Welcome

Dear friends of VTIPG and the Community Change Collaborative,

We share five articles each week that we find timely and meaningful that address significant concerns related to the state of our democracy and civil society. We aim to offer pieces that illuminate a wide array of dimensions of our country's policy and governance challenges and the state of social norms that sustain the possibility of addressing them successfully. Please note, the views expressed in these essays do not necessarily reflect the perspectives of VTIPG faculty or staff or of Virginia Tech. We also upload these articles and stories to our website. You may find the archive for this series at News and Opportunities at http://ipg.vt.edu. Thank you to Deputy Director Mary Beth Dunkenberger and Community-Based Research Manager Lara Nagle for contributing articles for this week's edition.

If you would like to suggest an article for consideration, please contact the editor at the address below.

Our first piece, from Cardinal News, highlights the fact that the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program will affect internet access for approximately 346,000 Virginians.
Our second selection, from NPR, discusses the history of care for mental illness and disability in the United States, and whether there is a fresh movement today to treat those populations less humanely.
A third story, an opinion essay from The Hill, argues that any American worried about the state of our democracy should stand up for public libraries.
Our fourth article, from the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, considers what reforms Americans appear to desire in government.
Last, we feature a story from The Guardian that discusses the ongoing national election in India, and whether democracy can bring a better life for all of that nation's people.

Brief synopses of these articles appear below. We hope the perspectives they offer encourage reflection and conversation!

Best wishes,

Billy Parvatam

VTIPG Communications Coordinator

pbilly97@vt.edu.

Photo: A MacIntosh laptop. Credit to Cardinal News.

A federal program that helps low-income residents pay for the internet is ending, affecting over 346,000 Virginians

Tad Dickens details the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program in this Cardinal News piece. The program, created as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, provided two years of discounts of $30 a month for low-income families, or $75 a month for low-income households located on tribal land. The $14.2 billion Congress allocated for this purpose has now been expended, affecting 346,000 households in Virginia and 118,760 subscribers in the southern part of the state.

Dickens, T. (2024, April 19). "A federal program that helps low-income residents pay for internet is ending, affecting over 346,000 Virginians." Cardinal News. https://cardinalnews.org/2024/04/22/a-federal-program-that-helps-low-income-residents-pay-for-internet-service-ends-this-month-in-virginia-that-will-affect-346000-households/

Photo: A Hospital. Credit to NPR.

Could the U.S. force treatment on mentally ill people (again)?

Greg Rosalsky profiles the history of mental illness and mental disability healthcare in the United States, highlighting President John F. Kennedy's desire to change the system based on his knowledge of his sister Rosemary's cruel treatment by their father. Rosalsky suggests that those with mental disabilities continue often to be neglected today, in part because they do not constitute a powerful voting bloc. Meanwhile, severe mental illness now serves as an important predictor for homelessness and many advocates are expressing concern that there is a bipartisan movement proposing forced "institutionalization," of that population. Both of these groups’ experience in recent decades, those with mental illness and those with mental disabilities, has been shaped by the deinstitutionalization movement, borne in the 1960s of outrage at the cruel conditions of many facilities nominally treating such individuals. But alternate community-based facilities have never received adequate funding and today, both populations remain more vulnerable than ever with too many mentally ill now having no recourse but to live on the streets.

Rosalsky, G. (2024, April 16). "Could the U.S. force treatment on mentally ill people (again)?." NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2024/04/16/1244702372/could-the-u-s-force-treatment-on-mentally-ill-people-again

Photo: Montgomery County Public Library in Blacksburg, Virginia. Credit to Montgomery County Public Library.

Americans who want to protect democracy need to stand up for public libraries

Hill contributor Austin Sarat argued in this opinion piece that if Americans care about protecting our democracy, they should rally to the defense of public libraries. He asserts that libraries have long served as vital social institutions that have also prevented the wealthy and socially elite from obtaining complete control of learning and education at various points in our nation’s history. Unfortunately, some libraries today have been targets of the culture wars and companion legislation seeking to regulate, restrict, and censor materials that they may provide the public.

Sarat, A. (2024, April 22). "Americans who want to protect democracy need to stand up for public libraries." The Hill. https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/4610887-americans-who-want-to-protect-democracy-need-to-stand-up-for-public-libraries/

Photo: The United States Capitol in Washington D.C. Credit to the Brookings Institution.

What Americans still want from government reform

Paul Light outlines seven trends in Americans' collective thinking concerning federal government performance in this Miller Center article. Although many citizens support major government reform, most are in favor of proceeding more cautiously. As is often the case in today's polarized era, views on government and its services usually differ along partisan lines.

Light, P. (2024, March 19). "What Americans still want from government reform." Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/conference-on-the-presidency/essays/what-americans-still-want-government-reform

Photo: Citizens line up to vote in the state of Chhattisgarh. Credit to The Guardian.

As India goes to the polls, can democracy deliver a better life for all of its people?

In this article from The Guardian Kenneth Mohammed discusses the Indian national elections and how democracy has fared in recent years in that country. Although India has progressed in economic terms and also technologically, the country is still characterized by massive inequality and corruption that threaten its long-term prospects. Mohammed asserts that very large concerted efforts are needed to address these disparities and to uphold the principles of democracy in India in the years ahead.

Mohammed, K. (2024, April 20). "As India goes to the polls, can democracy deliver a better life for all of its people?." The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/20/india-elections-democracy-corruption-modi-caste-inequality-poverty-development

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