Democracy onAir is a platform for all nonprofit nonpartisan organizations who promote democracy. We give these organizations an opportunity for their members to participate as OnAir members, Curators, and Advocates for issues.

We have started our inaugural group of US Champions of Democracy . Every year we will recognize organizations at the state and federal level who share our mission of facilitating a more informed, collaborative, and engaged democracy in the United States. Content in the posts on the Champions is derived solely from their websites.

Our initial honorees at the US level are:
League of Women Voters
Common Cause
Represent Us
The Bridge Alliance
Rock the Vote
States Newsroom

The League of Women Voters of the United States encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

The League is proud to be nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government, but always working on vital issues of concern to members and the public.

Mission
Empowering voters. Defending democracy.

Vision
We envision a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate.

Value
We believe in the power of women to create a more perfect democracy.

Our Impact

Common Cause believes that our government should serve all the people, not just the wealthy or partisan special interests. We are building a democracy that works for everyone.

From our founding in 1970 through today, a core principle of Common Cause is that as more eligible Americans participate, our democracy becomes stronger. In 1971, we led the campaign that won the 26th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing 18 year-olds to vote.

Our Work

Today, we are winning campaigns to modernize elections, making them more fair, secure, and accessible with automatic voter registration laws and same-day registration at polling places on Election Day. We are ensuring security and fairness at the ballot box by demanding paper back-ups and post-election risk-limiting audits to detect foul play early.

Source: Common Cause website

“Rock the Vote is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to building the political power of young people.
For 30 years, Rock the Vote has revolutionized the way we use pop culture, music, art, and technology to engage young people in politics and build our collective power.

“In 1990, music executives founded Rock the Vote in response to the censorship of hip-hop and rap artists. Our first partnership, with MTV, promoted the message that “Censorship is Un-American” and activated millions of young people across the country to exercise their rights and represent their interests.

For thirty years, we have continuously adapted to the changing landscapes of media, technology and culture to breakthrough and empower each new generation.”
From Rock the Vote website.

We bring together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.

A powerful movement of independents, progressives, and conservatives is building on America’s long tradition of pursuing federal reform through the states.

In 2018, twenty-three transformative anti-corruption laws, from anti-gerrymandering and ranked choice voting to sweeping ethics and transparency laws, were passed in cities and states—more than in any other year in our nation’s history.

Our members are committed to revitalizing America through civic engagement, governance and policymaking, and campaign and election processes.

When an organization joins the Bridge Alliance, they agree to adhere to The Four Principles. These Principles set the tone for the Alliance — emphasizing basic principles of civic engagement and healthy democratic practice.

Perhaps most importantly, the Four Principles state that Bridge Alliance members are committed to collaboration and supporting each others’ missions. The Bridge Alliance was founded on the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can on our own, and we ask each of our member organizations to operate according to that philosophy.

That does not mean that each member organization agrees with all of the solutions or decisions of the other member organizations. In fact, the Bridge Alliance explicitly declines to endorse any individual solution. It does, however, require a basic respect for each other, a willingness to engage, and an interest in collaborating when it makes sense.

The Four Principles are as follows:

(1) Collaboration: Our country is stronger when we work together constructively to meet the challenges we face.

(2) Citizen Voice: Our country is well represented when informed citizens are active in the political and social processes.

(3) Solutions-focused: Genuine, good faith problem-solving will lead to the best solutions to address our great challenges.

(4) Open-minded: We explore and learn from each other, seeking aligned efforts to raise visibility and effectiveness.

States Newsroom is a network of affiliates we created and independent partner news sites that we support. Every newsroom is led by a veteran local journalist with deep knowledge of the state’s political history and media landscape who oversees a staff of experienced capital reporters. Our Washington, D.C., bureau reports on congressional delegations and key Supreme Court and administrative decisions that affect the states.

Our nonprofit newsrooms combine relentless reporting and insightful commentary to connect people to the state leaders and government policies that affect their daily lives.

Johns Hopkins University is Democracy onAir’s most recent Champion of Democracy in the US and globally.  JHU has as many quality educational, research, and service programs helping to support local, state, and federal democracies as any university in the world. These programs will be further enhanced by the new JHU School of Government and Policy that will bring together programs throughout the university to pursue evidence-based solutions to society’s greatest challenges.

Some specifically democracy-enhancing programs include:

• The NSF Agora Institute in the Homewood campus in Baltimore “strengthening global democracy through powerful civic engagement and informed, inclusive dialogue.”
• Special events like the annual Democracy Day offering students an introduction to the democratic process and the ways they can engage with it and the Democracy and Freedom Festival a series of events aimed at educating citizens about the importance of democracy and its essential role in advancing freedom, justice, and equality for all.

For more information, see the JHU slide show and the experimental Agora Custom Hub.