"For Love of Neighbor" is a new documentary film offering a hopeful vision for Christian engagement in politics. Click here to learn more.

Cities

The Power of The Nation State is Falling – and That’s a Good Thing

Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the global economy and reconstructed the nature of our communities and politics, a friend expressed his frustration to me, muttering, “I cannot wait to live in precedented times.” But globally, the democratic...

The Architecture of Civil Society

In recent years, scholars and policy-makers have shown a renewed interest in civil society. The call to revitalize and empower the mediating institutions that stand between the national government and the individual––from churches to charities to bowling leagues––has...

The Secret to a Flourishing City

Jane Jacobs, the legendary urbanist, gifted the city her commonsense observations of what makes for flourishing community. While she walked her beloved Greenwich Village, she’d watch the comings and goings of a city alive with humanity.  Her streets had soul. But,...

Wasted Land, Wasted Opportunity

Walk through any major city and you will see weedy lots, fenced-in squares, and derelict developments that many of us try to ignore. Many of these places sit in the middle of the densest, most prosperous areas of urban America. Cities with underdeveloped or vacant...

Policy for the People

Is policy made to help people or places? This is a central question politics is built to answer, and for too many years America’s leaders have answered wrongly. They have favored improving place at the expense of bettering the lives of people. The triumph of place is...