Democracy, protected.
We bring Americans back to their government — through voter registration, voter protections, outreach and education.
We bring Americans back to their government — through voter registration, voter protections, outreach and education.
Democracy is more than a process, it is infrastructure to be maintained. Government must work for all of us — and that requires the active participation of all of us.
The Civic Defense Project is a 501(c)(4) organization that operates at the foundation of American democracy — where voters meet the ballot.
We are not a party. We are not a movement. We are civic infrastructure: non-partisan, serious, and built to last. We believe that democracy is a living system that requires care, vigilance, and the sustained attention of its citizens. We work to bring this relationship into the modern era.
When people disengage, the system degrades. When they return, it strengthens. CDP exists to lower the barriers to that return and amplify the reasons to stay involved.
We focus on the foundational systems that make democracy function — the places where citizens meet the process.
We run registration drives in communities across the country, meeting people where they are — at community centers, campuses, grocery stores, and houses of worship. Every registered voter is a stronger democracy.
We monitor and respond to threats to voter access — from legislative changes to administrative barriers. When the right to vote is challenged, we provide legal resources, education, and direct support.
We are building a modern approach to voter engagement. Our Platform50 program will streamline political discourse, eliminate special interest noise and give voters an opportunity to be heard directly.
CDP operates on a simple principle: democracy works when people show up. Our job is to make showing up easier, safer, and more meaningful.
We don't parachute in. We build lasting relationships with the communities we serve — partnering with local organizations, training local volunteers, and responding to local needs.
In a polarized landscape, CDP occupies the space that most Americans actually live in — the common ground. We don't ask who you vote for. We make sure you can vote at all.
Our volunteers, staff, and supporters come from across the political spectrum. What unites us is simpler than ideology: the belief that a functioning democracy is worth defending.
These aren't slogans. They're operating rules — the standards every decision at CDP is measured against.
We don't work for parties. We work for the process. Our only constituency is the American voter — regardless of how they vote.
We believe the way you engage in democracy matters as much as the outcome. We model the civic culture we want to see — respectful, fact-based, and open to disagreement.
Government needs people, and people need government. The erosion of trust in the institutions that serve and protect us must be stopped.
Democracy only works when it represents everyone. We fight barriers to participation — not political opponents. All citizens should experience a government that treats them as meaningful, contributing members of an important civil structure.
A mobile application that streamlines and promotes citizen-lawmaker interactions in both directions. A non-partisan platform that holds the conversation between you and your representatives as the most important building block of a functional democracy.
Civic discourse and conversation has been overtaken by special interest, partisan politics, and co-opted public squares. We need a place where people and their communities can connect directly to legislators without the distractions of marketing, monied influence or suppression.
You get a free, concise place to interact with all things government: links and contact information for your district and municipality, notifications about upcoming dates for primaries and elections, government services and events in all of your districts, and importantly — questionnaires and polls from your legislators about issues, propositions and referendums.
Your Representative gets more responsibility and accountability to hear those opinions and work for the people.
It's a win-win-win…for you, your representative, and American Democracy.
Platform50 is coming soon. Sign up to be the first to know when it launches.
Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how democracy works, why it matters, and what it takes to keep it strong. Non-partisan. Substantive. Worth your time.
A brilliant constitutional scholar explains not just what the Constitution says, but why it says it — and how it shaped the nation.
Buy on Bookshop.org → HistoryA Pulitzer Prize-winning historian shows how America has overcome deep division before — and what it took to find our better angels.
Buy on Bookshop.org → Civic LifeThe landmark study of how Americans became disconnected from community and civic life — and why rebuilding those bonds matters more than ever.
Buy on Bookshop.org → InstitutionsTwo Harvard scholars examine how democracies erode — not through coups, but through the slow weakening of institutions and norms.
Buy on Bookshop.org → FoundationsA French visitor's astonishingly prescient analysis of American democratic life — its strengths, its risks, and its promise.
Buy on Bookshop.org → Civic ActionTwenty concise, actionable lessons from the twentieth century on recognizing threats to freedom — and what citizens can do about them.
Buy on Bookshop.org → UnderstandingA clear-eyed analysis of the structural and psychological forces driving American division — and why our system works this way by design.
Buy on Bookshop.org → Civic ActionThe Ten Habits of Good Citizens — Author Richard Haass lays out an argument for citizen participation.
Buy on Bookshop.org → InstitutionsThe Untold Story of Public Service — Collected essays edited by Michael Lewis explore the crucial, quiet work of American Government.
Buy on Bookshop.org → HistoryA History of the United States — Jill Lepore's brilliant, sweeping account of the American experiment. Detailed, insightful, and full of evocative prose.
Buy on Bookshop.org → FoundationsThe original argument for the Constitution — and still the most persuasive case for democratic self-governance ever written.
Buy on Bookshop.org →Purchase links support independent bookstores via Bookshop.org. CDP is not affiliated with any publisher.
Whether you want to volunteer at a polling site, register voters in your community, or support our work — there's a place for you at CDP.
Have a question, want to partner, or just want to say hello? Drop us a line and we'll get back to you.
Or email us directly at info@civicdefenseproject.org