Civic Life Investment Portfolio

The United States scores 45 on Civic Life. This is our most neglected binding constraint.

The informal fabric of self-government — trust, shared information, civic association, local journalism, physical community spaces — has hollowed out. We cannot sustain universal programs, free elections, or democratic governance on a foundation this weak.

Trust in institutions

US 43%

Denmark 74% / Finland 78%

News deserts

200 counties with zero local newspaper

1,500 more effectively deserts

Civic association

~50% decline

since 1975

The Response

Four Civic-Life Investments

Each investment targets a measurable dimension of civic infrastructure. Click to expand.

CPB gets expanded funding with an outcome mandate: measurable diversity of perspective, geographic reach, factual integrity, and educational programming. CPB decides structure. Performance measured against Civic Life domain indicators.

Metric	Measurement mechanism
Viewpoint diversity	Annual independent audit of guest/source ideology, geography, and demographic balance
Geographic reach	% of counties with OTA or broadband access to PBS content; target ≥95%
Factual accuracy	Third-party fact-check error rate; annual public report
Educational quality	Pre/post assessment of educational programming against learning standards
Investigative depth	Hours of original investigative journalism per quarter; peer review
Accessibility	Captioning, translation, and ADA compliance scores
Independence	No political appointees on editorial boards; editorial firewall audit

Services beyond mail: FedCard enrollment and services, public Wi-Fi and computers, community meeting rooms, government services (passport, SSA, VA), package lockers, and library partnerships.

Service	Detail
FedCard enrollment & services	FedCard enrollment, balance inquiry, benefit disbursement, bill-pay, and check-cashing for unbanked households
FedCard access points	Reload, balance inquiry, benefit disbursement via FedCard terminals
Public Wi-Fi & computers	Free broadband and workstations in every post office lobby
Community meeting rooms	Reservable civic space for town halls, voter registration, mutual aid
Government services	Passport applications, SSA consultations, VA outreach, FEMA intake
Package lockers	Secure 24/7 package pickup; reduces porch theft and last-mile cost
Library partnerships	Shared programming, book drops, mobile library coordination
Emergency hub	Disaster staging, warming/cooling center, emergency communications

Competitive nonprofit newsroom grants administered by CPB with editorial independence guaranteed by statute. AI/search content stipends. Matched funding for investigative journalists. Priority by COMPASS Civic Life score.

Mechanism	Detail
Nonprofit newsroom grants	Competitive CPB-administered grants; editorial independence guaranteed by statute. Priority by COMPASS Civic Life score.
AI/search content stipends	Platforms that scrape or summarize local news pay per-article stipends into a journalism fund.
Matched investigative funding	Federal 2:1 match for investigative reporters hired by qualifying outlets in news-desert counties.

Placed in expanded postal services, newsrooms, PBS regional production, libraries, and community organizations. Priority to low-Civic-Life counties. Post-service benefits include Skills Wallet credit, public service credit, and civil service hiring priority.

Specification	Detail
Compensation	Paid civic internship
Term	12 months, renewable once (24 months max)
Placements	Expanded postal services, newsrooms, PBS regional production, libraries, community organizations
Priority	Low-Civic-Life counties (COMPASS score < 40) receive 60% of placements
Post-service: Skills Wallet	$4,000 Skills Wallet credit upon completion
Post-service: public service credit	12 months count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Post-service: hiring priority	Civil service hiring preference equivalent to veteran status

Projected Impact

From Investment to Score Movement

Indicator	Current	Target	Investments
Trust in institutions	43%	60%	Postal, Public Media, Journalism
Shared factual baseline	Fragmented	Restored	Public Media, Journalism
Civic association density	Declining	Rebuilding	Postal, Civic Corps
Local information access	~1,700 deserts	<300 deserts	Journalism, Civic Corps
Digital participation access	Rural/urban gaps	Universal	Postal
Deliberative capacity	Low	Growing	Public Media, Postal
Youth civic engagement	Low	100K+/yr	Civic Corps

What This Is Not

✗Not a direct government broadcaster

✗Not content regulation of private media

✗Not prescription of editorial viewpoints

✗Not compelled civic participation

The investments are infrastructure. Citizens build civic life on that infrastructure through their own choices.

Budget Context

Total Investment

~$50-60Bannually

Approximately 4% of the Accord's ~$1.35T structural surplus. This is the investment scale the evidence suggests is necessary to move a domain score meaningfully. Smaller investments have been tried and failed.

$53Bof $1,350B surplus

Civic Life: ~4%Total structural surplus

See the DCF Civic Life domain scoring

View →

Read the full DNA chapter

View →

Explore the framework

View →