We are partisans for democracy
What does it mean to be a partisan for democracy? We don’t take sides on the political spectrum, but we do defend the rights everyone has as a democratic citizen — from voting to protesting to consuming information from a free press that serves as a check on political leaders.
The McCourtney Institute for Democracy draws from the humanities and social sciences to examine democracy from multiple angles. This cross-discipline collaboration is evident in our research, education, and outreach efforts.
We educate the next generation of democratic citizens through our Nevins Fellows program, monitor attitudes toward democracy with the Mood of the Nation poll, and host speakers and events that bring people from diverse backgrounds and points of view together to discuss the role of democracy in our society.
We make all of this happen in partnership with our centers of excellence, the Center for American Political Responsiveness and the Center for Democratic Deliberation, and many other organizations throughout the College of the Liberal Arts and the broader Penn State community.
Stay Informed:
Democracy Works Podcast
At a time when trust in the media among Americans is at an all-time low, what can journalists and news organizations do to restore that trust? Our guests are working on innovative solutions with newsrooms and content creators across the country.
Joy Mayer is the executive director of Trusting News and Mollie Muchna is the organization’s project manager. They, along with colleague Lynn Walsh, received the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s 2026 Brown Democracy Medal. They wrote the book The Transparency Imperative: Journalism, Trust, and the Future of an Informed Democracy as part of receiving the award.
We discuss the experiments in rebuilding trust that Trusting News is conducting alongside news organizations and academic researchers, including letting members of the public sit in on newsroom editorial meetings and creating a code of ethics for independent news content creators. We also talk about how nostalgia for the days of Walter Cronkite can interfere with this work — and why we’re never going back to that era, as much as some of us might like to!
Watch Joy and Mollie’s Brown Democracy Medal lecture.
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