Online D&D Event Weekly Roundup & NCDD Confab TODAY

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Keiva Hummel

We’re excited for our March Confab call TODAY from 3-4 pm Eastern, 12-1 pm Pacific, in collaboration with Net Impact, National Issues Forums Institute, and the National Conversation Project! This free 1-hour webinar will be an opportunity to learn more about Net Impact’s youth engagement work, the new national debt issue guide they created with NIFI, information on a paid opportunity to host forums, and more about the upcoming National Week of Conversation. Register ASAP to save your spot on this dynamic and informational call here.

Please also check out the webinars below from NCDD partner org National Civic League, NCDD member orgs Living Room Conversations, Bridge Alliance, and National Issues Forums Institute, and from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), and the new webinar series #ThisIsGovtech by CivicMakers and GovTech Fund.

Do you have a webinar or other event coming up that you’d like to share with the NCDD network? Please let us know in the comments section below or by emailing me at keiva[at]ncdd[dot]org, because we’d love to add it to the list!

Online Roundup: NCDD March Confab, Living Room Conversations, Bridge Alliance, NIFI, PACE, Zehr, GPPAC, and #ThisIsGovtech

NCDD March Confab with Net Impact, NIFI, and National Conversation Project

Confab bubble image

Wednesday, March 13th
12 pm Pacific, 3 pm Eastern

This free one-hour webinar will be a great opportunity for anyone passionate about cultivating the next generation of leaders, those interested in learning how to apply for the microgrant to host forums, more about the new national debt issue guide, and/or hosting a conversation during the upcoming National Week of Conversation. You won’t want to miss out on this discussion – register today!

REGISTER: http://ncdd.org/29225

Living Room Conversations webinar – Tribalism 101: Next Door Strangers

Wednesday, March 13th
12:30 pm Pacific, 3:30 pm Eastern

Join us for a free online (using Zoom) Living Room Conversation on the topic of Tribalism. Please see the conversation guide for this topic. Some of the questions explored include: Name one or more groups you feel at home or strongly identify with (where you find a sense of belonging and/or feel stronger together)What generalizations do you make about other groups? How do you evaluate or check the validity of your generalizations, if at all? How important is it to you that your generalizations are accurate? Some groups come together based on sharing a common culture, vision, or enemy. What is the commonality for your group? What need does your group fulfill in your life?

REGISTER: www.livingroomconversations.org/event/online-living-room-conversation-tribalism-101-next-door-strangers-4/

Living Room Conversations Training (free): The Nuts & Bolts of Living Room Conversations

Thursday, March 14th
12 pm Pacific, 3 pm Eastern

Join us for 60 minutes online to learn about Living Room Conversations. We’ll cover what a Living Room Conversation is, why we have them, and everything you need to know to get started hosting and/or participating in Living Room Conversations. This training is not required for participating in our conversations – we simply offer it for people who want to learn more about the Living Room Conversations practice.

Space is limited to 12 people so that we can offer a more interactive experience. Please only RSVP if you are 100% certain that you can attend. This training will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. A link to join the conversation will be sent to participants by Wednesday 10am (PT) / 1pm (ET).

REGISTER: www.livingroomconversations.org/event/training-free-the-nuts-bolts-of-living-room-conversations-3/

Living Room Conversations webinar – American Culture: Melting pot or salad bowl or something else?

Saturday, March 16th
11:30 am Pacific, 2:30 pm Eastern

Join us for a free online (using Zoom) Living Room Conversation on the topic of American Culture: Melting pot or salad bowl or something else?. Please see the conversation guide for this topic. Some of the questions explored include: What is your cultural heritage? Have you experienced cultures other than your own? What did you appreciate? What made you uncomfortable? What value do you see in having a single, shared American culture? What would that culture look like?

REGISTER: www.livingroomconversations.org/event/online-living-room-conversation-american-culture-melting-pot-or-salad-bowl-or-something-else/

Bridge Alliance webinar – Peer Learning Session: Get to Know the 116th Congress with the Congressional Management Foundation *this webinar is for Bridge Alliance members only – learn more here

Monday, March 18th
10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern

A new Congress means new committee and subcommittee chairs, new alliances, and significant changes in the political terrain on Capitol Hill. With the shift in power, and term limits for committee chairs in the House and Senate, an advocate who may have been represented by an anonymous back-bencher last year might now be the conduit to the most important legislator for your cause. This webinar will offering a snapshot of the 116^th Congress, offering participants a window into how to build relationships with lawmakers. The presentation will be conducted by Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF).

RSVP: www.bridgealliancefund.us/cmf_peer_learning_session

National Civic League AAC Promising Practices Webinar – Community Collaborations to Improve Student Health

Tuesday, March 19th
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

Join the National Civic League to learn more about how two All-America Cities are bringing their communities together to address student health with in-school interventions. Susan Witkowski, CHCQM, CEO of Community Medical Clinic of Kershaw County will discuss the offerings of their school-based health center. Lisa Campbell, CEO of Create a Change in Las Vegas, NV will discuss their Healthy School, Healthy Life Program.

REGISTER: www.eventbrite.com/e/aac-promising-practices-webinar-community-collaborations-to-improve-student-health-tickets-54558819899

Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement Webinar – Health Equity & Community Safety: How Funders Can Embrace the Power of Youth Civic Engagement

Wednesday, March 20th
10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern

Foundations and funders committed to building healthier, safer, and more equitable communities may be overlooking or undervaluing a key strategy: youth civic engagement. In light of recent findings from PACE’s Health & Safety working group, this webinar will highlight why and how investments in youth civic engagement can be key to improving community health and safety. The event will illustrate specific ways funders can support youth civic engagement, share stories and case studies of successful health and safety initiatives involving youth, and explore how incorporating youth into health and safety strategies can have an impact on equity in community outcomes..

REGISTER: www.pacefunders.org/webinar-health-equity-community-safety-how-funders-can-embrace-the-power-of-youth-civic-engagement/

Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice – Restorative Circles for Health: RJ as an Approach to Health Justice

Wednesday, March 20th
1:30pm Pacific, 4:30pm Eastern
Guest: Ivelyse Andino and Jason Walsh
Host: Johonna Turner

Join Ivelyse Andino and Jason Walsh for a discussion on the use of restorative practices to achieve health justice for marginalized communities. Andino, the CEO of Radical Health, and Walsh, who facilitated “Circle of Knowledge,” are on the cutting edge of this burgeoning application of RJ.

REGISTER: http://zehr-institute.org/webinars/restorative-circles-for-health.html

Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) webinar – Peace Education: Culture of Good Neighbourhood and 15 years of Multicultural education in school; how can I be recognized in my school if I’m a minority?

Wednesday, March 20th
5 am Pacific, 8 am Eastern

In this webinar, expert Dr. Iryna Brunova-Kalisetska will present an example of system work from kindergarten to university levels of education for the multicultural societies, both as a preventive tool and post-conflict peacebuilding measure. Main principles of the “Culture of Good Neighbourhood” inclusive approach for various levels of education and multicultural contexts will be presented and discussed at the webinar.

REGISTER: www.gppac.net/peace-education-webinar-series?fbclid=IwAR371vw1Gxi_tpRI3NZsCMRgbf7Rd_IlD1keNf2KuT30iUwHzMDCiw6t1541

#ThisIsGovtech Webinar – Access & Accessibility for All! *this webinar is free for gov’t employees and requires a gov’t email

Thursday, March 21st
11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern

What is govtech? It is new technologies that empower government employees, improve public services, and make a real difference in everything from the housing crisis to climate change. It is a growing market worth over $400 billion that is attracting a new generation of technologists, designers and mission-driven entrepreneurs who are collaborating with government partners to help drive a movement. As paper processes shift to digital workflows full of big data, governments are gaining new visibility and actionable insights into sticky problems and seeing their role evolve to become dedicated enablers of change. #ThisIsGovtech is a new webinar series exploring the govtech movement. If you work in government, join us to be inspired by the passion, creativity and impact of this growing field.

REGISTER: www.eventbrite.com/e/thisisgovtech-webinar-series-access-accessibility-for-all-registration-41804299786?mc_eid=6347eb7d50&mc_cid=71f141c3f8

National Issues Forums Institute – March CGA Forum Series: America’s Energy Future

Thursday, March 21st
9:30 am Pacific, 12:30 pm Eastern

Join us in March for a Common Ground for Action forum on “America’s Energy Future” We’ll be talking about how to fix our broken political system in three different options: (1) Produce the Energy We Need to Maintain Our Way of Life: We must produce more of the energy we need, while making sure that as much imported energy as possible comes from stable, friendly countries, such as Canada; (2) Put More Renewables and Clean Energy Sources into the Mix: We need to find and use more sources of renewable energy. And, because we will inevitably have to move to renewables at some point, we should start down that path now; and (3) Find Ways to Use Less Energy: Energy produced by fossil fuels will, eventually, run out and, in the meantime, we continue to do great damage to the air, water, and earth that sustain us. If you haven’t had a chance to review the issue guide, you can find a downloadable PDF here.

REGISTER: www.nifi.org/en/events/march-cga-forum-series-america%E2%80%99s-energy-future-0

“Empathy” is a new word. Do we need it?

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Peter

According to the OED, “empathy” entered the English language in 1895 to mean “a physiological brain-function”–specifically, “a form of psychophysical energy” in the nervous system–that correlated with a feeling.

This meaning is now obsolete, because the underlying theory is. A somewhat more familiar meaning appeared in 1909: “Not only do I see gravity and modesty and pride … but I feel or act them in the mind’s muscles. This is, I suppose, a simple case of empathy, if we may coin that term as a rendering of Einfühlung.” E. B. Titchener Lect. Exper. Psychol. Thought-processes i. 21 (1909).

But this meaning is now also “rare,” says the OED. The word “empathy” gained its mainstream current meaning only in 1946 (in a professional psychology journal):

[Meaning 2b] orig. Psychology. The ability to understand and appreciate another person’s feelings, experience, etc.
1946 Jrnl. Clin. Psychol.2 61/1 A ‘man-to-man’ regard for the client, characterized (ideally) by the understanding of empathy without the erratic quality of identification or the supportiveness of sympathy.

You might think it’s a Greek word, and it parses in Greek: en- (“of the state or condition of”) plus pathos (“an incident, accident; suffering”) = “the state of someone’s [else’s] suffering.” But no such word is listed in my Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon. It is a modern English word built of ancient Greek components. If anything, the origin is the German word Einfühlung (coined in 1873), which needed an English equivalent.

While noting the recent origins of the English word, Emily McRae also argues that it has no direct translation in Sanskrit or other languages that have been used to express the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Key words from that tradition are better translated as “compassion” and “sympathetic joy.” McRae derives a theory of empathy from Buddhist texts, but she interprets phrases like “exchanging self and other” rather than any single word that corresponds to “empathy.”*

Since the word “empathy” is recent, and many wise thinkers have done without it, we might ask whether adding it to our vocabulary has done us good. It would be possible to carve up the conceptual space so that “empathy” vanished and we used only “compassion,” “beneficence,” “good will,” “forgiveness,” “responsiveness,” “mirroring,” and other related words.

I am a little worried that “empathy” confuses matters by combining an empirical concept–empathy exists when person A feels an emotion, which causes person B to feel some of that same emotion–with a positive moral valence (it is good to be empathetic). Yet it is not always good to feel the same emotion as someone else in response to that person.

*“Empathy, Compassion, and ‘Exchanging Self and Other’ in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Ethics” for Handbook of Philosophy of Empathy (Routledge), edited by Heidi Maibom, 2017. See also: empathy, sympathy, compassion, justice; empathy: good or bad?; and my self, your self, ourselves

NCDD March Confab This Weds Featuring Net Impact, NIFI, and Nat’l Conversation Project!

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Keiva Hummel

In case you missed our announcement last week, we have an exciting March Confab call happening tomorrow Wednesday, March 13th, in coordination with Net Impact, National Issues Forums Institute, and the National Conversation Project! On the call, we will learn more about Net Impact’s youth engagement work, their collaboration with NIFI on a new National Debt issue guide, a paid opportunity to host forums with the guide, and how this all plays into the upcoming National Week of Conversation (NWOC). Join us for this dynamic call tomorrow from 3-4 pm Eastern, 12-1 pm Pacific.

This free one-hour webinar will be a great opportunity for anyone passionate about cultivating the next generation of leaders, those interested in learning how to apply for the microgrant, and/or hosting a conversation during NWOC. You won’t want to miss out on this discussion – register today!

On this call, we will be joined by Net Impact’s Program Manager Christy Stanker who will share about Net Impact’s work to nurture youth into emerging leaders, their stand-out program Up to Us, and how to apply for the microgrant to host forums on the national debt.

The issue guide, A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills? was published by the National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) in partnership with Up to Us. Up to Us, an initiative of Net Impact and the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, is a rapidly growing, nonpartisan movement of young people who recognize that when it comes to securing their economic and fiscal future, they have no better advocates than themselves.

Amid high-profile debates over jobs and the economy, social mobility, healthcare, and tax reform, Up to Us is the only nationwide, campus-based campaign focused on building a sustainable economic and fiscal future for America’s next generation. Net Impact’s programs help new leaders broaden their thinking, build their networks, and scale their impact beyond just individual actions.

Net Impact is excited to offer a microgrant of $150 to moderators* who host a forum using the newly updated A Nation in Debt issue guide and NIFI’s Chief Administrative Officer Darla Minnich will join the call to share details on the offer. *Moderators must be affiliated with an accredited US-based college or university to be considered eligible for the microgrant.

This microgrant opportunity also coincides with the upcoming National Week of Conversation, happening April 5-13. Our co-hosts at the National Conversation Project, Jaclyn Inglis, Partnerships Director, and Pearce Godwin, Executive Director, will share more about this upcoming initiative to get people engaged in conversations and how you can get involved. We hope many of you will consider combining the microgrant opportunity and contributing to the National Week of Conversation!

Make sure you register today to secure your spot!

About Our Confab Co-Hosts

Net Impact is a nonprofit that inspires and equips emerging leaders to build a more just and sustainable world. Net Impact’s programs help new leaders broaden their thinking, build their networks, and scale their impact beyond just individual actions.

National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI), is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that serves to promote public deliberation about difficult public issues. Its activities include publishing the issue guides and other materials used by local forum groups, encouraging collaboration among forum sponsors, and sharing information about current activities in the network.

National Conversation Project is an overarching, collaborative platform that aggregates, aligns, and amplifies the efforts of more than 175 partners to mainstream conversations in which we #ListenFirst to understand. NCP promotes National Weeks of Conversation, #ListenFirst Fridays, and any conversation inviting people of all stripes to revitalize America together.

About NCDD’s Confab Calls

NCDD’s Confab Calls are opportunities for members (and potential members) of NCDD to talk with and hear from innovators in our field about the work they’re doing and to connect with fellow members around shared interests. Membership in NCDD is encouraged but not required for participation. Confabs are free and open to all. Register today if you’d like to join us!

Charter Schools In Perspective

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Public Agenda Newsfeed

In 2015, we launched a set of resources to enlighten and improve the conversation about charter schools in the United States. Today, the conversation continues, most recently as a key point of debate in teacher strikes across the country.

With support from the Spencer Foundation, we updated our research from 2015 to include the latest data on charter school finances, student achievement, and public opinion, among other topics. Though neither Public Agenda nor the Spencer Foundation takes positions on charter schools, we believe there's a need for more informed, thoughtful conversation on the topic.

Because the policy landscape of charter schools varies so much from state to state and city to city, and because information about charter schools is so often confusing and contradictory, we hope that this update, along with our existing resources, will contribute to this conversation nationally and in communities.

Find out more at In-Perspective.org.

tangled beauty

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Peter

Let us be glad for tangled things--
   For soiled fingers raking thick-stemmed grass;
     For matted fur on long, warm ears; 
Or child's hair idly twisted in rings.
   A thatch of ganglia fires in the brain's wet mass:
     A thought--electric--splits, connects, adheres.

All things rooted, snarled, or tensed,
   Whatever needs some mesh to form its mass,
 With loops, forks; twists, knots; ends, tears.
   Let's give thanks for things that are soft and dense.

National Week of Conversation Happening April 5th-13th

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Keiva Hummel

The next National Week of Conversation (NWOC) is April 5th – 13th! For the second year in a row, NWOC will be a week of intentional conversation, where folks around the country will be hosting or joining conversations, in hopes to better address the intense divisions in our society through dialogue, deepening understanding, and building relationships. We have a special Confab call happening this Weds where you can learn more about NWOC, how to join a conversation already going on and/or start your own. This free call will be on Wednesday, March 13th from 3-4 pm Eastern, 12-1 pm Pacific and we encourage you to register ASAP to save your spot on the call. (Spoiler: we will also be sharing about a paid opportunity to host discussions around the new national debt issue guide, so you won’t want to miss out!) You can read more about NWOC in the post below and on the NCP site here.

National Week of Conversation: April 5th – 13th

Today, seemingly more than ever before, it is important that we as American citizens of all stripes, take a step back followed by a step forward. Step back from our comfort zone and routine, step away from our smartphone screens and social media scrolling and step forward towards someone new, engaging and connecting with genuine curiosity. This is how we grow both as individuals and as a society. This is how we better understand the hurt we might actually be able to help heal. This is how we understand American struggles beyond simply those we experience within invisible border walls of our own communities or those we learn about in the echo chambers of our like-minded social media connections. This is the only way we understand our best way forward, together.

These uncommon steps are far from easy. So an entire movement has formed where we, hand-in-hand, walk each other into greater connection and understanding. Republicans and Democrats. Jews and Muslims. Majority and minority. In the middle of the chaos, we enter into difficult yet rewarding conversations where we #ListenFirst to understand each other. And somewhere within that, we see behind the angry social media posts and opposing votes and comments taken out of context and realize we are all human. We realize we all have stories worth open ears and struggles worth another helping hand.

This year, April 5th – 13th, this #ListenFirst movement is joining together during National Week of Conversation to rally Americans to take these steps together.

National Week of Conversation is a bold annual occasion when people with diverse perspectives #ListenFirst to understand. Through in-person and virtual conversations exploring any topic of interest, people of all stripes intentionally convene with the goal of mending our frayed social fabric and revitalizing America together. We are encouraging everyone and anyone to reach out to neighbors, family and friends, and form your own conversations.

To connect with this sweeping cross country movement, you can host or join a conversation during NWOC 2019, April 5-13. Use the #ListenFirst hashtag to invite others!

One week. One week to step back from routine work schedules and routine interactions. One week to step away from excuses and prioritize your concerns about our future. One week when we can step forward – towards each other, with each other and for each other. What is your excuse for standing back or standing still? Please join us for National Week of Conversation and practice what it means to #ListenFirst.

You can learn more about the National Week of Conversation at www.nationalconversationproject.org/.

Library of Congress Seeking a Civics Teacher-in-Residence!

Posted on March 8, 2019 by stevemasy

LOCTIR

From our friends at the Civic Mission of Schools comes this wonderful notice about a Library of Congress opportunity!

Calling All Civics Teachers!! The Library of Congress is seeking applications from current civics teachers for a Teacher-in-Residence position within its Learning and Innovation Office during the 2019-20 school year. The program description and application details for the position can be found at loc.gov/teachers/newsevents/teacher-in-residence/index.html. Applications are due on Monday, April 8, 2019.

This is a great opportunity to further your professional career AND make a difference on a national scale!!! We encourage you to check it out. You can find the call for applications here.

ILG TIERS Learning Lab Training Early Bird Now Available

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Keiva Hummel

If you work in local government and are looking to gain some more skills when engaging the public, then we recommend folks check out this great training from NCDD member org, the Institute for Local Government (ILG). ILG is offering their two-day TIERS Learning Lab training on Thursday, April 25th and Friday, April 26th in Danville, CA. This is a great opportunity for staff and elected officials working in local government to better engage and sustain their public engagement efforts, and early bird registration ends in two weeks, on March 22nd. You can read the announcement from ILG below and find the original version here.

TIERS Public Engagement Learning Lab – April 25 & 26 in Danville, CA

Upcoming Learning Lab & Registration
Danville, April 25 & 26, 2019
REGISTER HERE

Early Bird Registration ends March 22nd
Registration deadline is April 5th

For more information or to register contact Hanna Stelmakhovych at publicengagement@ca-ilg.org or call (916) 658-8221.

ILG’s TIERS Can Help Your Agency Take Your Public Engagement to the Next Level

Not getting the results you want from your public engagement efforts? Enroll in the Institute for Local Government’s (ILG) TIERS Public Engagement Learning Lab and receive customized coaching and learn a step-by-step framework to successfully plan and implement your next public engagement effort. This comprehensive training and coaching program is available to any city, county, special district and can apply to a variety of efforts ranging from housing and climate change to budgeting and public safety.

ILG will be hosting a TIERS℠Public Engagement Learning Lab on April 25-26, 2019 in Danville. Learn more about the TIERS Public Engagement Learning Lab, pricing and future training opportunities here: www.ca-ilg.org/tierslearninglab.

Learning Lab Overview
The TIERS Learning Lab is a comprehensive training and coaching program from ILG that provides local government teams of 2-5 individuals with hands-on instruction and coaching on the TIERS Framework. By participating in the TIERS Learning Lab, staff and electeds will learn how to utilize, customize and implement the TIERS tools and processes. The TIERS Learning Lab will help you build and manage successful public engagement in order to support local government work, stakeholder input and project success.

TIERS Learning Lab Components
The TIERS Learning Lab consists of training and support over a six month period for an agency team of up to five people. This six-month hands-on coaching opportunity includes:

A pretraining consultation with ILG to discuss your goals, plans and challenges; and to select your Learning Lab public engagement case
Immersive two-day Learning Lab: hands-on, participatory in-person training with expert coaches and peer learning
Post-training customized implementation coaching (up to 6 hours)
Monthly ’Open Lab’ for problem solving during the three months post training
Training workshop materials and meals
Scheduling and coordination of consulting calls for pre and post training

Register Now for April 2019 TIERS Public Engagement Learning Lab!

“The TIERS training was incredibly motivating for our team and we were able to immediately put what we learned about the TIERS process to work on our current projects. We left with best practices and a clear process we can follow”
– Mayor Gurrola, City of Arvin

You can find the original information of this training on ILG’s site at: www.ca-ilg.org/TIERSLearningLab.

a better approach to coalition politics

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Peter

Sometimes people view coalitions instrumentally and transactionally. You know what you believe, but unfortunately you don’t (yet) have enough support, or seats, or votes, or dollars to get what you want, so you must join with other people who either share roughly similar beliefs–close enough to settle for–or who will support your agenda in return for your help with theirs.

We see this approach most clearly in parliamentary systems, when parties come together to form majorities. The center-left party will form a government with the Greens if they need the Greens’ votes, but will drop them if they don’t. We also see it in US logrolling politics: Democrats from rural districts vote for HUD; urban Democrats vote for the Farm Bill. And we see it in social movements, when participants advocate for a “big tent” or invoke a “bird that flies with two wings”–clichés that usually mean: “Include me in your coalition or you won’t win.”

Some circumstances–such as parliamentary votes of confidence–require a transactional approach to putting together coalitions of 50% plus one. But it is possible to view a coalition in a different way: as a network of valuable relationships among people who trust and respect one another.

Brad DeLong, a self-proclaimed “neoliberal” and “[Robert] Rubin Democrat,” recently announced his support for a coalition led by people to his left. Speaking of his own faction within the Democratic Party, he wrote:

Over the past 25 years, we failed to attract Republican coalition partners, we failed to energize our own base, and we failed to produce enough large-scale obvious policy wins to cement the center into a durable governing coalition. We blame cynical Republican politicians. We blame corrupt and craven media bosses and princelings. We are right to blame them, but shared responsibility is not diminished responsibility. And so the baton rightly passes to our colleagues on our left. We are still here, but it is not our time to lead.

Note that DeLong is not renouncing his own beliefs or exiting public life in defeat. Instead, has has reached an all-things-considered judgment that people who disagree with him on some important matters should lead a coalition that he will support. It’s their time.

In a Vox interview, he adds:

while I would like to be part of a political coalition in the cat seat, able to call for bids from the left and the right about who wants to be part of the governing coalition to actually get things done, that’s simply not possible as of now.
We shouldn’t pretend that it is, or that it’s going to be. We need to find ways to improve left-wing initiatives, rather than demand that they start from our basic position and do minor tweaks to make them more acceptable to their underlying position.

DeLong wants to contribute, but he thinks the left should lead. His role is non-coercive persuasion: offering market-based suggestions that the left can accept or not. He doesn’t suggest that his support will be conditional on their agreement. He is in, but he wants to retain his voice. His explicit renunciation of a claim to lead should engender some trust from the left. It’s an example of the general principle that Danielle Allen defends in Talking to Strangers. Our task is to become “political friends” who demonstrate “reciprocal goodwill”; and to get there, often the first step is to make an explicit sacrifice.

In turn, if the left were to lead the Democratic Party, it would become the main source of energy and ideas. Progressives would earn the voluntary support of a broader spectrum. They would not view leftover neoliberals as enemies to be rooted out but as fellow members of the coalition who can be inspired and persuaded. They would take seriously their own capacity, opportunity, and moment to lead. They would see themselves as better leaders if people like Brad DeLong continued to follow them. They would value not only the votes of such moderates but their insights.

They would also care about the condition of the coalition. Is it sufficiently attractive to a broad range of people? Does it offer entry-points for newbies and youth while also honoring the folks who have been working hard for a long time? Is it nimble but also principled? Can it manage dissent? How does it handle disagreement? You can’t answer those questions well if you are always thinking about whether your own policy goals will prevail. You must also care about the coalition as a community.

I am not saying that the currently insurgent left is failing to act this way. So far, so good. I am just offering a way to conceptualize leadership that doesn’t reduce a coalition to a pure means for accomplishing the leaders’ goals. I’d argue that valuing the coalition is a path to wiser strategies and more influence.

Talks in Spring 2019

Posted on March 7, 2019 by etweber@gmail.com

I’m pleased to report on two exciting invitations I’ve had to speak in the spring of 2019. For one of them, the Ron Messerich Distinguished Lecture that I delivered in February, I spoke on “Correcting Political Correctness,” a piece from my book in progress titled A Culture of Justice. On Tuesday, February 26th, I gave the talk at Eastern Kentucky University. While there, I had the pleasure of meeting with students in the journalism program, who interviewed me for Eastern Progress, their television program. I’m quite grateful to Mike Austin for inviting me to deliver this lecture. The attendance was great and the questions and comments offered after my talk were really rich and engaging. Here is the video interview:

If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader or email, then click here.

The next trip I’m taking will be next week, when I’ll be heading to give three talks at Texas State University San Marcos. I’ll be talking at the local library about “Democracy and Public Philosophy,” from 4:30-6pm on Wednesday, March 13th. Then, on Thursday, March 14th, I’ll be talking about “Culture and Self Respect” from 2-3:00pm in the Alkek 250 Theater on campus. Friday morning, March 15th from 9-10am I’ll be talking about “Democracy and Leadership” in PS3301. More on that as it develops, but it is coming soon.

The post Talks in Spring 2019 first appeared on Eric Thomas Weber.

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