By Mitchell W. Pearlman
The Connecticut Public Affairs Network (CPAN) announced the creation of the Connecticut Democracy Center®. The Democracy Center is dedicated to building a healthy, dynamic democracy and preparing Connecticut’s citizens and residents to participate in it, contribute to it and lead it.
Under recently awarded contracts, CPAN will continue to manage and operate Connecticut’s historic Old State House. And thanks to support from good government organizations, including CFOG, CPAN once again was awarded the contract to operate CT-N, the General Assembly’s cable channel and web site.
Democracy Center programs such as Connecticut History Day and Connecticut’s Kid Governor® travel to every corner of the state to engage Connecticut’s young people in the practical applications of research, critical thinking, persuasion, public service and the political process. These growing movements help to enlighten and engage a whole new generation of aspiring citizen and set the stage for what other experiences await them through the democracy Center.
In the future, new multimedia facets of Democracy Center programming will emerge, bringing opportunities for robust and well-informed public debate to the web, mobile platforms and beyond. The Democracy Center will accomplish all of this through creative collaborations with partners from government, educational, civics and history sectors, and through the support of individual citizens. Concepts include: internet-based live and archived coverage of all three branches of state government, combined with easy-to-use tools that allow direct access to information about elections, politics and government activities and decisions; and studio productions and educational videos.
Mitchell W. Pearlman serves as secretary of CFOG’s Board of Directors