Renewing America’s Civic Compact addresses the chief challenges and principal tensions in the operation of our civil society in order to consider possible paths forward. The meritocracy, multiculturalism, issues of race, technology, and populist nationalism in American democracy today are some of the issues that have created more tensions to American public life. Chapters address the condition of civil conversation within the university and across American society. This collection then engages debates over the continued relevance and durability of liberal ideas and institutions; whether we have accessible means and resources to channel digital technology more fruitfully for the sake of human achievement and well-being; and how some have endeavored to revitalize the American civic vocation through both scholarly and practical education. Finally, the volume closes with a call to restore civic friendship, properly understood, as the foundation for renewing America’s civic compact.

Contributions by: Lara Bazelon, J. Benjamin Hurlbut, Rita Koganzon, Michael Lind, Glenn C. Loury, Paul Ludwig, Daniel Mahoney, Herbert Raymond McMaster, Carol McNamara, Michael Pakaluk, Pamela Paresky, Jonathan Rauch, Ian Rowe, Charles Rubin, Diana Schaub, Trevor Shelley, Suzanne Spalding, C. Bradley Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of History and Political Science, Ash, Michael Zuckert, Andrew Sullivan