Amid election deniers and political polarization, it's easy to overlook the times when democracy is actually working. We do that this week in a hopeful conversation about resident-centered government. Elected officials and administrative staff like city planners often have the best intentions when it comes to development and redevelopment, but political and professional incentives push them to pursue projects that lure in outsiders rather than serving people who live in their communities.
Our guest this week is Michelle Wilde Anderson, a professor of property, local government, and environmental justice at Stanford Law School and the author of The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America. The book tells the stories of revitalization efforts in Stockton, California, Josephine, Oregon, Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Detroit, Michigan. In each instance, residents organized to fix small problems that turned into large-scale change. It's a model that anyone can replicate and our democracy will be stronger for it.
The Fight to Save the Town by Michelle Wilde Anderson
A brief history of “people power”
The power of local government
Using the tools of democracy to address economic inequality
What is democracy? A conversation with Astra Taylor
Trump on Earth: The Red State Paradox
It’s good to be counted [rebroadcast]
When states sue the federal government [rebroadcast]
Citizenship, patriotism, and democracy in the classroom [rebroadcast]
2018: The year in democracy
The complicated relationship between campaign finance and democracy
Capturing the nation’s mood
Are land-grant universities still “democracy’s colleges?”
Norman Eisen’s love letter to democracy
Winning the “democracy lottery”
From soldier-statesman to the warrior ethos: Gen. Wesley Clark on the military and democracy
Protecting democracy from foreign interference — recorded live at the National Press Club
Will Millennials disrupt democracy?
David Frum on developing the habits of democracy
When states sue the federal government
How “if it bleeds, it leads” impacts democracy
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