Why do we care about democracy?

At its core, democracy is an exercise of cooperation, deliberation and self governance to overcome the massive collective action challenges we face, and create the societies in which we want to live: those that are fair, stable and just. But democracy requires making decisions together even when we disagree, and it requires informed, ethical and engaged citizenship.

Across the United States, college campuses are experiencing the strain of both incivility and apathy—or what some scholars consider to be a diffuse decay in the civic culture that sustains democracy. Moreover, democratic institutions and norms are fracturing around the country and world under the pressure of extreme political polarization, the rise of authoritarianism and public distrust and disaffection.

This underscores the need to revitalize higher education’s civic purpose. Historically, universities have played an important foundational role in civic and democratic life, and many, Stanford among them, are reclaiming that role to repair and reinvigorate democracy.

Indeed, given Stanford's unique and abundant intellectual resources, its imprint on youth and future leaders and its national and global influence, Stanford has an especially important role to play in strengthening civic knowledge and democratic habits: on our own campus, in our local communities, across the United States and globally.