Civic Life and Information Infrastructure

Engine: Engine 5

Framing

The informal fabric of self-government — trust, shared information, civic association, local journalism, physical community spaces — has hollowed out over the past several decades. 200 US counties have no local newspaper. Civic trust measures at 43%. Universal programs and free elections cannot be sustained on a foundation this weak. The Civic Life and Information Infrastructure architecture restores this fabric through expanded CPB/PBS funding, Post Office 2.0 as civic hubs, and public-media journalism support in news-desert counties.

CPB and PBS funding (capacity-limited ramp to $50/capita)

Current US federal CPB funding is approximately $1.35/capita — substantially below peer democracies. The Accord raises CPB funding on a capacity-limited ramp to a steady-state ceiling of approximately $50 per capita (approximately $16.5 billion/year at current US population), roughly one-third of Nordic per-capita funding. The ramp is paced by CPB's capacity to absorb and deploy funding — newsroom expansion, production capability, digital distribution — rather than by a fixed schedule. Full ramp projected to reach steady state by approximately Year 7-10.

Editorial independence is guaranteed by statute. The funding comes with a viewpoint diversity mandate but no content prescription — CPB is directed to deploy funding to serve audiences across the American political and cultural spectrum with factually accurate content, but specific structural decisions (network separation, programming, regional production) remain with CPB's professional judgment and public input.

Post Office 2.0 as civic hubs

31,000 Post Office 2.0 locations upgraded as civic hubs. Each location offers:

FedCard enrollment, balance inquiry, benefit disbursement

Telehealth booths for remote medical consultation

COMPASS kiosks showing tract-level data and service access

Bill-pay and check-cashing for unbanked households

Voter registration and civic module

Internet access

Community meeting space

Federal employee serving as locality's COMPASS liaison — working on Fed-local relations

The federal employee at each Post Office 2.0 is salaried federal workforce. The position is responsible for local Fed-local relations, informed by Census Tract Sensor data. When COMPASS scores trigger Targeted or Intensive intervention, the Post Office 2.0 liaison coordinates delivery.

Public-media journalism

Journalism support routed through public media (CPB/PBS affiliates) rather than standalone journalism grants. News-desert counties — the 200 US counties with no local newspaper — receive priority. Competitive nonprofit newsroom grants administered through existing CPB infrastructure; editorial independence guaranteed by statute. AI/search content stipends for newsrooms whose work is absorbed into LLM training. Matched funding for investigative journalism.

Third Places and civic infrastructure

The COMPASS Civic Engagement domain measures the availability of third places — libraries, community centers, parks with programming, coffee shops, gathering spaces. Tracts scoring low in this domain qualify for Third Places capital grants ($0.005T/year nationally, per Chapter 17). The architecture is not prescriptive about what gets built; it provides capital and National Statistics Board standards, and local operators deliver.

Why this is place-based civic fabric, not top-down cultural policy

The Accord does not specify what journalism should say, what PBS should broadcast, or what community spaces should host. It provides the funding architecture and editorial-independence guarantees that let these institutions operate.