To strengthen freedom, America must renew its civic foundations
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The fireworks are over, the parades and festivals have come and gone, and America’s 250th jubilation has been replaced by the slow march to fall. But the endeavor before us—the real work needed to improve and preserve our democracy for the next 250 years—has only just begun.
When America celebrated its 150th birthday in 1926, President Calvin Coolidge reminded the nation that the true source of America’s strength “depends upon the heart of the people. It is from that source that we must look for all genuine reform.” In 2026 and beyond, how do we look for genuine reform in our own time?
My view—shaped by dozens of conversations with experts and by my work across philanthropy, investing, and civic engagement—is that renewal begins with a reinvestment in civics.
According to a 2024 study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, more than 70% of Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz and cannot name things like the three branches of government or the number of Supreme Court justices. Alarmingly, only 25% of Americans feel “very confident” they can explain how our system of government works.
We have to do better.
The aftermath of America’s 250th celebrations offers us a moment to recommit to four often neglected cornerstones of self-governance: civic education, civic nonviolence, civic foresight, and civic unity. If elected officials at every level, philanthropists, and citizens alike commit to sustained progress on each, we can strengthen our democracy for generations to come.
(1) Civic Education
When I was in college, I trained to become a middle school social studies teacher. I believed then as I do now that every young person deserves a rigorous grounding in history, civics, and the values of democracy. This is especially true in an age when social media increasingly drives us apart.
Some states have taken meaningful action: Massachusetts now requires a civics course in eighth grade and a student-led civics project in high school. Utah recently piloted a civics-education initiative. But most states still lack strong requirements to ensure students understand how American democracy functions. And while the government requires colleges to make a good faith effort to encourage student voter registration, they don’t do the same in the classroom—despite the fact that reports show the same skills taught in civic education are also critical in preparing the workforce of the future, from listening to deliberating to working through differences.
Counties, cities, and towns can recommit to teaching civic lessons by implementing civics requirements and improving knowledge of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and our electoral process, and how to influence public budgets and improve laws.
Outside of the classroom, schools, communities and policymakers can encourage students to get involved in our democracy—registering voters, volunteering at polling places, and doing more of the practical work of democracy.
Importantly, formal civics education should remain nonpartisan—but it can encourage young Americans to get involved in self-governance including politics. The goal is to prepare the next generation for the responsibilities of self-government—and all the healthy challenges it presents.
(2) Civic Nonviolence
In 1961, my mother went to Alabama to help register Black Americans to vote. She was a small part of a big movement to expand the franchise, end segregation, and bring America closer to its founding promise. It was a movement rooted in nonviolence.
Yet 60 years after the pain, progress, and sacrifice of the Civil Rights Movement, today political violence has crept its way back into the mainstream. Over a third of Americans now say violence is “usually or always” justified to advance political goals. And nearly half of the country believes Americans of the opposing political party are “downright evil.”
Political violence not only shatters lives, it robs us of core American freedoms: free speech, the right to assemble, and civic participation. Regardless of whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, business leader, political leader, university leader or American citizen—when one group is targeted for their beliefs, it threatens all of our freedoms. Our local and national institutions should reinforce nonviolence at every level.
Trusted community leaders in classrooms, boardrooms, houses of worship, and Little League fields can lead by example, pledging against violence, lowering the temperature of public debate, and teaching how nonviolent politics in today’s America is the best way to win change.
Preserving democracy requires that we recommit, again and again, to civil discourse, peaceful persuasion, and principled compromise.
(3) Civic Foresight
As a long-term investor, I’ve seen time and again that the most successful entrepreneurs build with a 10-, 20-, or even 30-year view. That perspective allows them to create sustainable enterprises that endure.
Too often, however, short-term incentives—the next election, the next earnings call, or the next viral moment—drive decision-making. Competitor nations like China plan in decades, even generations. America cannot afford to be governed by the tyranny of short-termism.
We need civic foresight: a new long-term approach.
Central to that long-term approach is sacrifice. Parents know this instinctively: they invest in their children’s education today and give up short-term consumption for the promise it holds down the road.
We also need civic foresight in our institutions.
In the 1990s, Finland created a parliamentary Committee for the Future to help bolster the country’s long-term planning. Wales has its own “Future Generations Commissioner” to consider the long-term impact of policy decisions.
In the U.S., Congress can supplement its 10-year budget projections with 50-year scoring windows, so decisions reflect their generational impact. This would help make policymakers more accountable for the long-term impact of their policies.
And as long as business leaders and politicians train their eyes on the next quarter or the next election, civic leaders can fill the long-term leadership gap by guiding their institutions with a farsighted vision, one that ensures America remains strong not just today, but half a century from now.
(4) Civic Unity
With a renewed commitment to civic education, a shared embrace of nonviolence, and long-term civic foresight, it will become easier to unify around common priorities and allow for patriotism, even when we disagree with each other. At our best, America is a diverse community bound by the shared dignity of citizenship, freedom, and the powerful idea of what it means to be American.
To rebuild that civic unity, communities can take the lead: creating volunteer initiatives to tackle local challenges with schools, sports leagues, cultural centers, and faith institutions. fostering connection across divides. In Congress, both parties should be all for enacting comprehensive national public service requirements—so that all Americans spend a portion of their lives working together, solving meaningful challenges, and improving our country.
Civic unity also strengthens our capacity for meaningful political reform. If we come together, we can make progress ensuring more competitive elections, expanding voter participation, reigning in the influence of money in politics, cracking down on gerrymandering, and embracing innovations like ranked-choice voting.
By building trust and connection among citizens, we create the common ground needed to make democracy itself work better.
A Call to Action
Our country’s greatest strength has never been perfection—it’s been our capacity for renewal. If leaders across American life commit to reinvesting in these four civic cornerstones, we can make meaningful progress as a nation. That commitment should guide every major decision. When we invest in new projects, policies, or initiatives, we should ask whether they advance civic education, civic nonviolence, civic foresight, or civic unity. These are the foundations on which a resilient democracy depends.
Our democracy is not a given. A government of, by, and for the people is not guaranteed. Self government takes work—civic engagement, investment, and a willingness to think beyond ourselves.
While the 250th anniversary was a celebration of the Declaration of Independence and the radical ideas of freedom and political equality, those ideas can’t just be promises of the past. Our future, economic and otherwise, rests upon building a stronger America. Now that the celebrations are winding down, the real work starts.