Since 1874, the Chautauqua Institution has brought together civic, cultural, and institutional leaders to discuss the most pressing questions in American life. IDEA director Michael Neblo attended the 2025 Chautauqua Forum on Democracy, which focused less on the formal political system and more on its foundations as a shared way of life built from norms, trust, and civic culture.

In a series of keynotes and panels co-led by Melody Barnes, executive director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia, and David French (a New York Times political columnist and one of last year’s Paul and Marnette Perry Fellows), participants explored how to rebuild the civic foundations upon which America’s democratic institutions rest. Judges, journalists, educators, artists, clergy, and civic leaders brought their different perspectives to bear on those shared goals.

Neblo also noted that the forum’s focus on civic norms and institutional trust closely aligns with IDEA’s mission, opening doors for collaboration.

“The centrifugal forces weakening American democracy require us to respond on multiple fronts and timescales. Our background culture can seem diffuse and harder to change than laws and institutions,” he said. “But we should not assume that change in one has to come before turning to the other; we can pursue multiple goals concurrently. I was encouraged to see accomplished individuals from different backgrounds defying their predefined roles and expectations to integrate what they were hearing from each other.”

Like IDEA’s initiatives, the Chautauqua Forum on Democracy created a space to connect people committed to rebuilding warranted trust in America’s democratic institutions, thereby enhancing their resilience. The opportunity to meet other participants in such a forum, share the Institute’s ideas, and identify fellow travelers with whom to potentially collaborate was an honor that will hopefully pay dividends in the future.