Concerned about our Democracy in Crisis? Related CPGC Summer Internships
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6 in 10 Americans say U.S. democracy is in crisis, NPR reports, while a columnist for The Week observes, “Jan. 6 was a signal our democracy is in danger. We're not acting like it.” But what might “acting like it” look like? Several Fords have been working to strengthen democracy throughout their careers, and numerous CPGC partners support and advocate for basic democratic rights. Current students can get involved through funded summer internships.
Regional Relationships, Good Government, and Basic Rights in a Democracy
In our region and state, Fords have interned and led with The Committee of 70, a comprehensive good government group. During a CPGC-funded internship in the summer of 2018, Claire Mao ’20 focused on the Committee's efforts for constitutional redistricting reform in Pennsylvania. The Committee was led by David Thornburg ‘80 from 2012 to 2021. Thornburg continues involvement with Draw the Lines PA, a nonpartisan resource for Pennsylvanians who want to end gerrymandering.
Funded CPGC Fellowships allow students to identify initiatives they wish to support, seeking summer internships through self-designed applications. Through this program, students have opportunities to develop and secure internships with justice-seeking organizations. This year’s application deadline is February 13. CPGC advisors are frequently helpful in making connections with regional - and even national and international - organizations.
It’s not only good government structural questions that are challenging our democracy. In a compelling Op-Ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer, columnist Will Bunch draws a direct line between US disinvestment in public education and the January 6 insurrection. Bunch discusses a current case before the PA Supreme Court, in which a diverse group of rural and urban school districts are arguing that education funding is so inequitable in Pennsylvania that it violates the Commonwealth’s Constitution. The districts are represented by Philadelphia’s Education Law Center, where TJ von Oehsen '18 secured a year-long CPGC Fellowship in 2018-19. TJ's work involved compiling special education funding data for all 500 school districts in the state of Pennsylvania, assisting in writing ELC's report, "Shortchanging Children with Disabilities: State Underfunding of Special Education in Pennsylvania" that was released alongside of that data, and visiting Harrisburg to meet with allies that helped move ELC's mission forward.
While the Committee of 70 and the Education Law Center both work at the policy and structural levels, many CPGC partners also deliver programs and services that improve access to basic democratic rights and structures. College Together and Philadelphia Futures, for example, promote college access for working adults and high school students in Philadelphia, respectively. And several partners - HIAS-PA, The New Sanctuary Movement, and Puentes de Salud - advance refugee and immigrant opportunities for integration and flourishing in the Philadelphia region, including everything from access to education and health care to preparation for citizenship tests.
Haverford students are invited to apply to work with these and other justice-seeking organizations through CPGC Partnerships. Many partnerships include an opportunity to continue paid work beyond the summer, continuing to serve the organizations and participate in professional development opportunities through the next academic year with the Philadelphia Justice and Equity Fellowship (PJEF).
Advancing Good Government at the National Level
Beyond our region, numerous Fords are actively working on Fixing our Broken Election System, as the Haverford Magazine reported last summer.
Rob Richie ’84 helped found FairVote in 1992. He currently serves as the President and CEO. FairVote is a nonpartisan organization focused on electoral reforms for a more representative democracy. FairVote advocates for structural and policy reforms to improve representative democracy across the country because, as Richie says, “It’s obvious that this polarized, dysfunctional party system is a complete breakdown of good policymaking and efficient representation of our interests.” Independent of the CPGC, it’s possible to Intern with FairVote, where the application deadline is March 15.
Another DC-based initiative for fair and representative government is Common Cause, where Aaron Scherb ’04 serves as director of legislative affairs. Students can also consider opportunities to intern with Common Cause, and the CPGC is actively engaged in getting updates from both of the aforementioned organizations.
And Back to Quality Education for a Democratic Republic
A global organization dedicated to, “creating the next generation of leaders who will build a world based on knowledge and compassion, the foundation for more democratic, equitable, and just societies,” Facing History and Ourselves has been a CPGC partner for several years. Facing History recently released a breadth of resources for teaching about the insurrection in classrooms across the United States. Last summer, Sophia Kaplan ’23 worked as a human resources intern with Facing History. Reflecting on the possibility of pursuing a career in education, Sophia said, “The work that the organization does in building curriculum and teaching educators how to teach about the oft-forgotten lessons of history provides me with a model of how I would potentially want to lead a classroom.”
While Sophia had an excellent experience with Facing History, and other students and alumni have had great experiences working with other organizations in the CPGC Network, the CPGC is always eager to cooperate with students advancing self-designed internships with organizations that are new to us.
The democratic crisis is real, and it’s going to take extraordinary innovation, creativity, and commitment to preserve, protect, and expand democratic culture and institutions in the United States.
