University of Arizona Foundation

The National Institute for Civil Discourse is dedicated to building Congress’ capacity to engage its political differences more constructively. Through its CommonSense American program, it organizes over 36,000 Americans from across the country and political spectrum into a powerful force championing bipartisan policymaking. (Substrategy: Legislative Branch)

Bitter polarization severely limits Congress’ effectiveness. The National Institute for Civil Discourse (NICD) is dedicated to building Congress’ capacity to engage its political differences more constructively. Through its CommonSense American program, NICD organizes over 36,000 Americans from across the country and political spectrum into a powerful force championing bipartisan policymaking. With this general (program) support grant, NICD will continue to grow the program’s membership. Working with its bipartisan board co-chaired by Tom Daschle and Christine Todd Whitman, NICD will also continue engaging Congress with program members’ views on solutions wise enough to attract bipartisan support, including reforms that build trust in election results.

The University of Arizona’s National Institute for Civil Discourse is a nonpartisan organization that works to promote healthy and civil political debate across political differences. The organization works with Congress, state legislatures, and citizens to bridge partisan divides and solve urgent national problems. It was founded in 2011 by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after the shooting that wounded her and killed six people at one of her constituent events. In 2019, it refocused its programming around Congress and strengthening dialogue across partisan divides between constituents and members of Congress on substantive policy issues.