website: https://theharwoodinstitute.org/newcivicpath
amazon: (May 2, 2025) https://www.amazon.com/New-Civic-Path-Restoring-Another/dp/B0F7CHH1VX
Do you believe America can be saved from partisan divisiveness and policies that swing wildly in both directions, depending on who’s president?
Richard Harwood does, and as he states in “A New Civic Path,” he believes the answer lies in building the kind of belief and trust in our communities that can help lead to the concrete change necessary to draw us together and make our lives better.
Rather than be a step-by-step manual, the book adheres to its stated claim of being a manifesto, meaning “a public declaration of policy and aims.”
Richard is the founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation over 30 years ago and has been working with communities across the US, especially those hardest hit by strife, including the tumult that followed the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. He’s written three other books in the same realm of civic rejuvenation and writes the Redeeming Hope Blog. The institute is a member of the Braver Network organized by Braver Angels, a nonprofit organization dedicated to depolarization through civil discussion.
What does “a new civic path” mean?
At first I wasn’t sure what Richard meant by “a new civic path.” I read on, hoping for a concrete definition, and I found myself highlighting one passage after about information and thought relevant to our times and with which I agree:
“Science tells us that we humans are wired to go together. We are social beings. It’s part of our DNA. We go together in all aspect of our lives—as partners, spouses, family members, and friends. We also do it as teams, collaborators, and organizations. Importantly, we are also meant to go together as communities. When we fail to do so, we remain divided and fragmented. Loneliness becomes more likely. Challenges mount and begin to look intractable… Combatting the whirlwind of negative forces in society required that we face them—and combat them—together.”
“Right now, people are looking up and seeing where we are in our communities and this nation, recognizing that this is not where we want to be.”
I came to understand that forging “a new civic path” means that we citizens need to reach out — to our local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations geared toward improving our communities — to start, and join, effective problem-solving efforts meant to cure whatever ills our communities.
Richard repeatedly emphasizes that we citizens are the solution; if, that is, we work together across partisan divides and take action, rather than just talk.
Through his work with communities across the US (see Current Community Initiatives) via his institute, Richard has developed various tools communities use to start the problem-solving process known collectively as the Harwood approach.
In the book, Richard writes that the first step is for us citizens to create faith that we can actually change our communities. The second is to build environments that encourage trust and civil discussion. Then we citizens can work together with the goal of solving problems such as homelessness, lack of affordable housing and childcare, etc.
Not an easy road
Richard admits that creating belief, trust and change isn’t easy and involves taking action, which in turn involves a lot of messy discussions that require us to listen and open ourselves to changing our opinions, outlook and new information.
Grief and patriotism
What I appreciated most were the section in which Richard addresses how communal grief and disappointment within our communities can suppress change. This about those of us who’ve experienced terrible tragedy, like a mass shooting, deadly flood or extensive wildfire. Or maybe our grief is in seeing the economic decline of our communities or a slow takeover of drug addiction and crime.
“When grief and grieving are not adequately addressed, they can turn into grievances… What’s more, when we are unable or unwilling to deal with our grief, when it morphs into grievances, we can easily seek to ascribe the source of our grief onto someone else. We can end up seeking to place blame or cast aspersions on others for things that live within ourselves. Others—sometimes even whole groups of people—become scapegoats, even enemies; often, we do not even know them… But productively navigating the grieving process is essential to being human and being in community with others.”
Similarly, Richard writes about the need to seek common ground toward a definition of patriotism that draws us together instead of tearing us apart. He writes more about the topic in a July 2, 2025, blog post, “What is Your Relationship to Patriotism?”
Conclusion: lean in
I enjoyed reading this book, not only to hear the kind of positivity I believe in, but also to get the pep talk necessary to get me searching in my own community for initiatives that emphasize working together. I’ve got my eye on a citizens committee that will be created to oversee the introduction of a new facility for homeless families.
My question for you
What projects have you worked on in your community? If none yet, what kind of issues would you like to help your community solve?
Ending quote
“I want you to step forward, lean in, and pursue a new civic path. this is how we can begin to reverse the negative conditions now tearing us apart and holding us back. We can do this. We have the power to make it happen.”
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