In 2013, the U.S. Congress had an approval rating of 9 percent. That was my red alarm bell for the state of American democracy. I’m a constitutionalist, and I have always taken seriously that the legislature is the first branch of government. It has the job of synthesizing the incredibly various opinions of the American people to steer our ship in a smooth direction. Its independence from the executive is the anchor for our individual and shared freedom, so that we need not live subjected to an arbitrary and capricious will. Learning that only 9 percent of the American people approved of their own voice told me that we had reached a very fragile point in our nation’s history.
Since the 2009 death of my youngest cousin, Michael, in a homicide, I had been working on criminal justice reform. I was frustrated at how hard it was to move common-sense, cross-partisan solutions forward in our polarized Congress. So, after reading that poll, I pivoted and began working on democracy renovation.
Democracy renovation consists of three things: revitalizing our civic culture; redesigning our institutions to be more representative, responsive, and effective; and thinking about how public policy across every domain can be more supportive of healthy democracy.
I dove into the nitty-gritty of civic education, partnering with educators to design curricula and test, pilot and improve it. I also began to study institutional reforms — from ranked-choice voting, to increasing the size of Congress, to getting rid of party primaries, to campaign finance reform. I began to explore how our approaches to policy could better support how we all function as democratic citizens.
How can we, for instance, pursue an economy that empowers people and supports their dignity? Housing is a fundamental issue. When people don’t have a stable and secure place to live, it’s hard for them to lean in as citizens in their communities. Housing is also fundamental to basic human flourishing and opportunity. Since 2020, I’ve been arguing that we should treat this as our top economic crisis.
I have been so fortunate, as I have done this work, to develop an ever-increasing network of partners and collaborators. They are the students in my courses and fellows in my labs. They are the democracy experts across the landscape — in civic education, in institutional redesign, in public policy — who partnered with me to develop standards of excellence for healthy democracy: the Educating for American Democracy Roadmap to guide civic education; the Our Common Purpose report to guide institutional redesign for our constitutional democracy; the 360⸰ Standard for Healthy Democracy released by Partners In Democracy, for example. There is the book by my colleagues Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders, Rewiring Democracy, on how we can make technology a friend of democracy instead of a foe.
We have brought concrete examples of democracy renovation into reality: On my own team, a year-long Grade 8 civics curriculum for students in Massachusetts. In the work of partners, new civic education pilots across the country from a wide range of organizations including iCivics, the Bill of Rights Institute, Generation Citizen, Monticello and many others.
A huge network of allies across a now very broad democracy renovation ecosystem — far broader than my own corner of it — has achieved important structural changes: Ranked-choice voting in New York City, Maine, and Alaska. Independent redistricting commissions in Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and elsewhere. Campaign finance reforms in Minnesota, Maine, and Washington State.
Finally, the policy-making universe is waking up to the idea that how we steer the economy, educational policy, and social policy impacts the health of democracy. Hollow out the middle class and constrict opportunity and our institutions lose legitimacy. Suppress political debate on college campuses and our society loses an important engine for collective learning and deliberation. Fail to deliver a stable and sound immigration policy and reactions to those failures build toward liberty-eroding excesses of state power.
As this movement has grown and spread, it seemed important to make it more visible. I wanted to tell the story of all this work on the ground as well as to share the ideas that motivate and shape it. I am grateful that a former state legislator and party leader, Beth Fukumoto; former Washington Post deputy opinion editor, Michael Larabee; deeply experienced civic educator, Joanna Kenty; and talented writer and 2025 Harvard grad, Aidan Fitzsimons, joined me as the founding team for The Renovator.
The Renovator is a voice for those ready to build, not tear down. The Renovator lives in the Democracy Renovation Galaxy — a network of writers, thinkers and tinkerers; teachers, civic leaders, and technologists who believe democracy can be renewed through storytelling, informed debate, shared truth, inclusive dialogue, pragmatic reform, pro-social technologies, and fun.
We don’t exist to rage against decline. We exist to make room for possibility.
We respectfully ask for your support for this new kind of civic forum — one that platforms diverse voices working toward a pluralistic, constitutional democracy.
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PS: After my last column about Democracy Philanthropy, some of you asked for other suggestions for your own contributions. It’s hard for me to give an answer to that other than one that tracks my own choices about how I invest my time. I would recommend:
For civic education, the Educating for American Democracy Consortium, housed at the Adams Presidential Center. Donate here: https://theadamspresidentialcenter.org/donate/; Please add a note indicating that your gift is for EAD.
For institutional redesign, Partners In Democracy and FairVote.
For advocacy for all-party primaries, the Coalition for Healthy Democracy in Massachusetts and Oklahoma United in Oklahoma.
Please note, I serve on the board for all of these organizations, except for Oklahoma United, though I have no personal financial interest in any of them.