For Goodness' Sake

WELCOME

Public Agenda helps communities and the nation
solve tough problems through:

Research that illuminates people's views & values;

Engagement that gets people talking, learning from each other and working together on solutions; and

Communications that spreads the word and builds momentum for change.

By doing so, we seek to contribute to a democracy in which problem-solving triumphs over gridlock and inertia, and where public policy reflects the deliberations and values of the citizenry.

Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. You can find out more about us in our What We Do and Frequently Asked Questions pages.

ON THE AGENDA

The High Stakes of Stakeholder Engagement: A Plea for Careful Planning from Public Agenda

Alison Kadlec
Feb 1, 2012

This post was written for the 20 community colleges participating in Completion by Design, a five-year Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative that aims to significantly increase completion rates for low-income students under 26. As a “National Assistance partner” for Completion by Design, Public Agenda provides direct assistance to the colleges to help them build capacity for solutions-oriented dialogue among faculty, staff and administration. Here, Public Agenda's Alison Kadlec discusses best practices for authentic internal stakeholder engagement. While the post is geared toward Completion by Design planning teams, the principles are useful for any authentic engagement process.

***

Comment Read More

You Can't Do It Alone: A New Guide to Creating Sustainable Change in Education Reform

Allison Rizzolo
Jan 24, 2012

Far too often, throughout our work in the education field, we've seen even the most earnest and promising ideas from experts and reformers for improving schools and ramping up student learning met with confusion, anxiety or even anger from teachers, parents, students or community members.

Comment Read More

Press Releases

National Debt Clock

Get this widget for your web site

Why So Many Want Religion to Play a Greater Role in American Life

Steve Farkas, Jean Johnson and Tony Foleno with Ann Duffett and Patrick Foley.

12/31/2000

Americans equate religious faith with personal morality, and view religion as one of the few available antidotes to a decline in civic morality. But while many believe the country has gone too far in removing religion from public life, there is a strong ethic of tolerance, and few would use religion as a guide in choosing elected officials or deciding public policy. Jews and the nonreligious, however, are much less comfortable with religion in the public sphere, while evangelical Christians are far more likely to believe that devout politicians would make better decisions. 2001.

Download Report (pdf) | See News Release | Schedule Interview

Tags: church, democracy, government, Politics, Religion, state

Printer-friendly version

Post new comment

Join our mailing list: