Terps, are you ready to vote? Visit umd.turbovote.org to register to vote, and visit terpsvote.umd.edu to learn about local elections and how to get involved!
The Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement educates, informs, and engages citizens and scholars in order to improve democratic governance. Check out their site for more information on news, events, and programs!
Constitution Day is a federal observance held annually on September 17 in honor of the signing of the United States of America's Constitution. Here is a brief guide to the U.S. Constitution. People can find information about books, websites, events and videos on this guide.
Get involved with the Maryland Democracy Initiative, via UMD's School of Public Policy!
MISSION: The Maryland Democracy Initiative grows the capacity of all people for a lifetime of civic participation in service to a fairer and more just society. We accomplish this through innovative interdisciplinary, community-centered research, teaching, learning and civic engagement.
The Initiative combines and leverages the skills of its four core colleges and Maryland’s public, land-grant university. Our work prioritizes best practices and innovations in helping grow people’s capacity for effective civic engagement. In doing so, we meet people where they are at all stages of life, with a continuing eye on where technology and behavior are moving. We concentrate on areas of need not addressed elsewhere. We focus on work that is scalable and replicable to maximize our impact.
We start with the hypothesis, based on research and the knowledge of our fields, that people require five capacities to participate in a healthy democracy. The capacities are:
Confident in the future of American democracy, we draw knowledge and inspiration from the past, including the example of Maryland native Frederick Douglass - journalist, statesmen and champion of education. We move forward with an urgent calling: strengthening democracy for all is a Grand Challenge of our time.
Check out the 2023 Events tab for information on the Maryland Democracy Initiative's Constitution Day event!
This book tells the story of that amazing summer in Philadelphia, and makes you feel as if you were there, listening to the arguments, getting to know the framers, and appreciating the difficult and critical decisions being made. Retelling a story that is more hallowed than understood, Carol Berkin brings us into the world of eighteenth-century America and shows us the human side of a great accomplishment.
In a series of elegant and illuminating essays, Gordon S. Wood explores the ideological origins of the revolution-from ancient Rome to the European Enlightenment-and the founders' attempts to forge an American democracy.
This concise, accessible text covers important trends and events in U.S. constitutional history, encompassing key Supreme Court and lower-court cases. The volume begins by discussing the English and colonial origins of American constitutionalism. Following an analysis of the American Revolution's meaning to constitutional history, the text traces the Constitution's evolution from the Early Republic to the present day.
Divided into three parts--History, Interpretation, and Practice--this provocative volume incorporates law, history, political theory, and philosophy to analyze the U.S. Constitution as a whole in relation to the rights and fate of women.
In this concise and valuable reference work--the only compilation of biographical sketches for all fifty-five Framers who attended the Philadelphia Convention--Bradford examines the Framer's constitutional theories, their visions for the newly founded union, and their opinions on ratification of the document that would address such paramount issues as national revenue, public debt, currency, removal of trade barriers between the states, and provisions for the common defense. Delving into the political and philosophical principles of the founders, Bradford illuminates their motives, thoughts, and actions and illustrates how their political decision-making was influenced by religion, education, environment, economic circumstances, and personal background.
