Democracy depends not only on laws and institutions, but on the character and conduct of citizens.

 

Free societies ask something remarkable of their people: that we govern ourselves. This requires more than elections and constitutions. It requires habits of decency, honesty, and restraint in public life.

 

In recent years, the tone of civic life has grown more hostile and distrustful. Disagreement has too often turned into contempt. The search for truth has been replaced by blind acceptance or instant rejection. The shared responsibility for the common good has sometimes been overshadowed by the pursuit of power, profit, or partisan advantage.
 

Every generation inherits both the freedoms and the responsibilities of democratic life. The norms that sustain a free society — decency in disagreement, intellectual humility, restraint in public speech, civic-mindedness, and respect for constitutional institutions — must be renewed by each generation.

 

The Civility Renewal Project is a nonpartisan effort to strengthen these civic norms because the health of a republic ultimately rests in the hands of its citizens.

 

We do not seek to suppress disagreement. Disagreement is essential to democracy. A free people will always hold different views, values, and priorities. But democracy depends on the ability to disagree without abandoning decency and respect toward one another.

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Civic culture does not renew itself automatically. It is renewed when citizens choose to renew it.