Democracy Happy Hour – May 1, 2024

Democracy Happy Hour, May 1, 2024 - Meeting Recordings:

• Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/e6j-BIH7n1aQzMH1_WD4bnZA995dcGzISzFqPIcugIk_2iLcD37FMIkPdHOdqBeg1VNHTVJF6CBYmov5.J7x5n9vK6gNIufyg

• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/DyVP5KeGSbbC5qXPnz6NxKVy488pqNXgzZuNX-lM2-Urzkc8ex58NlkMQ_Y7kpQtLnBUKypFLOXWytwD.iISrLqiM7FTX0ZOl

• Chat file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/wui93ntYNHLSw_Jh_XqkWyhbIeBvwfX5ukO8sUj-ck48P7c4U0cCdrujtQHQeOHLdf9Vk-lDdWmx2O3B.buiX0pENoKWpxlnl

FDF Links:

• Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/

• Spring 2024 Online Auction – through May 4th – All proceeds will be used for our youth action civics pilot project: https://fdfef.winningbidder.com/

• Donate to Fix Democracy First Education Fund to support our civic education and engagement work @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate/fdfef

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• May 8 - The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025 with Elise Wirkus, Protect Democracy
• May 15 - SPECIAL EVENT: How to Steal a Presidential Election with Lawrence Lessig
• May 22 - Suppressed & Sabotaged 2024 - Film Screening & Discussion
• May 29 - Renovating Our Democracy Together with Brittany Buford, Partners in Democracy

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

•  Teachers Advancing Civic Learning (TACL) – https://civxnow.org/our-work/tacl/some text
  • Sign up @ https://www.congressweb.com/signup/?id=AE4C45D3-ADF3-451E-19442D42806D333B
  • Basic Advocacy Training on May 28^th – Details TBD

• Power the Polls - https://www.powerthepolls.org/
  

• Support the Building Civic Bridges Act - https://resolutionaries.org/advocacy-bcba/#/2/

• Why Do You Vote? - https://www.whydoyou.vote/

• Respect Voters - https://www.respectvoters.org/

Creating Local Democracy Hubs to Strengthen Communities Links:

Five Strategies to Support U.S. Democracy - https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/09/15/five-strategies-to-support-u.s.-democracy-pub-87918

THE KING CENTER’S DEFINITION OF NONVIOLENCE & Beloved Community - https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/the-king-philosophy/

Inter Movement Impact Project / GENERATE DEMOCRACY! / Local DEMOCRACY HUBS (Explainer Doc) - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v-_jP2t4jJ780BdBQdoO3anUsTwcwC2xo2SudZyDyp4/edit?usp=sharing

Civic Genius - It’s Your America - https://www.ourcivicgenius.org/its-your-america/

Can informed citizens save a democracy in decline? w/ Eric Liu and Andrew Yang -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1mAcauwWXw

Mapping Civic Measurement: How are we assessing readiness and opportunities for an engaged citizenry? - https://citizensandscholars.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/mapping-civic-measurement-report.pdf

Dynamic Equilibrium - https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/dynamic-equilibrium

Want to Help Communities Thrive? Invest in Residents Eager to Disrupt the Status Quo. - https://www.philanthropy.com/article/want-to-help-communities-thrive-invest-in-residents-eager-to-disrupt-the-status-quo

Reinventing Democracy: How Hometowns Are Strengthening America - https://www.amacad.org/news/reinventing-democracy-how-hometowns-are-strengthening-america

Our Common Purpose - Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century - https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/report

Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship - https://www.amacad.org/project/practice-democratic-citizenship

Civic Nation - https://civicnation.org/

Change Collective - building a new community of local changemakers - https://change-collective.org/

Transforming Conflict on College Campuses - https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/transforming-conflict-on-college-campuses/

The Trust Network: An Example of Massively Parallel Peacebuilding in Action - https://beyondintractability.substack.com/p/newsletter-81

Better Arguments Project - American civic life doesn’t need fewer arguments; it needs better arguments. - https://betterarguments.org/

Democracy in the News Links:

Supreme Court seems poised to allow Trump Jan. 6 trial, but not immediately - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/25/supreme-court-oral-arguments-trump-immunity/

Four takeaways from Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s claim to immunity - https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/four-takeaways-from-supreme-court-hearing-on-trumps-claim-to-immunity

Judge holds Trump in contempt, fines him $9,000 and raises threat of jail in hush money trial - https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/prosecutors-at-donald-trumps-hush-money-trial-zero-in-on-the-details

David Pecker gave prosecutors just what they were looking for in Trump hush money testimony - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/25/trump-trial-david-pecker-testimony-00154517

Ex-attorney for Daniels and McDougal testifies in Trump trial - https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-trial-04-30-24/index.html

Lawyer for Stormy Daniels Says He Believed Trump Was Behind Hush-Money Talks - https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/30/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial

Trump, Venting About Lawyer in His Criminal Trial, Seeks More Aggression - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/30/us/politics/trump-trial-todd-blanche.html

How Far Trump Would Go - https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/

Cease-fire talks come at a key moment as Biden faces growing campus protests - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/cease-fire-talks-come-key-moment-biden-faces-growing-campus-protests-rcna150084

Attorneys inside and outside the administration urge Biden to cut off arms to Israel - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/29/lawyers-israel-arm-sales-biden-00154958

How Films Like ‘Civil War’ Can Spark Important Conversations and Help Defeat the ‘Outrage Industrial Complex’ - https://variety.com/2024/film/opinion/civil-war-conversations-toxic-political-culture-guest-column-1235979709/

Local Election Officials Survey — May 2024 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/local-election-officials-survey-may-2024

Cash-strapped election offices have fewer resources after bans on private grants - https://kansasreflector.com/2024/04/28/cash-strapped-election-offices-have-fewer-resources-after-bans-on-private-grants/

Noncitizens Are Not Voting in Federal or State Elections — Here’s Why - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/noncitizens-are-not-voting-federal-or-state-elections-heres-why

Latino voters are coveted by both major parties. They also are a target for election misinformation - https://apnews.com/article/2024-election-misinformation-latinos-radio-arizona-563ff36ba39d38d55eeb5d29d93d400e

Alaska ballot petitions in the works to mandate hand counting, in-person voting - https://alaskawatchman.com/2024/04/28/alaska-ballot-petitions-in-the-works-to-mandate-hand-counting-in-person-voting/

Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/24/arizona-2020-election-charges-meadows-giuliani-ellis

Top GOP ‘election integrity’ lawyer charged in Arizona fake elector scheme - https://azmirror.com/2024/04/26/top-gop-election-integrity-lawyer-said-to-be-charged-in-arizona-fake-elector-scheme/

Arizona Court Rejects Right-Wing Challenges to Drop Boxes and Signature Matching Rules - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/arizona-court-rejects-right-wing-challenge-to-drop-boxes-and-signature-matching-rules/

U.S. court asked to reconsider ruling upholding DeSantis’ quashing of Black congressional seat - https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/04/25/u-s-court-asked-to-reconsider-ruling-upholding-desantis-quashing-of-black-congressional-seat/

Florida asks court to dismiss lawsuit challenging Senate redistricting plan - https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/04/29/florida-asks-court-to-dismiss-lawsuit-challenging-senate-redistricting-plan/

Cyberattack forces Georgia county to sever connection to state voter registration system - https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/politics/georgia-coffee-county-cyberattack-voter-system/index.html

Federal judges strike down La. congressional map with second Black-majority district - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/30/louisiana-congressional-map-ruling/

New York Appellate Court To Hear GOP Challenge to Mail-In Voting Law - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/new-york-appellate-court-to-hear-gop-challenge-to-mail-in-voting-law/

Citizen-Led Redistricting Reform Ballot Initiative in Ohio - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizen-led-redistricting-reform-ballot-initiative-ohio

Three counties will vote on banning ballot tabulator machines, requiring hand-counting - https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/04/28/hand-count-ballots-election-2024-tripp-haakon-gregory-south-dakota-safety-integrity-counties/

WA ranks 10th in nation for voter turnout, new data shows - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/wa-ranks-10th-in-nation-for-voter-turnout-new-data-shows/

How WA Republicans, Democrats are trying to bridge political divides - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-wa-republicans-democrats-are-trying-to-cross-the-divide

Who Is Targeting State Supreme Courts to Limit Our Freedoms - https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24602706/true-north-conquering-the-courts-report.pdf

Watchdog Group Accuses Trump Campaign of Violating Finance Law - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/politics/trump-campaign-finance-complaint.html

Trump’s Committees Appear to be Concealing Legal Expense Payments - https://campaignlegal.org/update/trumps-committees-appear-be-concealing-legal-expense-payments

Senate Democrats dominate in first quarter fundraising  - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/04/senate-democrats-dominate-in-first-quarter-fundraising

How online donations are fueling the election - https://www.politico.com/interactives/2024/campaign-finance-april-2024/

Small Donor Public Financing Can Help More Women Get Elected - https://msmagazine.com/2024/04/25/small-donor-donations-public-financing-women-politics/

As Congress Debates Bipartisan Social Media Safeguards, Tech Giants Dig In - https://issueone.org/articles/as-congress-debates-bipartisan-social-media-safeguards-tech-giants-dig-in/

AI Regulation Has Strong Bipartisan Approval - https://www.forbes.com/sites/cio/2024/04/18/ai-regulation-has-strong-bipartisan-approval/?sh=461d70875814

Do countries with better-funded public media also have healthier democracies? Of course they do - https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/01/do-countries-with-better-funded-public-media-also-have-healthier-democracies-of-course-they-do

2024 Edelman Trust Barometer - https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2024-02/2024%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer%20Global%20Report_FINAL.pdf

Public Media: Per Capita Spend - https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F222ddee9-49fa-4d12-bbbe-7cc2ce0a9198_4033x2475.png

Americans’ Trust in Media - https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F877d6b41-7c9f-4170-96a1-5b462cad2b38_4823x2598.png

Healthy Democracies Need to Invest in Civic Education. Here’s How States Can Help - https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/healthy-democracies-need-to-invest-in-civic-education-heres-how-states-can-help

GOOD NEWS Websites:

Politics & Government Good News - https://www.goodgoodgood.co/impact/democracy

Good News Network - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

Sunny Skyz - https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news

ABC Good News - https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/good-news

Daily Good - https://www.dailygood.org/

The Happy News - https://thehappynewspaper.com/