Category Archives: Populism

Rethinking ‘Yes, We Can!’

Written by . Filed under Barack Obama, Citizens, Constructivism, Democracy, Politics & Elections, Populism. Tagged . No comments.

Also at OpEdNewsOnline @2012 Andrea Morisette Grazzini This quote by President Barack Obama captures a hidden, but essentially American, reality: “The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into red states and blue states … But I’ve got news for them, too: We worship an awesome […]

Beating the drum for Emmanuel

Written by . Filed under Citizen Movement, Civil Rights, Martin Luther King, Populism. 1 Comment.

Related essay by Harry Boyte at DemocracyU. Andrea Morisette Grazzini One might well wonder if modern-day meanings of things writ wrong in public can ever be undone.  Particularly when Washington meaning-mongers from both sides seem as immovable as the great monuments lining its Mall. It […]

Bill Moyers — We The People are our Civilization

Written by . Filed under Citizens, Economy & Business, Politics & Elections, Populism, Ranked Choice Voting, US Constitution, We The People. Tagged , , , , , , . 4 Comments.

Also published in The Patch. Andrea Morisette Grazzini, August 2011 Earlier this summer Bill Moyers illuminated for me a critical relationship between civic leaders and citizens. He was speaking at the home of Minneapolis attorney Clayton D. Halunen at a discussion on Ranked Choice Voting. Amid divergent interpretations […]

Peace Activists Find Bipartisan Support at Straw Poll

Written by . Filed under Citizen Movement, Civil Discourse, Economy & Business, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Politics & Elections, Populism. 2 Comments.

  Excerpted from Coleen Rowley’s reflections about peace-leaders’ engagement at campaign events. Coleen Rowley, August 2011 Thousands of attendees at Iowa’s recent Republican straw poll responded positively to the “Come Home America” message a group of citizens and I brought there. The Des Moines news […]

Super Bowl v. SOTU

Written by . Filed under Athletics, Citizens, Civil Discourse, Economy & Business, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Populism, Professional. No comments.

    Reprinted from Twin Cities Daily January’s Super Bowl and State of the Union Speech always offer plenty to watch.  And for citizens and jocks alike: the chance to see stars and lesser souls connecting together.  With the potential to win big, Or, not.

Empowered to Restore Sanity

Written by . Filed under Media & Culture, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Populism, Social Innovation. No comments.

DynamicShift leaders Alan and JoAn Paymar joined the Rally to Restore Sanity, where they found, in the “sea of people” the collective strength of shared ideals. In people who like themselves “empowered to express their concerns.” Here, they share their observations of the public launch event — a key call-to-action for a critically-needed new national attitude.

How to Prove Democracy Is Possible

Written by . Filed under Citizen Movement, Politics & Elections, Populism, Social Organizations. No comments.

  Reprinted from Imagine a New Kind of  Movement Toward to Truly Mature Democracy in MinnPost. The universal sense of cross-partisan anxiety lingering after the recent mid-term elections seems ironic.  Voting served as much a referendum on the increasingly evident dialectic between voter apathy and […]

Who can Take Back the Country? Us.

Written by . Filed under Citizens, Politics & Elections, Populism. 1 Comment.

In his essay The Political Pot Boils Over, Hubert H. Humphrey School’s Brian Atwood notes how polarizing political campaigns promise to defend the causes of “The People.” Politicians understand the deep doubt and sense of citizen disempowerment as at the core of populist angst. But candidates’ […]

Pundits calling for real people passions

Written by . Filed under Citizen Movement, Civil Discourse, Media & Culture, Politics & Elections, Populism. 1 Comment.

The bad news? Cultural caricatures have become so pervasive that not only politicians but real people have, of late, been living down to destructively low expectations. The good news? The persona of polarized rhetoric is getting an enforced ego-check. This thanks not to media manipulated […]

Middle-of-the-Road Rage

Written by . Filed under Academic & Research, Civil Discourse, Media & Culture, Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue, Populism. No comments.

I addressed Newsweek editor Jon Meacham at his recent talk on civil discourse at University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul. Meacham’s speech and the large turnout it drew underscores the accelerating interest in non-ideological dialogue.

Setting up my question to Meacham with a provocative “media-teaser” got his attention and launched an animated conversation. Meacham acknowledged the larger question Nonpartisan Productive Dialogue asks: when will citizens will become agitated enough about the failure of the polarizing rhetoric of our leaders to do something about it?

My published comment to Meacham’s recent Newsweek column captures the conversation and builds on it themes.