Reinventing Citizenship: The Practice of Public Work

Reinventing citizenship and reclaiming mediating institutions will require a difficult reconceptualization of roles, practices, and beliefs about politics and public life. It will take time and concerted effort. What we have briefly outlined here is not a step-by-step process. Citizen politics requires testing and experimentation, trial and error, conflict and negotiation to be integrated into different environments and situations. It is learned through practice. It is not a blueprint, but a map to help guide your work - on a daily basis as well as in larger efforts to restructure your public institutions.

Finally, it is about renewing democracy and developing the full capacity of citizens. As Thomas Jefferson noted long ago, there is no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves.

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