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What needs to be done to strengthen U.S. democracy, to make it work the way it should? Each generation of Americans asks some version of this question, but this book offers an answer that recognizes the heightened urgency and hopefulness in the way individuals are asking the question today. At the heart of the debate is a conviction that persistent public problems call for dialogue and deliberation that results in collective action by diverse groups of informed, skilled motivated, and prinicipled citizens--what many call "deliberative democracy". In this book, contributing authors and editor Nancy L. Thomas focus on the unique role that higher education can play--alongside private, civic and government sectors--in the collaborative process of strengthening democracy. This is the 152nd volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series "New Directions for Higher Education". Addressed to presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other higher-education decision-makers on all kinds of campuses, "New Directions for Higher Education" provides timely information and authoritative advice about major issues and administrative problems confronting every institution. Contents of this book include: (1) Teaching and Learning Civility (Peter Levine); (2) Putting Politics Where It Belongs: In the Classroom (Diana Hess and Lauren Gatti); (3) The Difficult Dialogues Initiative at Clark University: A Case Study (Sarah Buie and Walter Wright); (4) Intergroup Dialogue and Democratic Practice in Higher Education (Gretchen E. Lopez and Ximena Zuniga); (5) "To Establish an Effective Community Spirit": A Land Grant Extension and Deliberative Dialogue (Monica Herrera and Joyce Hoelting); (6) Facilitating Democracy: Centers and Institutes of Public Deliberation and Collaborative Problem Solving (Martin Carcasson); (7) Research for Democracy and Democracy for Research (Kiran Cunningham and Matt Leighninger); (8) Power, Privilege, and the Public: The Dynamics of Community-University Collaboration (Byron P. White); (9) Democratizing Academic Professionalism Inside and Out (Albert W. Dzur); (10) The Politics of Academic Freedom (Nancy L. Thomas); (11) Practicing What We Preach: Democratic Practices in Institutional Governance (Bruce L. Mallory); and (12) Higher Education's Democratic Imperative (Nancy L. Thomas and Matthew Hartley). Additional resources and an index are also included.