What’s The Move?

Democracy in America has not lived up to its purpose of being “for the people, of the people, and by the people.” It was not designed to manage the tensions that come with inclusive public conversations. Neither was it designed for our modern and diverse “public.” And yet, in its history, our system of democracy has demonstrated the capacity to change.

Now, more than ever before, democracy’s capacity for change is being tested as our communities become more complex and diverse. We struggle to find ways for individual and collective voices to be heard.

The Move is a movement to rebuild our public’s resilience for the difficult conversations necessary for a functioning democracy.

Governance needs to be redesigned to improve public engagement processes, but also to include a “public” that is increasingly beautiful in its complexity. We are moving the conversation from the town hall to the street corner.

At The Move, we are seeding a conversation about creating the spaces, places, and institutions for this complex public to speak to and struggle with their shared histories and traditions, as well as the interests that often bring them into conflict with one another.

We are anchoring this conversation in a civic design framework that outlines the major types of conversations (coming up in Season 2 of our podcast!) the public needs to engage in, and the conditions needed (covered in Season 1 of our podcast) for ensuring those conversations are inclusive and lead to more equitable outcomes.

The Move is meant for people of all backgrounds who are seeking to facilitate real civic engagement in today’s democracies. This includes researchers, leaders, academics, and politicians, as well as artists, community organizers, and just good folks. But our primary audience is the people who have the responsibility for designing and implementing public engagement processes for governments, firms, NGOs, community organizations and movements.

Let’s help each other create a democracy that not only survives the many challenges it faces but one that harnesses the collective intelligence of the entire public to do to.

Originally published at themove.mit.edu on July 13, 2018.