The greatest peril to our country comes not from threats abroad but angry divisions at home that undermine citizenship. The Bill of Obligations sets forth a plan of action for civic education to revitalize American Democracy. Dr. Richard Haass is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and senior counselor with Centerview Partners. A former Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department and veteran diplomat, he has served in four presidential administrations.

The great civil rights leaders Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. both understood themselves to be American patriots but offered very different proposals for promoting the country’s welfare. Professor Lucas Morel contrasts their views, noting the strengths of each, to draw lessons for 21st-century America. Lucas Morel is the John K. Boardman, Jr. Professor of Politics and Head of the Politics Department at Washington and Lee University.

Democracy is more often invoked than defined or described in public debate. What does that word then mean? Smith argues forcefully that American Democracy can be dated from the afternoon of November 19,1863 when Abraham Lincoln announced “a new birth of freedom” in the Gettysburg Address. His words linked for the first time the struggle against slavery with the struggle for democracy both at home and abroad.

Maintaining republican government and ordered liberty requires certain virtues—both intellectual and moral—among the people. Without them, the US Constitution's structural constraints cannot check ambition.

There is a new form of intolerance sweeping the art world today, one that demands conformity of thought and rejects nuance on complicated social issues. Those who question or challenge this new and evolving orthodoxy risk damaging their careers and reputations. Is it worth it to speak up, or is there more to lose by remaining silent? What is the impact on art when artists, whom we count on to use their voices and give them expression, are afraid to speak their minds?