Cassandra Dahnke Archives - The Institute for Civility in Government

Twenty Years Later

April 30, 2018 Institute Staff

April 1, 2018 marked twenty years since we launched the Institute on Capitol Hill. We thought it was going to be easy. We thought that the essential nature of civility in public (and private) discourse was obvious. We thought thousands of people would join our organization and within a few years we would be working for the Institute full time. For many reasons, we were wrong.

In the first place, we were way ahead of the curve. The larger population would not become aware that civility within our larger culture was seriously declining for at least another ten years. When we first brought it up, people wondered why we were concerned. What were we talking about? What was civility anyway?

So we defined it. We say that civility is “claiming and caring for one’s identity and beliefs without degrading someone else’s in the process.” That definition is now quoted far and wide.

Then people wondered if civility EVER happens in the governing process, and if it did, would it work? So we wrote a book with ten rules we had learned through our experiences on Capitol Hill, along with true life stories from the Hill illustrating each rule. It’s called Reclaiming Civility in the Public Square – Ten Rules That Work. They do.

Then people asked us how to maintain civility when we truly disagree with someone else. So we developed Civility Training. We have now done Civility Training with schools, faith communities, public libraries, businesses, non-profits, state legislators, and surgeons. Demand is only growing, and we travel all over the U.S. and Canada.

In 2006 a high school principal asked us to take her students to Washington, DC and teach them civility and civic engagement. Now our small group Student Legislative Seminars are among our most popular programs.

People are now beginning to understand that civility is essential to a healthy democracy, but they seem uncertain we can bring it back and/or do not even know how to start. We can bring it back. But it will take all of us.

There are now hundreds of local initiatives to build civility at the community level. We celebrate that. But to bring it back to the national conversation is going to take more. That is why the Institute has always been a membership based organization.

Weber-Shandwick has been taking an annual poll about the public perception about civility for eight years now. It provides a good snapshot of where we are. But it is not enough to bring about change.

It has taken us twenty years to build an impeccable record of non-partisanship, and for more than a thousand people to join the Institute. Keep in mind that when we started, the internet was in its infancy, few people had cell phones, and social media did not exist. Getting the word out took longer, and we ourselves have been on a learning curve since day one. But learn we did.

And join they have. Every voice makes us stronger, more influential, and enduring. Don’t sit on the sidelines. Join the Institute today and help us build a more civil tomorrow. We’ve got the track record. Now let’s win the race and bring civility back – as the norm, not the exception.

– Cassandra Dahnke and Tomás Spath,
Institute Co-founders

A Call for Action from the Atlanta Civility Training Workshop

September 30, 2013 Adam Zolkover 1

Earlier this month, we announced an upcoming Civility Training Workshop in Atlanta, GA, organized by Institute member and civility activist LaRita Reid. The training was a civility-fostering, community-building success. And Institute co-founders Tomas Spath and Cassandra Dahnke have agreed to share some of their thoughts and reactions to what came out of it.

Considering the event, this is what Tomas had to say:

One of the rules featured in our book, Reclaiming Civility in the Public Square: Ten Rules that Count, is that one is powerful. There are dozens of ways, large and small, that one person make a positive difference in the lives of others. And here is one from a woman named LaRita Reid:

Like many people, Ms. Reid understands that in our society, we aren’t necessarily given to treating each other kindly. She wanted to make a difference. So she went online in search of an organization that would help her understand what each of us can do to make life less harrowing for others.

She found the Institute for Civility in Government website. At the time, we were promoting the Citizens’ Civility Symposium to be held in July in Washington D.C. So she got on the telephone to us, joined the Institute, and signed up to attend.

LaRita returned to Atlanta from the Symposium with a mission to create a civility movement in her hometown. She talked with friends and garnered support, and she was responsible for organizing the civility training event that was held September 21.

The result of her effort is a growing nucleus of people in Atlanta who are committed to civility in the governing process, and civility in their community.

One person is powerful. One person can be the difference in their community just as LaRita is being a difference in hers. And you can be the difference, too. Learn more about Civility Training, and contact us to set one up in your area.

And here is Cassandra’s reaction:

Numbers Count!

The attendees of our recent Civility Training Workshop in Atlanta came from a broad cross-section of the community, and represented a variety of backgrounds. Some came because they had heard about it through their church. Others were educational professionals who had heard about it from the school at which they teach. There were, among others, a state legislator, a candidate for mayor, and an engaged citizen who had heard about the workshop at a town hall meeting.

The broader the range of experience that people bring to the seminar, the richer the observations are during the participatory exercises that we do together, and the more we learn from one another.

But the critical piece of these workshops is not just what we learn from the activities we do, but the way they foster engagement with, and memberships in, the Institute.

It is important to raise awareness of the value of civility in the governing process. And it is important to teach people the skillset they need to maintain and foster a greater civility in difficult and often conflicting situations. All of this must happen.

But the culture of our country will not shift from one of polarization and animosity to one of mutual respect and collaborative effort just on these initiatives. We must make our voices heard. And our voices carry more weight together than they do alone.

Who do you know who needs to join the Institute?

If you want to learn more about Civility Training Workshops through the Institute for Civility in Government — including how to set one up in your area — click here for more information.

If you want to add your voice to the chorus calling for civil discourse, join the Institute today.

Or, to support the Institute in its mission to facilitate dialogue and teach respect, click here to make a donation.

Upcoming: Civility Training Workshop in Atlanta, GA

September 3, 2013March 4, 2018 Institute Staff 1

We are pleased to announce that on September 21, Institute co-founders Tomas Spath and Cassandra Dahnke will be conducting a Civility Training Workshop in the Atlanta area.

For those who are not aware, participants in Civility Training Workshops learn what civility makes possible, and what incivility prevents. The half-day program includes four sessions that feature tips on cultivating and maintaining civility in the workplace and in life, as well as activities and discussions that explore issues of:

How to have productive conversations across seemingly insurmountable ideological divides.
How to become an active listener.
How to take advantage of ideological diversity to increase productivity and achieve goals.
And what the Institute for Civility in Government can accomplish as people join this growing movement.

This Civility Training workshop will take place on Saturday, September 21 from 9 am to 2 pm at the Holiday Inn Express Airport at: 4601 Best Road, College Park, GA 30337. Admission to the event is $50 per person. For registration and details, please contact LaRita Reid via email at [email protected], or by telephone at (404) 326-7011.

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Introduction to The Civility Blog

July 16, 2013July 16, 2013 Adam Zolkover 2

Welcome to The Civility Blog. In this, our inaugural post, we hear from the founders of the Institute for Civility in Government — Cassandra Dahnke and Tomas Spath — about their vision for this space, and how it contributes to the larger mission of the organization.

At its simplest, The Civility Blog is a venue for keeping Institute members, interested readers, and the public at large apprised of our new projects and upcoming events around the United States. But it is more than that, too. The Civility Blog is here to inform readers about the latest civility news and dialogue on and off the web. It is here as a venue in which Institute members and guests can speak deliberately and thoughtfully about civility in government, the corporate sector, and everyday life. And it is here as a venue for spirited and civil dialogue where you, as readers, can create community and contribute to meaningful change.

The Civility Blog is an ongoing project. And as it unfolds, there will be time for some more specific discussion of how you can contribute a comment, or even a post. But for now, it is enough to read about why we have a Civility Blog at all.

From Cassandra Dahnke:

When I was growing up, my mother used to tell me: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” It was a lesson that I learned well, and one I have tried to follow ever since. Unfortunately, it is also a bit of wisdom that seems to go by the wayside far too often.

In recent years, the boundaries of appropriate behavior – particularly in the midst of disagreement – have stretched to the breaking point. Verbal abuse and personal attacks have become not only acceptable, but rhetorical strategies. Too often do we concentrate on speaking rather than listening as we focus on launching (or diffusing) the next attack. Lost is respect or care for our fellow citizens, and the possibility of collaborative effort, much less genuine friendship.

And so we strive for civility, because to do anything else is to give up on decency — to forfeit all that is possible when we listen without degrading, discern without prejudice, and work together to build up, rather than separating to tear down.

This blog is the most recent of our many initiatives. We hope and trust it will become a venue where civility will have not one voice, but many. This is a venue not for private gain but public good, and one where we seek to make our disagreements assets to be explored rather than problems to be overcome. The conversation will not always be easy, but we hope it will be constructive.

Welcome to this space! We are glad you are here!

And from Tomas Spath:

When the founders of the United States and the framers of our constitution nudged the pendulum away from monarchy and toward a new democracy, the goal of some, at least, was to create a government of the people that would be governed by the people, and for the people. This means that we would all share the responsibility to guide our nation.

But the question that we must ask today is: do we the people have enough information to make good decisions? To run the government?

In our time, the United States is on information overload. At any moment, we have access to news from anywhere in the world, from any ideological point of view. There is no place, and no position, that is away from the Internet.

Isn’t it a shame, then, that when we have access to so very much, so few of us do anything with it? Perhaps it is this flood of data that paralyzes us into inaction. Perhaps that is why we stifle ourselves and allow others to lead the way.

The Institute for Civility in Government is a grassroots movement that is committed to the idea that we all need to be more involved in the governing process at some level — whether locally, in the statehouse, or in Washington D.C. Ours is a nation in which we do all share the responsibility to govern, and by engaging and sharing ideas, we can make things better in our cities, our states, and our country as a whole.

So welcome. Here is a safe place to develop the ideas that will make us a better people, and a more perfect Union.