Democracy

The Constitution requires a president to deliver an annual message to Congress, but it does not impose any specifications. As the history of this paramount speech has evolved over 200 years, the presidents’ words matter, but increasingly theatrics and Congress’ response influence the American people’s perception of leadership.  Unlike the oath of office, which remains unaltered since its drafting by the founders, the style, substance and schedule of this annual tradition continues to evolve.  As Biden prepares to address Congress, visual cues from attendees may provide more clues than the speech’s text about the trajectory of the Biden Administration’s relationship with Congress. Read More

On the new Super Soul interview series on discovery+, Oprah Winfrey sat down with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham, co-chair of The Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy and Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Chair in American Presidency at Vanderbilt. View the clip… Read More

From Meridian International’s 2021 Diplomacy Forum: Values Based Leadership, featuring project co-chair Samar Ali interviewing former Secretary General to NATO, His Excellency Anders Fogh Rasumussen. U.S. diplomats are inherently champions of American values, such as democracy, rule of law, an independent judiciary, freedom of press, and fair and transparent… Read More

The gears of democracy seemingly have seized up on both sides of the Atlantic, with members of Congress and Parliament unable to abandon entrenched partisan positions to forge legislative solutions. Deliberative democracy, a method of eliciting specific and informed policy recommendations from the general public, has proven effective in breaking legislative logjams. Rooted in the democratic traditions of ancient Athens, deliberative democracy can inject new lifeblood into the seemingly ossified political systems of Western democracies. Read More