Civic Education: An Effective Way to Strengthen Our Democracy

Thursday, April 14, 2022 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern

This event is hosted by Business for America and CivxNow.

Elevating the importance of civics education in the US can be a clear bipartisan solution to polarization. Learn how business can support.

While support for democracy as a concept remains high in the United States, an increasing number of Americans are open to nondemocratic alternatives. Polarization has led to distrust of democratic institutions, unrest in many places of work and an erosion of civic values and norms. All of this fuels further politicization and polarization. Contributing to these challenges is a significant lack of understanding on the part of many Americans about how government works, the separation of constitutional powers or what’s included within the Bill of Rights.

A more informed and engaged citizenry contributes to stronger democratic institutions, which leads to more solid and sustainable economic outcomes. This in turn helps to reduce market and political instability. Conversely, continued neglect of civic education will continue to weaken the nation’s civic and economic strength. The interdependency of a free market and constitutional democracy makes instability a serious threat to economic prosperity, putting at risk businesses and employees, as well as supply chains and investments. The more informed the public is about civics, the less likely people are to invest in conspiracies and accept dis and mis-information.

What is the Civics Secures Democracy Act?

The congressional bipartisan Civics Secures Democracy (CSD) Act would authorize $1 billion annually over five years, primarily to states and school districts. It also provides competitive grants to qualifying institutions of higher education, nonprofits, and researchers in their respective roles in advancing high-quality civics and history education in elementary and secondary schools.

Filed by Reps. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) in the House, and Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Senate, the bill has more than a dozen bipartisan cosponsors.

Learn how your business can support passage of this important legislation.

Speakers:

Jerry Zimmerman, SVP & Deputy General Counsel, Government & Industry Relations, Allstate Corporation

Chuck Dunlap, President & CEO, Indiana Bar Foundation

Louise Dubé, Executive Director, iCivics

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