Believe it or not, it's already almost time for the annual American Civic Collaboration Awards, or the Civvys, to open nominations. This will be our third year celebrating collaborative, high-impact efforts across the nation, and we are so excited to learn more about organizations and individuals doing this kind of work. 

Day in and day out, it can feel like staying out of the political crossfire is the best choice for our health. If political news generates headaches and induces stress, how could becoming more deeply involved possibly be good for us?

Whether it’s intuitive or not, there’s significant evidence that getting more deeply engaged has meaningful health benefits. In fact, research findings suggest that being more involved in civic life has very real – and positive – impact both physically and economically.

Are you guilty of political profiling? To some degree we all are - and it's getting worse.

What do I mean? Political profiling involves making snap judgements on where a person falls on the political spectrum.

This assessment (or guess) is then used to decide how we relate to that human being. The implications can be enormous, particularly if that person is judged to be on the "other side." 

At Big Tent Nation, we're all about Big Ideas - the more the merrier. Occasionally we'll feature guest bloggers highlighting initiatives that are revitalizing democracy across the nation. Today, we're pleased to share the story of a compelling new podcast out of Pennsylvania, produced by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University. In this post, Jenna Spinelle, communications specialist for the McCourtney Institute, shares what it takes to make a podcast about democracy and why that's so crucial for our nation. 

Is it late winter? Early spring? Either way, with the first month of the year and the State of the Union behind us, we're digging into some data, some big ideas, and some hopeful stories to carry us through the next few months of political and economic news. Check our what we loved reading in February:

We all want America to flourish and prosper, but disagreements on “how” keep tripping us up. How is much more than picking between policy prescriptions – at its core it involves how we treat each other, and particularly those we disagree with.

The person most essential to realizing America in the first place thought about this issue a lot. It’s time to revisit his legacy.

At the National Conference in Citizenship in Washington, D.C. this October, six inspiring initiatives were honored as winners of the 2018 American Civic Collaboration or "Civvys" awards. We're interviewing all of the winners on our blog to learn more about their work, their hopes for the future and their message for America.

This week, meet one of the (tied!) winners in the Local Category, Colorado State University's Center for Public Deliberation. 

The CPD's Kalie McMonagle accepts the Local award on behalf of the Center for Public Deliberation. 

As the weather gets colder, we're looking forward to a holiday season full of catching up on our reading! Here are our picks for recent pieces worth reading in the areas of civic engagement, democracy revitalization and broad-based economic prosperity.

The headlines all point to key questions we're asking ourselves as a nation. What do you think? Share your favorites in the comments!

In October, we celebrated the winners of the 2018 American Civic Collaboration Awards - or "the Civvys" - in a ceremony at the National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, D.C. While all of our nominees and finalists do inspiring work to better their communities and strengthen the fabric of the nation, this year's winners represent exemplar cases of high-impact, truly collaborative initiatives. 

We asked our winners to answer a few questions about the role of civic collaboration in what they do. This week, meet our winner in the Youth category, First Vote NC.

Hunter Buxton accepts the Youth award on behalf of First Vote NC.

In October, we celebrated the winners of the 2018 American Civic Collaboration Awards - or "the Civvys" - in a ceremony at the National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, D.C. While all of our nominees and finalists do inspiring work to better their communities and strengthen the fabric of the nation, this year's winners represent exemplar cases of high-impact, truly collaborative initiatives. 

We asked our winners to answer a few questions about the role of civic collaboration in what they do. This week, meet our winner of a special "Committee's Choice" category, the Montevallo Junior City Council. 

Junior Mayor Abigail Heuton accepts the Civvys award on behalf of the Montevallo Junior City Council.