All language subtitles for A.Citizens.Guide.to.Preserving.Democracy.2024.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE

♪♪
-This democracy has been around

for over two centuries
for a reason.

But then what?

-It doesn't matter whether
or not you're Republican,

Democratic, independent, whether
you're in the Green Party,

you know,
it doesn't really matter

as long as you're here
for America to be better,

-[ Chanting ] Not books!

-Democracy doesn't just happen
automatically.

It's based upon a whole series
of assumptions

and norms and practices that is
built into making it work.

-The end goal is the same.

We want a fairer society,
a more prosperous country.

We want a better place
for our children

to live a better future.

We want the same things.

-America's never been about
what can be done for us.

It's about what can be
done by us together.

-There are so many good things
happening in our country

that are getting
very little attention.

And if people
only see the worst,

then they start to act that way,
and we can definitely do better.

-Government isn't where
all the power lies.

The power exists
with the people.

We need to invest our time
and efforts in democracy.

-And the one thing we have
in common is our Americanness.

And we've gotta develop that,

and we've gotta educate
about that.

We've gotta think hard about
what makes us American.

♪♪

-Throughout this country's
nearly 250-year history,

the essence of democracy has
often been challenged.

The debate over what it takes
to maintain a government

of the people, by the people,
and for the people is robust.

Fundamental freedoms, equal
rights, free and fair elections

are all signs
of a healthy democracy,

but growing polarization and
unprecedented political events

are eroding confidence

in the well-being
of America's democracy.

Still, resilience can prevail.

-If you look at
under the Constitution,

the executive branch,
the judiciary,

the Congress,
the entire federal system,

the states, the cities,
and so forth,

I think they would deserve
to feel pretty good

that this experiment -- ha! --
that they launched

has lasted and has succeeded
in so many ways.

No one is born in this country,

you know, with genes
that somehow understand

and internalize
what a democracy is,

why it's valuable, what's
expected of them as a citizen.

We've gotta teach it,
but we're not teaching it.

We are failing
to pass on the culture,

the political culture
of democracy.

And that, to me,
is the real warning.

-Richard Haass
is a veteran diplomat,

frequent media contributor,
and author

who recently stepped down
after 20 years as president

of the Non-Partisan Council
on Foreign Relations,

where he remains
president emeritus.

He's advised both Democrats
and Republicans

on global issues
and foreign policy.

But now Haass is turning
his attention

to matters more domestic

and what he says is
one of the greatest threats

to this country --
the stability of our democracy.

"The Bill of Obligations:
The Ten Habits of Good Citizens"

lays out a framework
for examining

and reintroducing ideals

that advanced America's
democracy over the past

two and a half centuries --
ideals that Haass says,

if ignored, could stand
in the way of progress.

-I'm worried.
We're off the rails.

Good news is,
we can get back on the rails.

There's nothing that's happened
that's irrevocable

or irreversible,
but there is something amiss.

-You really call it a crisis.
Is that the appropriate word?

Are we in that level now?

-We can argue
whether it's a crisis or not,

but if you're not worried,
you're not paying attention.

I don't think any of us
has the luxury to be sanguine

about the state of, future of
American democracy.

And if you value it, as I do,
as you do, as I hope

everyone watching this does,
they should be worried.

And they should basically say,
we can no longer assume

that after 247, 248 years,
it's gonna be around here

for another 10, 20,
much less 248 years.

-Those who are worried
are doing something

and are helping others
do the same.

From media literacy
and being civil

to respecting government service
and putting country first,

everyday Americans
from all walks of life

are responding to the challenge
of preserving democracy.

They're volunteering
in their communities,

becoming more informed,
and working on being more civil

and talking with each other.
-...and we approve this message.

♪♪

-When de Tocqueville wrote
"Democracy in America,"

he traveled around the country,

and Americans were meeting
with one another.

What impressed him so much is --

the word he used was
"associational," I think it was,

the idea Americans would
associate, they'd meet.

And they would
talk things through,

and they'd come into
the town square, literally,

or to a town meeting hall
or a church.

And that's where
civic interaction took place.

-And it's taking place now in
places like Dearborn, Michigan,

where two longtime
media adversaries learned

that through polite
and respectful disagreement,

there was still room
for relationship building

and lasting friendship without
abandoning their principles.

-Welcome to
The Civility Project.

-Stephen Henderson
and Nolan Finley

started The Civility Project
in 2020,

hosting dozens of sessions
over Zoom.

Now they go on the road teaching
others how to do the same.

-People feel badly
about politics.

It's not just
they feel divided.

They feel mentally strained
and exhausted.

-And we resonate to the words
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

who -- and I'll paraphrase --
who said,

you know, we hate each other
because we fear each other,

and we fear each other because
we don't understand each other,

and we don't understand
each other

because we don't talk
to each other.

And our goal with this
Great Lakes Civility Project

is to get people
to talk to each other.

-Good evening.
[ Cheers and applause ]

-Thanks.
Great event on a rainy night,

and we appreciate you all
coming out

to listen to a conversation
we've been having now

with community groups
of all sorts

in all different kind of places
for three years now.

Steve's a progressive.
I'm a conservative.

People have remarked that,
well, you two are friends

despite your
political differences.

And I was thinking about it as
maybe that we're friends

because of
our political differences,

because it's those differences

that sort of have
forced us to engage

and to learn to engage
in a productive, civil manner.

-Everything in our culture
right now seems to encourage

the idea of winning in politics

or culture
or any of these things

that we want to talk about,
right?

You've gotta vanquish
the other side.

And so Nolan has this great
phrase he uses all the time --

conversations aren't
competitions.

-We both believe very strongly

that our approach
to policy making and governing

is the right approach.

And yet we have been able

over these years
of our long friendship,

which predates
The Civility Project,

to have productive discussions.

-You know, when we started
The Civility Project,

that's where we said we wanted
to start the exercise, right?

Getting people together
just to talk,

talk about who you are
and where you're from

and how you form the values
and opinions that you have.

-And you are?
-Sabrina.

-Sabrina. And you?

-My name's Noah.
-Noah?

-Noah.
-Noah, okay.

-I was raised
in a Catholic household,

had five brothers and sisters,

went to a parochial school.

-I come from a Muslim household,

so most of the values
that I learned...

-Our motto here at
The Great Lakes Civility Project

is that, you know,
all good people

come to their opinions
in the same way.

They take the data,
the information available

and run it through the filters
of their own experiences

and personal values.
-And I think a way to fix that

is just make birth control
affordable...

-The value is
understanding things

from a different point of view,

maybe learning something
that you didn't think of before.

-I just came here...

-I don't think we can
necessarily even tell

that people have changed
at the end of it,

but you can see the wheels
turning for a lot of folks.

-I believe it takes
a brave vulnerability

to even sit in groups
and have these conversations.

-You're gonna be awkward.
And it's okay.

Just don't be afraid
to make the attempt.

Don't be afraid to try.

I mean, it's worth
the effort to try.

-I'm thinking back
to school board meetings

in the past, I don't know,

two years or so
since the pandemic.

-This was the scene
at the school board

in Loudoun County, Virginia,

during a public-comment session

on racial
and transgender issues.

-This is why we couldn't speak!

-A shouting match over masks,

parents on both sides
of the mask debate.

-What is taught in a classroom,

how children are instructed
to be masked or not,

have been some of the most
contentious debates

that people have had
in public on camera

in front of one another.

When you see
those kinds of videos,

how do you get people to fulfill
that obligation to be civil?

-I want people in those
school board meeting

or in the city council or in the
Congress of the United States

to practice
these kinds of behaviors,

because that's where
it counts most.

And that's why I think
we have to model it.

People who have responsibilities
in terms of authority

also have responsibilities
to model behaviors.

And they ought to be called out
when they don't.

But that's on us.

If an elected representative
behaves abominably,

why are we then
voting for that person?

You know, that old line,

"To whom much is given,
much is expected"?

-Yeah,
-We ought to expect much

of those people in our society
who we've entrusted

with significant authority.

If we don't and they behave
badly, that's on us.

-One of the obligations
that seems so simple,

but I've found is
increasingly complicated,

is just to be informed --
where information flows,

where it comes from, what kind
of information somebody gets,

whether they're seeing
the context,

whether they have perspective,

whether it's a fact
or an opinion.

I mean, there's so many
different ways that people

are misinformed
or intentionally disinformed,

that the debate in the country
seems like

people are just kind of
talking past each other.

-Think about it. We are living
at a moment in history

when there's more information
available

to more people on this planet
than ever before.

And when information
comes at you or me or anybody,

it doesn't have
a little yellow stickum,

a Post-it note saying, "Oh,
by the way, this is trusted."

"Oh, by the way,
you can safely ignore this."

Information doesn't come tagged,

and there's many
more sources of it,

many of which are not edited,

many of which the quote-unquote
"facts" aren't facts.

We also don't teach it
nearly enough in our schools.

It's interesting --
in places like Finland now,

and it's coming to New Jersey,

this idea
of information literacy

to help people understand,
what's a fact?

How do I know a fact from, say,
an opinion?

Because these things
aren't self-evident.

-New Jersey will now require
public schools

to teach media literacy
in an effort...

-Training students to identify
fact from fiction.

Delaware State Senator...

-California classrooms
will soon be getting

a new course subject --
media literacy...

-At least a dozen states
have enacted

bipartisan media-literacy
standards,

lessons that help people
understand

how to tell fact from fiction,

what's a trusted source,
and what's good information.

Information-literacy classes

are not yet
a staple of American education,

but that isn't
discouraging people

from doing something about it.

In Florida, Bella Otte is
tackling digital-media literacy

with her peers.

The high schooler
is part of MediaWise,

a national
Teen Fact-Checking Network

run by the Poynter Institute.

-I'm Bella Otte,
and I'm a senior

at Academy of Holy Names.

I am a filmmaker.
I am a fact-checker.

I am a student
and a happy one, I guess.

I think everyone's entitled
to have their own opinion,

but it's important that it has
information backing it.

-The Satanic Temple
is an organization

that aims to establish
after-school clubs...

-Breaking news --
those paper straws

that Starbucks and everybody
else told us...

-I think that social media
allows for people

to have voices who wouldn't
have it in the first place.

And that's a beautiful
feature of it.

But I think it also allows
for misinformation to spread.

And that's --
it doesn't take away

the pros of social media.
It just gives us something

that we have to be cautious of.

-Young people -- they're not
going to to newspapers

to get the news.

Young people spend a lot of time
watching influencers

or celebrities, YouTubers,

people who are not experts
in their fields

but are able to speak with
emotional language

that is many times
filled with falsehoods

and misleading narratives.

-So what we wanted to do today
was just, first,

I think, just if anyone has
a pitch they wanna talk about.

-So what we did is create
this digital newsroom of teens

who were finding
potential misleading posts

on Instagram or Snapchat,
where they exist online.

-Hi, everybody. It's Loren.

And welcome back to
"Is This Legit?"

-So the show's called
"Is This Legit?"

And when I first saw it,

I thought
it was kind of a funny title,

but it's grown on me.
I love it. [ Laughs ]

I think that the title's
reflective of our purpose,

which is to try and remain
appealing to younger audiences.

It's important that
we have resources

where students can feel like

they're being talked to
rather than lectured to.

-It was really scary
when Buffalo Bill safety

Damar Hamlin collapsed
in the middle of an NFL game.

Thankfully, doctors say
he's doing well

and hanging with his friends
and teammates.

But that hasn't stopped a lot
of people from pushing theories

about what caused
this unexpected condition.

-So each of the fact-checkers,
they find their own claims

on TikTok or X,
formerly Twitter,

or sketchy news sites
they might come across.

-They burned vinyl chloride.

And when you do that,
it releases...

-And then they come to us,
and we evaluate the claim,

make sure it's fact-checkable.

Then they take it from there.

-This TikToker,
Kate the Chemist,

claims there's acid rain
in Ohio, but is this true?

-A lot of the videos
that we create with

the Teen Fact-Checking Network

are based around three questions
that were developed

by the Stanford History
Education Group

when someone sees something
potentially misleading online.

First, let's see who's behind
this information.

Who's behind the information?
What's the evidence?

Keep an eye out for links,
articles, studies,

literally anything that backs up
and supports their claim.

And what do other sources say?

-According To
the Pew Research Center,

guns are responsible for a large
portion of children's death.

-And while fact-checking
this information,

they are teaching other teens
how to do it themselves.

-Here's a quick tip --
do some lateral reading.

That means leaving the site...

-We're trying to teach you
what we've learned.

The tweet doesn't provide
any sources at all,

which is a red flag.

You don't have to be, like,
the smartest person in the room,

or you don't have to be the most
experienced person in the room

to be able to fact-check.

-This is a group of incredibly
precocious young people

who joined MediaWise

because they were passionate
about fighting misinformation.

-Now to our rating.

This tweet is not legit.

-Therefore, we rate this claim
as mostly legit.

-So we rate Ramaswamy's
comments as needs context.

-I get really energized
when I see what

the Teen Fact-Checking Network
is into,

because it gives me hope
about the future and about,

you know,
how invested young people are

in what's happening
in this country.

-I think that misinformation
could be the downfall

of the country.

By not being able
to trust one another,

we're incapable
of hearing each other out.

We're incapable of learning
from one another

and hearing
from different perspectives.

And that's what this country
was built off of.

I think that MediaWise provides
me with a national platform.

It's a great way to give back,
and it's also an empowering way

to feel like I'm doing something
that, you know,

there's not a lot of
opportunities for teenagers

to be able to make a big impact.

♪♪

-Here in the Senate,

only we can decide
what our new normal is,

and we ought to get to know
one another.

We don't know one another.

We don't have to let
circumstances

dictate our future.

Let us once again become
a body of respect, humility,

cooperation, achievement,
and, yes, friendship.

That can and should be
our new normal.

-You write about valuing norms,

and I wonder how we should be
striking a balance.

One of our norms, for example,

is this peaceful transfer
of power.

-So help me, God.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-It's literally an image
that I remember seeing.

Wow. This president just handed
over control to the next one.

And they're actually walking
hand in hand,

literally handing over the keys
and inviting them in.

And then there have been
other norms

that we, as a society,
challenged.

Why shouldn't women
have the right to vote?

Why shouldn't people of color
have the right to vote?

And that's really through
challenge of those norms

that we became a better society.

So how do you figure out
which norms to value,

which norms to challenge?

-Often situations begin
as norms

because some individual
or group of individuals say,

"This is a value."

When the United States was
created as a country --

first president, obviously,
George Washington --

there was no restriction that
he could only serve two terms.

Washington thought it was
important to establish the norm

that presidents only serve
two terms.

He stepped down even though
people wanted him to stay.

He didn't want to create,
if you will,

the King of America.

FDR then served
nearly four terms,

was elected four times,
because in some ways

of the Depression
and World War II.

But afterwards, we said,

those were special
circumstances,

but we cannot ever allow that
to happen again.

And we passed an amendment
to the Constitution

limiting to two terms.

Basically, the norm wasn't
strong enough.

We have the norm of the peaceful
transfer of power.

We didn't live up to it in 2020.

We saw it with January 6th.

We saw it with the refusal
to concede,

to accept the electoral results.

You can't write that into law.

That's something we can
and should expect

of our political leaders.

So I think norms are great
when they make sense

and we can get people
to voluntarily live up to them.

When they won't,
we've gotta ask ourselves,

should we change the law?

You also raise the totally
legitimate thing is,

what happens when values change
or thinking change?

Say, about gay rights
and so forth, gay marriage.

As a society, we've been willing
to say,

look, this was a norm in one era
about marriage.

Now we're gonna have
a different one.

And if we have to formalize
things in laws and so forth,

we'll do it.
Societies, again --

democratic societies have the
structural advantage of change.

That's how democracies
ought to operate.

No one ever thought the rules
and the norms and the --

that were established
two and a half centuries ago

were gonna be all we would need
for time immemorial.

The challenge with a democracy,
though --

almost any institution --

is, how do you balance
innovation and preservation?

-Yeah.
-What about our political DNA

do we want to preserve
and protect?

And where do we have to
adapt and change?

But one thing is,
rather than giving up on it,

how do we improve it?

It ain't gonna get better
by itself.

So I would say if you see areas
of American society

that are flawed,
you see aspects of our economy

or government that are flawed,
you can't then sit back,

or you shouldn't sit back
and assume

it's gonna sort itself out.
Get involved.

♪♪

-One modern model for getting
communities more involved --

a process called
participatory budgeting.

It encourages voter involvement

by allowing community members
to cast their vote

on how to spend
part of a public budget.

The hope is
that early engagement

will yield long-term commitments
towards self-governance

and participating
in all elections.

Residents in Evanston,
Illinois, gave it a try,

deciding how to spend $3 million
of the city's

American Rescue Plan Act money.

-My name is Matt Ourne.

I'm the participatory
budgeting manager

for the City of Evanston.

Hey, Shelly. Hey, Kimon.

It's okay. Perfect timing.

We're right down the hall
in Bobby's room.

Let me come with.

And today is Second Project Expo

for the participatory
budgeting process.

What's gonna happen today is

several of the budget delegates
who developed proposals --

they spent seven months with us
working hard

to make a huge list of ideas

into a list of 20 proposals
for the community to vote on.

So this is their opportunity
to meet with community members,

tell them about their proposals,

and an opportunity for community
members to learn more and vote.

Hey, Renee, welcome in.

We had over 300 people

come to our events
when we were collecting ideas.

We collected over 1,300 ideas

for how this money
should be spent.

-Very first time that the
City of Evanston is doing it.

I believe that every single
demographic

that is represented in
the City of Evanston

are represented today.

And everyone is vying
for a part of that $3 million.

-Roughly half of the people
who have been engaging with us

have not participated
in a city meeting before

or talked to
a public official before.

So these are really people
that aren't --

haven't engaged before
with the city

that are engaging now,
which is really exciting.

-So our vision was...

-It's a really great initiative
for ideas

and initiative that would
normally not be funded.

It's really giving power
back to the community.

And I think that's amazing.

-When I started doing this,

we didn't really know
what was gonna happen, right?

Doing a participatory
budgeting process --

if people don't come and people
don't help us, it doesn't work.

People showed up consistently.

Most of the folks here
came to seven meetings

over the course of seven months.

They had additional meetings
with city staff

to help develop their proposals

into something
that can be implemented.

I think in a democracy,
it doesn't work without people.

And this is a microcosm of that.

[ Indistinct conversation ]

-I guess it makes me wanna
participate a little more

because I feel like this might
actually make a difference

in the Evanston community.

-I think this is real democracy.

I think this is democracy
at its finest.

-Everyone say
"participatory budgeting."

All right, we got it.

-Thank you.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-There's a project
in Illinois --

participatory budgeting,
where people get to decide on

how to spend some portion
of government funds.

What do you think
the impacts are?

-I like when people
do these projects.

They come away from them
with a better appreciation

that, gee, politics can be hard,

but also politics
can be interesting.

And I can often,
by participating,

get a little bit more than
I can as a bystander.

You know, democracy
is not a spectator sport.

Democracy requires people
to suit up and get on the field.

The most important thing
is to be a voter,

to be an informed voter.

This country was founded
on people

fighting for the right to vote
and govern ourselves.

I continue to be stunned
when so many Americans

who have that right
don't exercise it.

The stakes are enormous
in these elections.

The differences are real.

The consequences
will affect their lives.

So I want Americans
to get informed

and then to to vote.

♪♪

-Across the ages,

there have been many examples
of compromise.

The great compromise of 1787

during
the Constitutional Convention

set up the two houses
of Congress

and established
the Electoral College.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act

was debated furiously
before a compromise bill

passed the Senate.

-The Civil Rights Act of 1964

is signed at the White House
by President Johnson.

-The 1983 Social Security Act,

finalized through
a quiet agreement

between House Speaker
Tip O'Neill

and President Ronald Reagan...

-This is indeed a happy day.

-...well-known
political adversaries.

-None of us here today
would pretend

that this bill is perfect.

Each of us had to compromise
one way or another,

but the essence
of bipartisanship

is to give up a little
in order to get a lot.

-After compromising
on some gun restrictions,

Senator Chris Murphy
from Connecticut

was able to pass legislation
that went into effect in 2023.

-We are very proud
to have an agreement

between 10 Republicans
and 10 Democrats in the Senate

to pass the most
significant piece

of anti-gun-violence legislation
in nearly 30 years.

-There's several arguments
for being open to compromise.

One is it's just possible --
it's good you're sitting down --

that the person on the other
side may have a point.

You may actually learn
something.

You may actually
change a little bit.

I love the relationship
between Justice Scalia

and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
when they were on the court.

One was a conservative, one was
a liberal or progressive,

and they found
that their interactions

actually strengthened
their own thinking,

strengthened their own writing
when it came to opinions.

I love that as an example.

So often people
have to be willing,

and Ronald Reagan
was really good about this.

He used to stand up and say,
"Hey, take half a loaf.

That's today.
Maybe next year

I can get another slice
of the loaf and work at that."

Again, I understand it's hard.

Often you're rewarded
for refusal to compromise,

but refusing to compromise
often means

you don't get anything done.
And you've gotta ask yourselves,

is that really the best
of all the available options?

Often not.
And I think for politicians,

if they do compromise --
and I learned this

from working for 41,
George Herbert Walker Bush --

it's not enough
to do the right thing.

I think when political leaders
compromise,

they've gotta stand up
and explain why they did it.

-And let's ensure that America
stands before the world

united, strong, at peace,

and fiscally sound.

But of course,
things may be difficult.

We need compromise.
We've had dissension.

We need harmony.

We've had a chorus
of discordant voices.

-Here were the options I was
faced, and I know some of you

aren't gonna be happy with me
for compromising,

but here is why I did it.

Here is why I think
we are better off,

despite all the imperfections

or limits or flaws
of what was agreed to.

So the more you compromise,

the more you have
to explain and educate.

♪♪

-If we want to have
a democratic society,

we can't not teach our kids
about how it works.

We left off with the 13th,
14th, and 15th,

the Reconstruction Amendments.

This is my 21st year teaching.

I've taught just about
every social studies class

you could imagine.

Congress changed dramatically
its composition

in the first two
election cycles

after the 15th Amendment
was passed.

20% of the members
were African American.

And then the Southern
states were like,

whoa, whoa, whoa,
we gotta figure out what to do.

Government is, by far,
my favorite class to teach.

Of all the classes,
I think it's the most

practically important class.

Very problematic and had a huge
shaping impact on society then

and for generations afterwards.

And you could probably say it
still has an impact on us today.

The simplest thing
that I hope for

is that when they leave here
next year, they go and vote.

Beyond that, you know,
I really hope

that they understand
the general process,

and I hope that
they are able to realize

that the voting that they do,

that the people who they elect
are writing legislation

that is gonna shape their lives
and their children's lives.

And that's the future
of the United States.

Why hasn't it been added?

-The Founding Fathers believe
that without education,

there could not be
successful democracy.

Up until the 1960s,
American high schools

required up to three courses
in government and civics.

-I'm so glad I'm an American.

-But in the last half century,
civics education has eroded.

A 2022 civics assessment known
as the Nation's Report Card

showed a dip in civics
and history scores

among eighth graders
over a four-year period.

It was the lowest recorded score
since 1998.

-We are failing ourselves
by not teaching

and requiring civics
in our schools

and in our colleges
and universities.

That is fixable.
That is correctable.

We have the ability to do it.

There's no excuse not to do it.

-Something has happened
over the past 30 or 40 years

to diminish the importance
of education

in our system, our government,
our values.

I remember taking a course
in high school

called Problems of Democracy.

I wonder
if that even exists anymore.

-In September, independent
Senator Angus King of Maine

and Republican
James Lankford of Oklahoma

introduced a bill to strengthen
civics education nationally.

-I don't think people are coming
up generation by generation

who have that kind of
gut-level understanding

of our constitutional system.

And it leads to the problems

of a declining support
for democracy,

declining support for elections.

Elections are the most
fundamental check and balance

in the Constitution --
regular elections.

And if you have a lot of people
that don't have

that sort of basic feeling
about elections

and about the Constitution

and how the system's
supposed to work --

and it's supposed to be
cumbersome and difficult.

I think the framers succeeded

beyond their wildest dreams
sometimes.

But it's really important
to have a civic education.

-So we've got
Angus King from Maine,

I think James Lankford
from Oklahoma,

trying to put out
a civics-education legislation.

Think that'll work?

-I think civics-education
legislation is a start.

If you were a parent and you had
a child going to school --

whether it's middle school,
high school, college --

you would say to the school,
the school authorities,

"You are responsible
for making sure

my son or daughter can read,
can write, can do basic math,

can think critically,
can use computers

in this age of technology."

Why is it any less important
that these schools

don't prepare them to be
citizens in this democracy?

Isn't that the obligation
of the schools?

So I would love to see
that mandated at schools,

at every level.

I think they ought to
understand,

what is a democracy.

I think students ought to learn
the value of democracies,

the strengths
and the weaknesses,

the kind of thing
we're talking about.

Students ought
to understand the rights,

but also the obligations
of citizens.

-And while there are efforts
to bolster knowledge

of how government works
inside classrooms,

other organizations are working

to pick up the slack
in other ways.

The nonprofit organization
DoSomething

is encouraging young Americans,

through the lens of civics
and democracy,

to impact their communities
and their future.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-When you guys think
of the word "democracy,"

what do you think of?
-Voting.

-Voting.
-For the people.

-For the people.

-You hear the term "democracy"
and it feels like,

what does that actually mean?

And does that relate to me?

-Unity.

-Empowerment.
-Empowerment.

-The right to live.
-The right to live.

Okay. Are you a poet?
[ Laughter ]

-But what we know to be true is

young people are
incredibly passionate

about what's happening
to themselves

and what's happening
in their communities.

-Like, things
like housing security or like...

-And yet, if we don't
help them understand,

or as I like to say,
demystify democracy

for young people, respectfully,

they're never gonna get
the change they seek.

-The questions in front of you
are the questions

that we've been asking young
people around New York City

about, you know, what they wanna
see change in New York,

what they love
about their community.

When I describe DoSomething,
I say that

we're essentially
supporting young people

in doing something
in their communities

around issues
that they're passionate about.

-How would you say, if you had
the power to change that,

what would you do?

-So we are all about
trying to give them the tools,

the knowledge, and the skills

to be able to do that
more effectively.

-Maybe I would go towards, um,

trying to add it
to a ballot measure.

-And so through
DoSomething's platform,

young people come
and they get engaged

on the causes they care about,
and we get them to take action,

not just, like,
wagging their finger

and complaining,
but actually saying,

oh, if there is someone
in my community who needs books

or someone in my community
who needs food,

then I can really be
a part of that solution, right?

So it's getting the young person
to go from caring about cause

to taking action.

-From all these events.
we will have talked to

like almost 1,000 young people.

-Who's here that care
about their community?

-We feel like the more that
they can find their own voice

and see their role in democracy

and take leadership
and take action,

the more that they will feel
a part of it

and more likely to be
actively engaged.

-And most importantly,
we wanna make this place better!

Yeah! That's what
I'm talking about.

Better starts with us.

♪♪

-The whole concept of being
a brother's keeper

or a sister's keeper --
we have obligations

to one another in this society,

and if people do not succeed
in this society,

that's gonna have
implications for us.

So even if it's --
even if you're not motivated

by a concern
for your fellow human being,

you should be motivated
by self-interest.

-In 1980, tragedy motivated
Candy Lightner

to push for tougher penalties
for drunk driving

after her 13-year-old daughter
was killed by a drunk driver.

She formed the grassroots
organization MADD,

or Mothers Against
Drunk Driving,

which grew to more than 400
chapters around the world,

passing drunk-driving
legislation

both at state levels
and nationally.

MADD's lobbying efforts
helped raise

the legal drinking age to 21.

-I love Mothers Against Drunk
Driving for several reasons.

One, as you say,
it's a great way

of promoting the common good.

It's a way that
you don't drive drunk.

It helps you.

But at least as important,
if not more important,

it protects other people.

So that gets to the core
of the common-good idea.

-Food pantries, public parks,
mass transit

are also examples
of the common good.

So are libraries.

By the 1800s, free public
libraries were commonplace.

Over the centuries,
they've evolved by providing

additional resources for
the public, well beyond books.

In 2023, New York's
Brooklyn Public Library

celebrated
its 125th anniversary,

drawing thousands of new members
to its libraries

by showcasing a cultural icon.

-Libraries have always been part
of the common good.

We're one of the most democratic
institutions around.

We here at Brooklyn welcome
millions of visitors a year

to our thousands of programs.

And the real connection we make
is what does the community need?

And that's why we wanna do
this work.

[ Jay-Z song plays ]

-I came here today
to come specifically to --

for the exhibit --
the Jay-Z exhibit.

I have been a big fan
and am really excited

that this exhibit
is here in Brooklyn.

-There are 13 limited-edition
Jay-Z library cards,

one for each album
that he created.

-I didn't know there was
a special card,

so it's a nice added bonus.

I also got the inside scoop

that if I go to different
library locations,

I can possibly
get the other cards.

So I am -- I think
I'm gonna take part in that.

-I'm so excited to get it
because

I heard it's a limited card.

-[ Rapping ] ♪ Slammin' Bentley
doors like we invented doors ♪

-Jay was given his library card

as a young kid in school
and told about the library.

And obviously,
he's a writer, right?

I mean, Jay's the first rapper
to ever be inducted

into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame.

So there's a lot of synergy
between him and the library.

-♪ Flying paper planes
through the projects ♪

♪ Now the whole projects
on my jet ♪

-Jay-Z's a Brooklyn guy.

For us,
it was a natural connection.

And Jay-Z is such a wordsmith.

We are up to about 55,000
card signups,

and about 33,000 of those
are brand-new users,

people who had never had
a BPL card before.

So we're actively engaging
those folks to say, you know,

you got this great library card,

but don't forget about
all the amazing services

you now have available
at your fingertips with that.

This is for the people, right?
It's a public place.

The common good
of being able to reach people,

the common good of being able
to reintroduce the library

to people
who potentially may have thought

that it wasn't for them.

-I hope that this exhibit

has shown people
that we're welcoming

and we want you to be here
and you belong here.

♪♪

-Political violence has been
part of America's history --

presidential assassinations,

Jim Crow violence,
bombings by activist groups.

Mahatma Gandhi
and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

influenced the growth
of peaceful protest

and nonviolent resistance

during
the Civil Rights Movement.

We've had very good
historical examples

where nonviolence has worked.

Obviously, I'm thinking
from Gandhi to MLK Jr.

But right now, I don't know
if it's the distance

between those historical events
and today,

a different set of conditions
on the ground,

but people are much more open
to the idea

of fighting fire with fire
and saying,

"This is how the other side
wants to play it?

Fine. than we need to
do this, too."

What's the problem with that?

-Because if fire
leads to more fire,

we're all gonna be caught up
in the burning building,

and the building's
gonna be this country.

The introduction of force
is just gonna invite

or trigger
the use of force against it.

It's almost like Newton --
for every action,

there's an equal
and opposite reaction.

If people introduce force
and violence

into the political space,

it's gonna be met
with force and violence.

-If, as Haass says,
fire leads to more fire,

the events of January 6th
would be the kindling.

Politically motivated violence
is on the rise,

from Senate hearings
in Congress...

-Sir, this is the time,
this is the place.

If you wanna run your mouth,
we can be two consenting adults.

We can finish it here.

-Okay, that's fine. Perfect.
-You wanna do it now?

-I'd love to do it right now.
-Well, stand your butt up, then.

-You stand your up butt up.
-Oh, hold it.

-Oh, stop it.
-Is that your solution?

-...to city council meetings...

[ Indistinct shouting ]

...and threats against
politicians and their families.

-We're just learning
about a home invasion

at Nancy Pelosi's
San Francisco residence.

-Resisting violence has become
a formidable challenge.

-The challenge is to make
this experiment work

with both things we need to do,

but also things
we need to avoid.

And one of the things we need
to avoid is political violence

becoming more commonplace.

There'll be no winners
if that were to happen.

So we've gotta have
political leaders

essentially delegitimizing it,

religious leaders
delegitimize it,

teachers not only
delegitimizing it,

but imparting the skills
so young people learn

how to disagree
without the violent --

without the disagreement
spilling over

into violence.

♪♪

-You say that one
of the obligations

is to respect
government service.

And for a lot of people

at the ends of the political
spectrum right now,

they would just say, "I don't
respect this government enough."

-Government's not a choice.
Government's out there.

We've got tens of millions
of people

at the federal level,
the state level,

the county level,
the city level.

So government's
a fixture of life.

I love the idea
that talented people

have a stint in government.

We have
an all-volunteer military.

I think that's fantastic.

-Active service members,
National Guardsmen,

veterans, and reservists --

more than 1.3 million Americans

are members
of the United States military,

but government service
goes beyond the armed forces.

Federal, state, and city jobs
are accessible to everyone.

They include public-service jobs

like the Peace Corps
and AmeriCorps,

now in its 30th year.

One program, Lead for America,
gives members the chance

to serve in communities
they call home.

-I'd love to see more talented
people do public service.

California has recently
introduced

public-service options
for young people,

and you go serve the community
or the state.

It's a great educational
opportunity for them.

It's a great opportunity
to improve the society.

-In both big cities
and rural towns,

young people are taking the lead

in returning home
to serve their communities.

-Why do I do this?
-For one young Iowan,

it's also an opportunity
to both serve

and to bring an awareness
of his culture to others.

-I wanted today,

through the beautiful power
of digital media...

[ Snapping fingers ]

...to bring the Sikh community
from Des Moines to you.

My name is JJ.

I am an Iowan,

I'm a Sikh American,
and I am an

American Connection Corps
member.

-This Is a bracelet
that represents

Sikhism and my culture.

-So today I was able
to bring digital stories

from the Sikh community
in West Des Moines,

to West Branch,
which is a rural community.

I remember reading
something about

Lead for America.

And the whole shtick was,

we will fund your work

if you come back
to your hometown.

And I was like, what?
That's amazing!

Now as an American
Connection Corps member,

I'm dedicated to using
digital medium to tell stories.

-Hi.
My name is Abe Polstein,

and I'm an open book.

-I think what's beautiful about
digital storytelling

is it's inclusive,

it's accessible,
it's sustainable.

-My family and I have fled
the war-torn country of Bosnia.

-In some ways, it allows folks
to be in the same room

who might not always
have that opportunity.

-But, you know, the end of
the journey, we found freedom.

-And that's what I love
about the service

I'm involved in.
Its connection.

And when you can connect people
together,

it takes on a -- that connection
takes on a life of its own.

-...my culture.
-Oh, yeah. That's wonder...

-We're seeing a lot
of acknowledgement

on the importance of service

and the role
that service can play

in building the country
we want to see.

-I'm committed to Iowa
because it's home,

and I wanna leave this home

a little better
than when I arrived.

♪♪

-You know, throughout this book,

you're asking people
to put the country first.

Sounds simple, but define it.

-Can I just confess
I find it depressing

that I even had to mention it?

I would've thought it was
pretty self-evident.

But when I get up in the morning

and I turn on television
or I read the newspapers,

I see glaring examples
where people in our public life

are not putting the country
before party or person.

And a lot of them know better.

-Right now, there are gonna be
people who would say

that January 6th was,
in their opinion,

putting the country first,
right?

That they feel so strongly

about their vision
of what this country is

that they needed to do that.

-I've heard that
from several people.

Those who went into the Capitol
on January 6th --

they all thought they were
patriots.

-Right.

-What I fall back on
when I hear that

is a quote of Ronald Reagan.

So it was in
his farewell address,

and he said,
"Patriotism is good,"

and he applauds it.
And then Reagan says,

"But patriotism in and of itself
is not enough."

What Ronald Reagan
then went on to say is

we need informed patriotism.

And the problem with the people
on January 6th

is what they were doing

was not in the traditions
of this country.

That's not how we promote
or pursue

our political ends
in this country.

Informed patriotism say

there's a way
to go about promoting

or advancing
your political agenda.

It doesn't involve violence.

It doesn't involve
attacking police officers.

It doesn't involve invading
the space of Congress.

There's legitimate, lawful ways

of advancing
your political agenda,

and that's what American
politics are all about.

-Utah Republican
Governor Spencer Cox

is working to put country before
partisan politics.

A chairman of the
National Governors Association,

he's launched
the Disagree Better campaign

to encourage
fellow governors to disagree

in ways that find solutions
and solve problems.

-So there's lots of metrics
that we're looking at.

-He first found success
with this concept in 2020

when he and his political
opponent,

Democrat Chris Peterson,

appeared in a campaign ad
called One Nation,

which highlighted
their shared values

and put partisanship aside
ahead of their election.

-I'm Spencer Cox,

your Republican candidate
for Utah governor.

-And I'm Chris Peterson,

your Democratic candidate
for governor.

-I've been concerned about
toxic polarization

in our country for a long time.

In 2020, I was running
for governor at the same time

that Trump and Biden
were running

against each other
for president.

And I was very concerned.

My friend said, "Well, why don't
you do something about it?"

So I thought about it
all weekend

and had this crazy idea

to reach out to my opponent,
the Democrat,

who I was running against,

and say, you know, "Why don't
we film an ad together?"

We are currently
in the final days

of campaigning
against each other.

-But our common values transcend
our political differences.

And the strength of our nation

rests on our ability
to see that.

-We are both committed
to American civility

and a peaceful transition
of power.

-And we hope Utah will be
an example to the nation.

-Because that is what
our country is built on.

The ad -- it went viral

in 2020
in ways we didn't expect.

We've asked
some fellow governors

if they would be willing
to do this.

The response has been
very positive.

-We're Committed
to disagreeing better.

-Like in 2019,
when we came together

to end the Kansas City
economic border war.

-Be curious, ask questions.

If you still disagree,
that's okay, but you might find

that you aren't as far apart
as you think.

-It's not about showing the
other side how wrong they are.

It's about what's best
for America.

-You may be a Democrat.
I may be a Republican.

But we're both Americans.
That's our common identity.

And if we put country first
over party,

that allows us now a framework

to start to work together
to solve problems.

My name's Spencer Cox.

-And I'm Chris Peterson.

-And we approve this message.

-There are so many good things
happening in our country

that are getting
very little attention.

And if people only see
the worst,

then they start to act that way,
and we can definitely do better.

-Yeah. American democracy is not
gonna be protected or preserved

or saved by some individual
coming on the political scene

who's gonna wave a magic wand
and somehow say, "Okay,"

say and do things and then
American democracy will be fine

for another 250 years.
It doesn't work that way.

It's going to work.
It's gonna be protected

and preserved and saved because
hundreds of millions

of Americans are gonna do
the right thing.

-Yeah.
-They're going to push back

against violence.
They're gonna get involved.

They're gonna get informed.

They're gonna look out
for the common good.

They're gonna ask that civics
be taught in our schools.

They're gonna support programs
of public service.

And that's the way
this democracy

has evolved over the centuries.

And that's the way
it's gonna last

and do well
for centuries to come.

-Through democracy,
everybody can --

ideally,
everybody can be involved.

-Young people
are entering office.

Young people are being elected.
Things are changing.

-I'm definitely gonna speak
to my parents

and my family about, you know,
voting and the importance of it

because it's important that,
you know,

our voices are heard, too.

-Even though that our main goal
is not the same,

our purpose is the same.
We all want the same thing.

We all want to live better.
We all want to feel better.

We all want for people
around us to be healthy,

be thriving, to live.

-It's not just
our elected officials

that help run this country.

It's the people that are walking
the streets every day.

It's you. It is me.

-Democracy was meant to be
adaptive, but it was also,

as I like to say, meant to be
a full-contact sport.

And we need everybody playing
in democracy, participating

and making their voice heard,
in order to make it our own.

-As history shows us,
democracy is not easy.

It takes sustained work.

The good news -- there are signs
from every corner of each state

that Americans care
about democracy

and are finding ways
to help preserve it.

I'm Hari Sreenivasan,
and this has been

"A Citizen's Guide
to Preserving Democracy."

♪♪