This week's Democracy Notes
Democracy jobs, news, and more.
Welcome back!
For those joining for the first time, I’m Gabe Lerner. My goal is to be a thoughtful curator of your attention — your most valuable resource. (While sharing the best jobs, funder intel, and articles that I find.)
If Democracy Notes is useful to you, share it with a democracy friend or colleague!
I’m continuing to play around with the format below…this time separating out my hot takes from the “what to read” section. Let me know what you think!
Democracy Notes 3/7
Gabe’s corner:
(Some curation, some commentary)
Remember CPAC? Where Reagan delivered his “Shining City Upon a Hill” speech at the inaugural 1974 conference?
This year (as Melissa Ryan notes in her great Substack), things opened on a different note.
The opening speaker, Jack Posobiec, began his remarks: “Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely.”
In case that wasn’t clear enough, he continued:
“We didn’t get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here,” he said, gesturing to the crowd and holding up his fist. Posobiec was speaking on a panel with Steve Bannon, whose response to the comment was “Amen.” Source.
Many of you probably already saw the Posebiec quote. Why repeat it here? The democracy space does a lot of handwringing about bipartisanship and nonpartisanship. Democracy’s enemies don’t.
What to read:
(The big news)
Super quick, excellent article on how people think about democracy. Key findings:
1. People conflate democracy with the act of voting.
2. People think democracy is whatever the US does.
3. People don’t have a strong idea of what authoritarianism or fascism are.
How to Steal a Presidential Election Democracies increasingly die by “legal” means — by elected autocrats, not at the barrel of a gun or tank. This book explains how.
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
Race Forward and Americans for the Arts are seeking proposals from local organizations for funding to participate in the first annual Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy (CWA) this September 27 to October 5, 2024.
Grants will be made to 12-15 local communities, $25,000-$40,000 each. Proposals due 3/29.
Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) just released new data from their Civic Language Perceptions Project on how perceive words that democracy folks love to use.
The Pew Research Center and the Knight Foundation announced a research partnership to dig into questions of media, trust, and technology.
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
Civic Learning Week is next week in DC! (And lots of virtual events.)
Check out Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s podcast Practical Radicals. They co-authored a book by the same name.
Bhargava is the new JBP Foundation CEO (see 2/15 newsletter).
Incredible interview of J. Michael Luttig on the Kettering Foundation’s podcast. I learned a ton about what was going on behind the scenes on Jan 4, 5, and 6, 2021.
Recently, Luttig helped launch the Society for the Rule of Law, a conservative pro-democracy initiative I hadn’t previously heard of.
It’s a membership organization of conservative pro-democracy lawyers and jurists who have served at the highest levels of government in previous Republican administrations (open to lawyers, law students, and more).
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
The new Hewlett/Google/Omidyar funded Trust and Safety Consortium at Columbia that I described in last week’s newsletter is hiring a part-time project lead. Message this guy on LinkedIn for details (if relevant).
Movement Labs Chief Operations Officer — California (remote), $150K-$180K
Institute for Strategic Dialogue (int’l org building out all-star US team to counter disinfo/hate/extremism):
Digital Research Analyst, Elections — DC (remote), $65K-$85K (due 3/8!)
Domestic Extremism Analyst — DC (remote), $65K-$85K
Senior Manager of Communications DC, $85K-$110K
Senior Research Manager, Domestic Extremism — DC (remote), $85K-$110K
Special Assistant to CEO — DC, $65K-$85K
Urban Rural Action:
Director of Programs — remote, no $ deets
Program Manager, Uniting for Peaceful Elections in Arizona — Arizona, $700/month (based on $35/hour wage and estimated ~20 hours/month)
Convergence Center for Policy Resolution Advancement Manager remote, $70K
American Journalism Project Comms Associate — remote, $69K–$76K
R Street Policy Director, Technology and Innovation — remote, no $ listed
Race Forward (all remote):
Chief of Staff — $190K-$215K
Chief Operating Officer — $215K-$240K
Conferences & Convenings Associate — $55K-$61K
Director of Philanthropic Partnerships — $98K-$109K
Issue One summer internships:
Advancement Intern — 15-20 hours/week $17.50/hour
Research Intern — 24-32 hours/week $17.50/hour
Thanks, as always, for your attention. If you found this valuable, please forward it to a democracy friend or colleague!