With the People: An Introduction to an Idea

By David Mathews

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address, and he spoke of an ideal of government, one that is of, by, and for the people. Do Americans today think our government is really “of” the people? That's debatable. “By” the people? Doubtful. “For” the people? Perhaps for some, sometimes.

This Cousins Research Group Report, based on the book With: A Strategy for Renewing Our Democracy by David Mathews, suggests trying another preposition—government with the people. It offers a strategy for bridging some of the divide separating the people of the United States from their government and from the country's major institutions. It envisions a form of collaboration that would have institutions working with citizens, not just for them. Such a “with strategy” sees people as creators and producers rather than consumers or clients. It encourages collaboration through mutually reinforcing efforts between the citizenry and the government, and that could have a cumulative effect on the troubles that our democracy faces.

About the Kettering Foundation

The Charles F. Kettering Foundation, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, operating foundation rooted in the American tradition of inventive research. Founded in 1927 “to sponsor and carry out scientific research for the benefit of humanity,” the foundation is inspired by the innovativeness and ingenuity of its founder, the American inventor Charles F. Kettering. For the past four decades, the foundation’s research and programs have focused on the needs of democracy worldwide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kettering Foundation Press
• Release date: May 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781945577468

David Mathews

DAVID MATHEWS attended the public schools of Clarke County, Alabama. After graduating from the University of Alabama, he went on to Columbia University, where he earned a PhD in American educational history. Mathews has been president of the University of Alabama and secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He is currently trustee and president of the Kettering Foundation. His other recent books are Politics for People: Finding a Responsible Public Voice and Is There a Public for Public Schools?

Book preview

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Mathews is president and CEO of the Kettering Foundation, a nonprofit research foundation rooted in the American tradition of invention. Prior to his work with the foundation, Mathews served as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Ford administration. From 1965 to 1980, he taught history at the University of Alabama, where he also served as president from 1969 to 1980. Mathews earned an AB degree in history and classical Greek. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Alabama, he received his PhD in history from Columbia University. Mathews has served on the boards of a variety of organizations, currently including the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, National Issues Forums Institute, Southern Institute on Children and Families, and Public Agenda. He has received numerous awards, and in 2007, the Alabama Center for Civic Life was renamed in his honor. He is also the recipient of 17 honorary degrees. Mathews has written extensively on Southern history, public policy, education, and international problem solving. His books include Politics for People: Finding a Responsible Public Voice, Reclaiming Public Education by Reclaiming Our Democracy, and The Ecology of Democracy: Finding Ways to Have a Stronger Hand in Shaping Our Future. Mathews is married to Mary Chapman Mathews, and they have two daughters and six grandchildren.

Photo and illustration credits:

Page 2: Public Trust in Government: 1958-2015. Beyond Distrust: How Americans View Their Government. Pew Research Center, Washington, DC (November 2015).

Page 6: Lincoln’s address. Gettysburg Pennsylvania, ca. 1905. Chicago: Sherwood Lithograph Co. Photograph. Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2003674448/.

Page 9: Girls longsaw fallen tree in woods, by Bettmann, image #515297290.

Page 14: Image courtesy of HathiTrust, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112203487782

Page 19: Laura Halsey Design

Page 22: NIF forum at the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, GA, March 17, 2001, Photograph Collection, File 08.09.029, Kettering Foundation Archive (Dayton, OH).

Page 25: Teamwork by community volunteers to rebuild a children’s playground, by Billy Hustace, in the Corbis Documentary collection, image #523425090.

Page 28-29: Photo courtesy of Justin Waits, Tornado Clean Up Album, via Flickr.

Page 33: Photograph of Pat Henry addressing the first Presidential Library Conference on the Public and Public Policy, held at the Gerald Ford Library in February 1983, Photograph Collection, File 08.01.007, Kettering Foundation Archive (Dayton, OH).

EDITOR: Laura Carlson

COPY EDITOR: Lisa Boone-Berry

RESEARCHER: Sherri Goudy

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Laura Halsey Design

COPYRIGHT © 2020 David Mathews

ISBN

Print: 978-1-945577-44-4

PDF: 978-1-945577-45-1

E-Pub: 978-1-945577-46-8

WITH THE PEOPLE

An Introduction to an Idea

David Mathews

A Cousins Research Group Report

Kettering Foundation Press

CONTENTS

The Challenges Facing Our Democracy

Losing Trust

A House Divided?

Democracy Itself Is in Trouble

Does Public Engagement Engage the Public?

Why Not Try More Governing With?

A Democratic Strategy

A With Legacy

Reciprocity and Complementary Production

Things Only Citizens Can Do

What Isn’t Being Proposed

From Doubt to Respect

Seeing Citizens as Producers

Developing a Sense of Sovereignty

Generating Power and Responsibility

Deliberating to Exercise Sound Judgment

Using Resources Available to Citizens

Can Governing Institutions Work With Citizens?

It Isn’t Incompetence

Bureaucratism and Professionalism

Differences in Ways of Working

A Better Alignment

The Costs of Working With Citizens

The Benefits

A Call for Inventors

Endnotes

About the Kettering Foundation

About the Cousins Research Group

Dear Reader,

As I write this, the world is dealing with the deadly coronavirus pandemic. It not only endangers our health, it threatens us with feelings of hopelessness, of being unable to control what is happening. We are most vulnerable to this despair when we are alone. The antidote is the strength that comes from joining with others to