America Needs Big Ideas to Heal Our Divides. Here Are Three

American democratic institutions are under attack — with presidential insults slung at the independent judiciary, allegations of “fake news” and “alternative facts” undercutting public understanding of key issues, partisan gerrymandering and political polarization crippling the Congress, and travel bans targeting particular religious groups. As if these unexpected developments aren’t enough to wear our institutions thin, we are releasing a civic health check-up for the nation that shows disturbing trends since the lead author of this op-ed published Bowling Alone in 2000.