Center for the Study of Democracy (St. Mary's College of Maryland) facts for kids
The Center for the Study of Democracy is a special place at St. Mary's College of Maryland. It's like a research and education center that looks at how democracy started and grew in St. Mary's City, Maryland. This city was Maryland's first capital and saw many important steps in how democratic rights developed in North America. The Center also studies how modern democracies work today.
Its main goal is to learn from history to understand how democracy can be kept strong and made even better in the United States and around the world. They do this by studying both old historical events and current issues related to democracy.
The Center also holds many public talks, debates, and workshops. These events often feature important political leaders or experts discussing big issues.
The Center for the Study of Democracy also tries to understand times when democracy faced problems in Maryland's history and in the United States. By learning how these problems were solved, they hope to find ways to help democracy grow stronger today. They especially focus on how democracy can improve even when there are many challenges.
This Center is run together by St. Mary's College of Maryland, which is a public honors college, and Historic St. Mary's City. Historic St. Mary's City is a famous place for historical and archaeological research.
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History of the Center
The Center for the Study of Democracy started in 2002. Many well-known people helped create it and served on its advisory board. These included former U.S. District Court judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, former state Senator J. Frank Raley Jr., and former Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer.
The Washington Post's former Editor in Chief, Benjamin C. Bradlee, was also very involved. All these people also served on the Board of Trustees for St. Mary's College of Maryland for many years.
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Benjamin C. Bradlee, former Editor in Chief of The Washington Post, was an active member of the advisory board member of the Center For the Study of Democracy
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Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer was an active advisory board member of the Center For the Study of Democracy for many years
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Former U.S. District Court judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, was involved in the founding of the Center for the Study of Democracy, also was active on the advisory board member of the Center For the Study of Democracy for many years
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Anthony Lake, former U.S. National Security Adviser, was active on the advisory board member of the Center For the Study of Democracy for many years
Events and Programs
The Center for the Study of Democracy holds more than 25 educational events and public discussions each year.
Political Discussions
The Center hosts talks for state and national politicians. They discuss important topics like how governments should work, human rights, fairness, making laws, and safety, all related to democracy.
Lectures and Workshops
The Center supports and offers many academic and public lectures. These talks cover both the history and modern ways of how democracy develops. They learn from both recent and older history to better understand how democracy starts and can be made stronger.
College Programs
Students at St. Mary's College of Maryland can get a minor in Democracy Studies through the Center. The Center also holds many workshops and discussions just for students.
They also bring in special guest speakers and scholars. These experts give talks to other college classes and programs too.
Patuxent Defense Forum
The Center also hosts the Patuxent Defense Forum. This is a meeting for top experts on international security. It includes people from universities, foreign policy leaders, defense companies, and military leaders. The goal is to better understand how democracy can be kept strong from a defense point of view.
Public Lectures
The Center also sponsors and hosts public lectures on topics related to its mission. For example, Civil War expert Peter S. Carmichael gave a lecture on slavery and the Civil War in the South.
Research on Democracy
The Center does important research to understand democracy better.
Historical Research
The Center supports research that looks at how different parts of democracy began in early Maryland and other English-speaking countries. They then use these historical lessons to understand today's issues related to making democracy stronger, both in the United States and in new democracies around the world.
Modern Research
A lot of research is also done on how democracy starts in countries where it didn't exist before. They also study how to make democracy better in developed countries. Another focus is increasing the involvement of minority groups and women in democracies worldwide.
Expert Commentary
The Center for the Study of Democracy is often asked by Maryland and Washington, D.C. public radio stations to provide expert opinions on current events.
How the Center is Funded
The Center gets money from both public and private sources. It is a nonprofit organization. It is run jointly by St. Mary's College of Maryland, which is a public state school, and Historic St. Mary's City Maryland, which is a state agency for research, historical interpretation, and education.
The Center has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It has also gotten money from other big organizations that give grants.
Leaders of the Center
The current director of the Center is Dr. Michael J.G. Cain. He is a professor of Political Science at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
The director before him was Todd Eberly. He is also a professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland and a well-known political commentator in Maryland. You can often hear Mr. Eberly on radio shows, and he is quoted by The Washington Post. He also writes his own articles.
