Agent of Democracy - Society for College and University Planning

The New England Center for Civic Life
the civic renewal movement is an emphasis on citizen-based politics
that can complement and challenge the workings of formal government.
This movement is unique in
that, in large part, it has broken
away from the politics of advocacy
that characterized earlier grassroots
movements and is instead
animated by the idea of open and
inclusive dialogue that takes into
account diverse perspectives and
tries to establish common ground
among competing groups upon
which workable compromises
and approaches to public problems
can be built.
“I wanted our college
to offer the possibility for
more faculty to redefine
their professional lives.”
(“The Work of ‘Public-
Making’: An interview
with Douglas Challenger,”
HEX, 2004.)
It is part of a new cultural paradigm for thinking about politics
and political action that cuts across ideological lines and offers
an alternative to “politics-as-usual.” It represents a shift from what
sociologist Philip Slater calls a “control culture” to a “connecting/
integrative culture.” The older control culture is characterized by
a set of assumptions that see the world as static matter, split into
competing and warlike opposites, authoritarian, hierarchical, and
changeable only through force and coercion. The new connecting
culture that Slater sees emerging views the world as an energy
process, an undivided whole, democratic, egalitarian, cooperative,
and changeable through communicative processes that spawn
spontaneous evolution. 1
Another aspect of the civic renewal movement is the attempt
to bring this understanding of connecting culture to young people
through new kinds of civics education. While continuing to teach
students the structure and workings of formal government, this
movement emphasizes the role of civil society and the work of
citizens in grassroots efforts to address issues in ways that spring
1 Philip Slater, “Temporary Insanity: A World In Transition.”
http://www.philipslater.com (accessed August 2, 2007).
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