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Democracy in Action
Democracy in Action

Democracy in Action offers students the opportunity for weekly civic engagement in collaboration with a community partner.

The 2 or 4 credit weekly seminar facilitates conversations across experiences and reflections about the meaning of various forms of engagement, such as community organizing, political campaigns, policy work, and direct service for democracy and public life.

About the Course

This course is designed to encourage and facilitate students’ direct involvement with the democratic processes in the U.S. around the issues that matter most to them, while reflecting and discussing what they learn with peers. Students in this course will partner with a local organization of their choice with help from the Civic Engagement Center (CEC) in determining the best fit among a wide range of social change, community organizing, political, and direct service organizations. Through reflection and deep discussion, students are invited to reflect on their individual work as part of the larger course group, learning from each other as well as their organizational partners.

History of Democracy in Action

In 2021-22, 17 Macalester departments offered 40 courses with civic engagement components taught by 32 different professors. Pictured above are democracy and voting-themed posters created by students in the Democracy in Action course urging fellow students to engage the historical U.S. 2020 General Election.

During the Fall 2020 Democracy in Action course, many students reflected on their engagement with a political campaign or participated in various Get Out the Vote efforts with a community org of their choice. While traditional campaign efforts were stymied by the spread of Covid-19, the pandemic also opened new possibilities for creative engagement and rethinking the status quo.

Details to Be Aware of Prior to Registering

  • First, please know that you do not need to have your community site or project selected now. The Community Engagement Center (CEC) helps with this process.
  • For the 2-credit option (INTD-392) students are expected to complete 75 hours of work, and for the 4-credit option (INTD-394), students are expected to complete 140 hours of work (spread between the community-based work and the seminar). S/SD/NC grading only.
  • The course is listed under “Interdisciplinary Studies” on the Fall 2021 class schedule: INTD-392 for the 2-credit version and INTD-394 for the 4-credit version.
  • As an interdisciplinary course, all students are welcome to register for this class.
  • The Political Science department is allowing this course to count for credit towards their practicum requirement.
  • All class years — including First Year students — are welcome to register for the course.
Poster encouraging voting

Examples of Nonprofits, Political and Nonpartisan Organizations

These are the kind of sites that students could engage as part of the class. Note: students do not have to have their sites chosen to register for the class.