A recent report by the American Political Science Association concludes that American democracy is at risk, but this risk is not from terrorism or from external threats but from "an erosion of the activities and capacities of citizenship."  A single word for this is "disengagement."  This often occurs when the pursuit of individual self-interest is predominant or exclusive - sometimes at the expense of participation in the civic life of the communities in which we live.

The response to civic disengagement is to encourage its opposite - civic engagement.  At TCU we have chosen to encourage engagement through our Center for Civic Literacy.  Civic literacy begins by combating ignorance - these days an alarming ignorance of the structures and norms and values of our representative form of government - as well as ignorance of the background information that is necessary to interpret and judge the public policy alternatives that affect each of us each day.

Civic literacy requires that people become more knowledgeable about public issues and are well-informed about the organizations, associations and programs that address them.  Our first premise is that knowledge should precede action.

Our Center for Civic Literacy will provide an active learning process for undergraduate students by requiring them to participate in the development and implementation of a policy project.  We will also provide the opportunity for our students to engage in community-based Civic Literacy Internships for academic credit.  These internships require 150 hours of community service.

To improve civic literacy the Center also will:

• Sponsor conferences and workshops for students, for teachers and for the public on policy making processes and on methods of analysis that will facilitate both understanding and problem solving.
• Sponsor community-based public forums and lectures for the University and larger community on both enduring and contemporary social, political, economic, religious and ethical issues.
• Sponsor academic conferences on issues important to representative government.
• Sponsor workshops for business and industry on the relationships between their productive capacities and the vitality of the communities of which they are part.
• Support community-based research on important public issues.
• Support collaborative efforts between local governments and the University that are directed toward effective problem solving.