Thanks for visiting the new web site of the Democracy Fund. We’re excited to have this space to share the work of our new initiative.
The Democracy Fund was created just over a year ago to support innovators and leaders as they strive to foster a stronger, healthier political system. In its first year, the Democracy Fund committed more than $5 million in grants to more than a dozen organizations. Some, like the Bipartisan Policy Center and the National Institute for Civil Discourse, are working to encourage more bipartisan problem solving so that our government can rise to the challenges that face us. Others, like the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Healthy Democracy Fund, are arming the public with better information and skills, so that voters can make more informed decisions.
We have also supported research and experimentation to increase the effectiveness of political reform efforts. The New America Foundation, for example, is working with researchers from Dartmouth and the University of Texas to conduct lab and field experiments that will teach us about how media organizations can do a better job exposing readers to alternative points of view and holding leaders accountable for what they say. The Campaign Finance Institute is convening leading scholars in order to identify the most important research questions that must be addressed in order to inform how policy makers approach the issue of money in politics.
democracyfund.org will highlight the work of the social and political entrepreneurs behind these initiatives – telling the story of the progress they make, their accomplishments, and ways that you can get involved to support their work. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll use this blog and the feature sections of this website to report on what is being learned from our grants and to encourage new ways to think about our democracy and where it is headed. On the site, you can also learn more about our priorities, our team, and the criteria we use for making investments. Like any newly launched site this is very much a version 1.0 and we look forward to extending it as we grow and develop.
I hope that you’ll join us on this important journey as we seek to be a resource for the community of reformers committed to strengthening our democracy.