-making processes to foster a sense of ownership.
- MUTUALISM AND MUTUAL AID: We each have valuable things to contribute to our communities, and areas where we need support. When we give and receive from those around us, we build relationships, trust, and cooperation.
- NARRATIVES OF COMMON PURPOSE: Our democracy is united by stories of shared experiences which are powerful in building consensus and a common purpose among Americans regardless of language, ethnicity, or religion.
- SHARED PLACES: Third places are vital for a healthy civic culture, as they nurture deeper connections by bringing people together for shared activity outside the home or workplace.
The report spotlights a variety of examples where these tactics are being practiced. The Civic Collaboratory, developed by Citizen University, creates mutual aid networks in communities across the country. CoGenerate brings older and younger Americans together to address challenges facing their communities. The Better Arguments Project at the Aspen Institute teaches community members to engage in honest, constructive discourse. GenUnity runs civic leadership programs for Boston residents. The Cossitt Library in Memphis serves as a cultural center bridging socioeconomic divides.
These were just some of the case studies identified by the Academy’s Working Group on Defining Civic Culture – a diverse group of 18 distinguished scholars, journalists, civic leaders, artists, educators, and philanthropists that deliberated on how civic culture is connected to a functioning constitutional democracy.
Habits of Heart and Mind captures the working group’s insights into how to foster a healthy civic culture in our communities and organizations. First released in September 2024, it was reissued this summer with a new letter from Academy President Laurie L. Patton, who emphasizes that civic culture has long been recognized as “the lifeblood of American constitutional democracy.” The report aims to elevate that focus and serve as a guide to the norms, values, habits, narratives, and rituals that embody a thriving civic life.
The focus on civic culture stems from the Academy’s 2020 report, Our Common Purpose, which highlighted the need to create a virtuous cycle in which our political institutions and civic life reinforce each other.
“When political institutions are nonresponsive, non-adaptive, or corrupt, that feeds a culture of cynicism, disengagement, pessimism and non-participation,” said Eric Liu, co-chair of the Our Common Purpose project and chair of the Working Group on Defining Civic Culture. “That very culture then makes those institutions less responsive and adaptive. But the virtuous version of that cycle is one where the culture shifts where people start taking more ownership of the larger norms and culture around them and start engaging in civic life because they know that act itself is contagious.”
Despite headlines about polarization and divisiveness, Americans still know how to come together. Many want to. The question is how to create more opportunities for them to do so. Habits of Heart and Mind offers a playbook for how to do that and aims to start a conversation about how we can come together and bolster our democratic traditions.
Each of us should consider the role we play in American civic culture and what we can do to make it healthier. Institutional reforms alone will not save democracy. It may seem unlikely, but the key to a healthy democracy lies in people connected to one another. If Americans find opportunities to come together, they can build a sense of common purpose that has been missing from American life.
About The Academy of Arts & Sciences
Founded in 1780, the Academy honors excellence and convenes leaders across disciplines and divides to advance the common good by addressing issues of importance to the nation and the world.
You can find more information about civic culture and the Our Common Purpose project online.
Zachey Kliger is a Program Associate for American Institutions, Society, and the Public Good at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences