22+ hour, 5+ min ago  (691+ words) A republic, if you can keep it," Benjamin Franklin famously responded when asked by a Philadelphia socialite what it was that he and the other Founders had wrought. Her question, and his answer, in the 1787 conversation, framed the choice for…...

5+ mon, 2+ day ago  (452+ words) Effective responses to multiple civic crises in today's America depend on analysis of how people develop capacities for work on public challenges. The history of civic engagement in the Twin Cities and today's resistance to the overbearing behavior of federal…...

11+ mon, 3+ week ago  (726+ words) Here's one thumbnail assessment of how this deeply divided country clashes on the concept of patriotism: Today's political right enthusiastically defines it by the combative standards of nationalism " a different and far less noble thing " while the political left increasingly…...