Peer-Led Discussion Group: The State of American Democracy

Description

This NEW peer-led discussion group will use short yet thought-provoking readings from a range of perspectives as the basis for an exploration of what ails modern American democracy and what can be done to improve its functioning. For each of the five meetings, participants will be asked to read approximately five short essays recently published by the New York Law School Democracy Project's 100 Ideas in 100 Days series available free online.

Topics for the five sessions are:

1. Defining democracy
2. Congress, the President and the courts
3. Political parties and polarization
4. Civil society
5. Solutions

The readings for each meeting will represent ideas from across the political spectrum and will take approximately 45 minutes total to complete.

Under the leadership and support of the group's coordinator, Susan Dana, each week a different volunteer participant (or a team of two) will serve as the discussion leader(s) to guide the conversation and encourage thoughtful participation. The purpose is to enable peer-to-peer learning through discussion of common texts with the goal of increasing understanding of the challenges of modern American democracy. And, of course, to have fun while doing so!

Each participant is asked to commit to completing the assigned readings for each meeting, come to the discussion with ideas and questions, and engage in respectful conversation originating in curiosity rather than in a need to persuade or "win" the discussion.

Objective

The objective of this peer-led discussion group is to enable participants to learn with and from each other, rather than from an “expert” instructor, about the present and future of American democracy and explore the issues and possible solutions together in an open dialogue. The main goal is to encourage participants to be curious about perspectives other than their own and to learn from and inform each other.

Process

This peer-led approach depends upon the collaboration, shared responsibility and active engagement by participants as together they guide discussions, pose questions and share insights. OLLI staff, the coordinator, discussion leaders and participants will work together to create a dynamic, inclusive learning environment.

Susan Dana will serve as the coordinator of the discussion group. She will prepare a syllabus with the weekly readings, support volunteer discussion leaders, and help manage expectations and group dynamics. She will also serve as the discussion leader for the first meeting. Each of the four subsequent meetings will be led by one or more volunteer participants whose role as discussion leaders will be to facilitate an engaging and inclusive discussion of that day's readings and related topics. Susan will be available to support discussion leaders as they prepare for each meeting and during the discussion as needed. We will need 4-8 discussion leaders in total, so not every participant will be expected to serve in that role.