In the face of authoritarian, divisive trends and multiplying
crises, when politics-as-usual is stymied, Awakening Democracy
through Public Work shows it is possible to build foundations for a
democratic awakening grounded in deep American traditions of a
citizen-centered commonwealth. Awakening Democracy through Public
Work begins with the story of Public Achievement, a youth civic
education and empowerment initiative with roots in the civil rights
movement. It describes Public Achievement's first home in St.
Bernard's, a low-income Catholic elementary school in St. Paul,
Minnesota, and how the program spread across the country and then
abroad, giving birth to the larger concept of public work. In
Public Achievement, young people practice ""citizen politics"" as
they tackle issues ranging from bullying, racism, and sexual
harassment to playground improvements, curriculum changes, and
better school lunches. They develop everyday political skills for
working across differences and making constructive change. Such
citizen politics, more like jazz than a set piece of music, involve
the interplay and negotiation of diverse interests and views,
sometimes contentious, sometimes harmonious. Public Achievement
highlights young people's roles as co-creators-builders of schools,
communities, and democratic society. They are not citizens in
waiting, but active citizens who do public work. Awakening
Democracy through Public Work also describes how public work can
find expression in many kinds of work, from education and health to
business and government. It is relevant across the sweep of
society. People have experimented with the idea of public work in
hundreds of settings in thirty countries, from Northern Ireland and
Poland to Ghana and Japan. In Burundi it birthed a national
initiative to rework relations between villagers and police. In
South Africa it helped people in poor communities to see themselves
as problem solvers rather than simply consumers of government
services. In the US, at Denison University public work is being
integrated into dorm life. In Maxfield School in St. Paul, it is
transforming special education. In rural Missouri, it led to the
""emPowerU"" initiative of the Heartland Foundation, encouraging
thousands of young people to stay in the region. In Eau Claire,
Wisconsin, it generated ""Clear Vision,"" a program providing
government support for citizen-led community improvements. Public
work has expanded into the idea of ""citizen professionals""
working with other citizens, not on them or for them. It has also
generated the idea of ""civic science,"" in which scientists see
themselves as citizens and science as a resource for civic
empowerment. Awakening Democracy through Public Work shows that we
can free the productive powers of people to work across lines of
differences to build a better society and create grounded hope for
the future.
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