The American Democracy Optimists: March 2025

A big thing

Partisan Divides were on full view during this week’s joint address to Congress and the reaction to last week’s Oval office visit By Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelensky. In the midst of these headlines and today’s political environment, Bipartisanship can act as a distant memory. Political divisions often drive media coverage and leave stories of cross -collaboration, so rarely that one could think that Bipartisan law has ceased.

But Bipartisan decision making lives, and public employees work across the hallway on important issues for the American people.

Since the beginning of this regulatory session, legislators from both parties have entered into a number of bills that most Americans can agree on. E.g. Families of fallen officials. And after the devastating plane crash in Washington, DC in January, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduced a bill that would increase funding for Air traffic control staff and training.

Bipartisan cooperation cannot drive the news, but it allows the government to create effective and long-standing policies that tackle issues affecting all Americans, regardless of party affiliation.

Bush Institute Insights

• Presidential Leadership Scholars (Pls) program – A joint initiative among presidential centers for George W. Bush, William, J. Clinton, George HW Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson – called his 10th annual class for the first time in Philadelphia at the end of January. After their four-day module focusing on leadership development and connection across differences, scholars reported who felt inspired by new perspectives and refilled of a shared purpose. They then recognized in Dallas in late February, where they engaged with a number of experts.

• IN Houston ChronicleBush Institute’s director of the global politics Chris Walsh discusses the importance of “personal pluralism” – – The practice of keeping room for beliefs that are not always in line with our preferred political teams. Bush Institute was proud to be part of a OP-ED campaign Organized by Interfaith America and the new pluralists who invited people from all over the country to share their experiences that connect across differences. A number of stories of bridgingbuilding and collaboration have been released that show division into our country is not as violent as it seems.

• William McKenzie writes in Dallas Morning News That when Americans receive more news from the influence of social media and podcasters, they should affect journalistic standards, such as asking challenging questions and maintaining independence.

• Keely Cat-WellsA president of President of President of President, recently shared how the PLS program has influenced her work to increase accessibility and representation of people with disabilities around the world.

• Editor -in -chief of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas From The Bush Institute Jonathan Tepperman talked to Victor ChaSenior fellow at the Bush Institute, about the growing threat of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea (Crink) for Western democracy. CHA claims the United States must continue to support Ukraine and other US allies to address authoritarian threats.

What we read

• ONE Report from Rutgers Examines the State of Local Journalism in New Jersey and finds that most printed newspapers will stop the physical publication within five to seven years, making it critical to maintain robust digital news coverage. These lessons apply to all states struggling with the decline in local journalism.

• Google scientists have Pluralism on their minds when designing new AI systems. According to a new report, Researchers at the tech giant try to build AI that respect different human views by capturing a wider range of perspectives in Datamoto.

• In one Forbes OP-ED, JAMIE MERISOTIS, CEO of Lumina Foundation, argues for an increase in Civics courses in higher education. He also points to universities in red and blue states that have recently introduced such courses, including State University of New York and Arizona State University.

• Writing in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, writes Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith America, about passersby and inheritance from Aga Khan IVThe Imam of the Ismaili Muslims. Patel detailed Khan’s deep commitment to pluralism, which he saw as a means of promoting empathy and collaboration and counteracting department and autocracy.

• IN Washington PostMore Perfect’s John Bridgeland and Alan Khazei challenge Fellow -Aricans to practice “Great Citizenship.” They claim that a way of tackling the many challenges our nation – natural disasters face, falling societal trust and low military recruitment to name a few – is to revive national service on a large scale. They also have a great goal in mind: They will see a million Americans who commit to national service every year.
• Author Alexandra Hudson writes About the ancient origin and significance of “civility” for the Ronald Reagan Center on Civilism and Democracy. Too often we do not manage to appreciate how important life force is to the endurance of American democracy. As she puts it, “Throughout history, civility and education have contributed to citizen renewal, multidimensional human flowering and preservation of freedom.” You can also visit our conversation with Hudson The strategistist Podcast.