Good American Citizenship Working Group

The Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Good American Citizenship (“GoodAmCit”) seeks to craft and communicate policies and practices that nurture good citizenship in the Constitutional democracy that we inhabit—policies and practices that support the principles, convictions, character traits, understandings and associations on which liberty depends.  While nonpartisan and dedicated to quality research, our work is anchored to what Tocqueville called “reflective patriotism,” an affirmative attachment to the distinctive nation that Lincoln termed “the last best, hope of earth.” The principles of the Declaration of Independence guide us, as do the best of our Constitutional traditions. 

Our goal is to widen understanding and appreciation of the essential elements of good citizenship in 21st Century America, including not only the rights and obligations of citizens but also knowledge of the country’s history and core principles, familiarity with its government(s), productive engagement with its governance as well as the vital organs of its civil society, and dedication by its schools and colleges to the promotion of civic understanding and good citizenship. We aim both at today’s adults and at tomorrow’s.

Operating within the framework of Hoover’s major new Center on Revitalizing American Institutions, we share the Center’s commitment to “the development of individuals’ commitments to constitutional democracy, their understanding of the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship, and preparing individuals for informed, active, and ethical participation in democratic processes. As part of achieving these aims, we will engage in efforts to increase and improve civic education within formal K12 and postsecondary settings.”

All this is particularly salient and vital not just because good citizenship has been fraying in the United States but also because we’re fast approaching a major national milestone—the country’s semiquincentennial. On July 4, 2026, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a suitable target and benchmark for the renewal of citizenship. 

GoodAmCit’s full mission statement can be found here.