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About us

Mission

Heartland Democracy wins over hearts and minds in the Midwest to just and sustainable community goals through public engagement on regional policy initiatives.

Our communities range from the block to the town, from the state to the region, and from the nation to the world. Communities exist, too, among colleagues, friends, and other groups in which two or more folks get together, in person or online. We note that many of us live, work, commute, and travel across state lines. We grew up in one state and live in another. We have friends and family across the Midwest. We share common values and principles. Heartland Democracy aims to regionalize thinking and collaboration so as to achieve in the Midwest together what we cannot accomplish alone.

Guiding Principles

Many common principles and values guide the work of Heartland Democracy and other like-minded Midwesterners. We have grouped them together under five concepts we hold dear and fundamental to the kind of community we hope for. While we believe that other such values are important, and we may choose to emphasize different concepts in the future, Heartland Democracy is highlighting these principles in its work in its first year:

Community: All boats rise with tide, and Heartland Democracy believes that a greater common good is achieved through collaborative, community-wide efforts. We believe in democracy and the democratic spirit, and the importance of integrating a diversity of people and ideas pragmatically to achieve the public good.

Equality of Opportunity: Heartland Democracy believes in fairness and equality of opportunity achieved through freedom, self-reliance, security and independence.

Justice: Heartland Democracy believes in fairness, equality, religious tolerance, anti-racism and human rights.

Accountability: Heartland Democracy believes in accountability, both personal and private. We believe that innovation in reform will lead to “good government” that is efficient, effective, transparent and accountable to its citizens.

Finally, Democracy, a concept so important that we adopted it for half our name, provides a strong unifying theme to all of the principles above. Democracy is the genius of the best political systems in the world. It makes possible such universal rights and values as freedom, justice, community, and equality of opportunity. Like water from the tap, or water on the farmer’s field, democracy is a community necessity