DMV DEMOCRACY LEARNING COMMUNITY
About the Community
You may have heard the phrase, “democracy is not a spectator sport.” Yet despite that common conviction, the reality is that most people worldwide — including in the DC region — participate little if at all in their democracies, usually only by consuming news and/or mis- or disinformation, talking with friends or family, and periodically voting. Further, among the relative few who participate, too many do not support some of the basic tenets of democracy, like free and fair elections, rule of law, and minority rights.
There is no lack of ideas and proposals to widen and deepen participation, and more generally to strengthen democracy and civility, but democratic institutions and behavior do not tend to follow. One reason is that democracy is often ponderous and acrimonious, which for some people makes it less attractive than decisive authoritarian leaders, and for many people, less attractive than the fast-moving, eye-catching, commercial products of entertainment and media industries. Another reason is that democracy has tended to be restricted to government and elections, so most people have little practical experience with democracy in their everyday lives.
Learning Life believes that overcoming these challenges requires, among other things, bringing democracy into people’s lives through activities that connect, inform, entertain, and inspire collaborations — from democracy speed networking, skills workshops and collaboration conferences, to democracy dinners, markets and festivals. Thus, Learning Life focuses on nurturing a democratic culture. While many organizations are rightly focused on changing government policy to strengthen democracy, fewer organizations are working on cultivating the wider culture of democracy that can support good policymaking.
Accordingly, in 2019, in response to growing threats to democracy in the USA and abroad, Learning Life launched the DMV (the DC-MD-VA metro region) Democracy Learning Community (Democracy Community or DLC). The DMV Democracy Community is an association of DC area individuals and organizations working to make democracy more fun and inclusive by connecting professionals, publics and policymakers via social events, products, services and spaces that nurture fun, learning, networking, collaboration and wider, deeper citizen participation.
Here is what Learning Life is working on to build the Democracy Community:
(1) Our Democracy Dinners, launched in June 2019, bring diverse people in the DC region together every two months to co-build the DMV Democracy Community.
(2) The DMV Democracy Festival (DemFest), a significant, new democratic tradition in the capital region that helps widen citizen participation by making democracy fun, centering youth and families, and fostering new connections and collaborations. The first DemFest took place on Saturday, October 26, 2024 in DC, and involved arts performances, a game room, discussions, skill-building workshops, and organizational tables. The next DemFest is planned for fall 2025.
(3) The DMV Democracy Dispatch, will, starting in 2025, serve up, free of charge: (a) upcoming events, new publications, and other news, (b) profiles of individuals and organizations, and (c) interesting facts and quiz questions, all about democracy goings-on and people in the DC region.
(4) DLC visioning articles we are writing and publishing help people envision what a vibrant democracy learning community can look like in any metro region. Scroll below for links to our current articles as well as a poster visioning the DLC.
How You Can Get Involved
Here are several ways you can participate and support the growth of the DLC:
(1) Become a DLC donor with a gift of $100, $250, $500, $1,000, or whatever you can afford. Donations are 100% tax deductible in the USA. At the contribution page, enter “DLC donor” in the Note box. All donors get DLC email updates and event invitations.
(2) Become a member: The Democracy & Diplomacy Community (DDC) gives you access to all of Learning Life’s programs. Membership is $50 per year (starting from date of contribution) for those employed part-time or full-time, $30 for students, retirees and the unemployed, and $75 for families. Among other things, members get (a) program event invitations, (b) entrance to one Democracy Dinner in DC, and (c) two tickets to the DMV Democracy Festival. At the contribution page, enter “DDC member” in the Note box. Note: Because of the benefits, membership contributions are not tax deductible.
(3) Sponsor the DLC if you or your organization would like to get greater benefits and support the DLC at a higher level. Individual sponsorships start at $250, and organizational sponsorships at $1,000. At the contribution page, enter “DLC sponsor” in the Note box.
(4) Sign up for the DMV Democracy Dispatch to learn about democracy activities and people in the DC region.
(5) Join our “Democracy Learning Community” Linkedin group to connect with others interested in protecting and advancing democracy, and share your related calls to action, publications, events, news, programs, projects to a wider audience.
(6) RSVP to participate in an in-person Democracy Dinner to learn more, connect and help build the DLC.
Readings on the DLC
America Needs Democracy Learning Communities
Democracy, Education and the Trump Voter
Toward Localizing International Relations
How Business Can Help Strengthen Democracy
Five Reasons to Support Democracy Festivals
The Case for Democracy Markets
