Danielle S. Allen and Stephen B. Heintz, cochairs of the Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, presented strategies to strengthen civic engagement at a virtual panel co-hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School.

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, members of the class of 2021 gathered virtually to celebrate their election and gain an introduction to Academy history, culture, and membership opportunities. In the tradition of the Academy, the program included stimulating discussions, interdisciplinary connections, and moments of artistic expression.

On October 18, Stephen Heintz, President and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) and one of three cochairs of the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, and Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer, a member of the Commission, sat down with Renee Shaw for the KET program Connections to talk about the Commission's bipartisan report, Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century.

A statement from Academy President David Oxtoby on the passing of Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. who was an Academy member of vision and generosity.

While COVID-19 cases and mortality surged in spring and summer 2020, the U.S. government seemed to lack the capacity to respond. Mixed messaging and insufficient testing, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and contact tracing raised disturbing questions about the will of the executive and the health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But were these challenges particular to the pandemic? Or, as one author asks in the newest issue of Dædalus, “is the failed pandemic response a symptom of a diseased administrative state?”

A new publication, which emerged from the Academy's Our Common Purpose work, proposes alternatives to the “winner-take-all” system used in most U.S. elections. The proposed alternatives have the potential to reduce partisan divides and virtually eliminate gerrymandering.

Across the aisle from one another, but committed to strengthening democracy together, Eric Liu and Pete Peterson discuss the importance of finding shared ways to move with Michel Martin on Amanpour and Company.

PBS NewsHour reports on the Academy's bipartisan commission on the state of American democracy and its report detailing 31 recommendations for how to strengthen it. Judy Woodruff introduces the report and discusses it with Danielle Allen and Stephen Heintz.

A new photojournal produced by the Academy’s Commission on Reimagining Our Economy is part of their work to put the American people and their well-being at the center of discussions about the nation’s economy.

Hear from class speakers for the 2023 Induction Ceremony for new members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Responds to Congressional Request

Recent Dædalus Issues

The final report was released on February 28, 2017, during a series of events in Washington, D.C.

A recent episode of VISION, an online series presented by the Knight Foundation – at kf.org/vision – featured Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century, the final report of the Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

One of the recommendations for strengthening democracy proposed in Our Common Purpose - the report of a bipartisan Academy commission - is expanding national service. To support that initiative, the Academy partnered with organizational leaders in the national service field to develop a better understanding of why people serve and how to increase engagement. This article shares key findings from that effort.

Mandel Family Support Now Exceeds $11 Million Overall

The overarching recommendation of the Academy's report on America's Languages was to establish “a national strategy to improve access to as many languages as possible for people of every region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background—to value language education as a persistent national need.”

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