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Civic Education

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Commentary

Strengthening Our Democracy Starts in School

Dec 17, 2015

The teaching of civics and other social studies courses has hit hard times in most states, driven in part by accountability systems that reward schools for math and reading scores. Yet civic education is critical to the stability of our democracy and seems warranted now more than ever.
Report

Media Literacy Education as a Tool for Mitigating 'Truth Decay'

Jul 11, 2019

Can media literacy education help counter the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life? To find out, RAND experts analyzed what we know—and don't know—about the subject.

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Tool

Fighting Disinformation Online: A Database of Web Tools

RAND researchers created a database of web tools that aim to fight the spread of disinformation. These include fact-checking tools, bot detectors, media literacy applications, and more.

Nov 12, 2019
Content

What's Being Done to Fight Disinformation Online

With the rise of the internet and social media, false or intentionally misleading information can spread further and faster than ever before. What tools exist to fight disinformation online?

Nov 12, 2019
Commentary

The RAND Institute for Civil Justice: 40th Anniversary Reflections

The RAND Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ) has supplied government and private decisionmakers and the public with the results of objective, empirically based, analytic research. In this era of Truth Decay, the diminishing role of facts and analysis in public life, the ICJ's mission and research have never been more important.

Nov 6, 2019
Blog

RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress

For busy staff, August's respite from back-to-back meetings, hearing preparation, and late votes is hard-earned. The summer recess also provides an opportunity to get ahead of issues that will resurface in the fall. To that end, we have compiled recent RAND research on topics likely to top the congressional agenda come September.

Aug 5, 2019
Blog

The Most Popular RAND Research of 2018

RAND serves as an objective source of facts that help inform the world's most pressing policy debates. When decisions are based on the best evidence, that's when public policy can have a positive impact on people's lives. We're highlighting the 10 research projects that RAND.org readers found most engaging this year.

Dec 21, 2018
Multimedia

Best RAND Videos of 2018

RAND research yields findings that run the gamut of potential applications and promising policy solutions. Here, we highlight three of 2018's most captivating videos featuring RAND research and its potential to inform policy.

Dec 19, 2018
Commentary

What Role Should Schools Play in Teaching Pupils to Spot Fake News?

Since social media is not regulated in the same way as traditional news media, anyone can convey information with little fact-checking. So how do we help children develop critical literacy skills to enable them to interpret the media correctly?

Nov 28, 2018
Blog

Conversation at RAND: Truth Decay

The recent erosion of public trust in facts and institutions is not the first period of Truth Decay in U.S. history. What's different this time is the increasing disagreement about objective facts. Jennifer Kavanagh and William “Pat” Getty discussed the trend and how to stop it.

Oct 2, 2018
Multimedia

Truth Decay and Community Engagement

In this Events @ RAND podcast, RAND political scientist Jennifer Kavanagh and William "Pat" Getty, president of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, discuss Truth Decay's consequences on community engagement and resilience.

Sep 20, 2018
Commentary

Truth Decay, America's Latest Pastime

Detailed data and complex analysis are the foundation of decisionmaking in baseball and many other professions and occupations. But facts are out of favor in current U.S. political and civil discourse, and the public policymaking that accompanies it.

Jul 12, 2018
Commentary

In Reckoning with Today's Truth Wars, Look to America's Past

The declining regard for factual evidence may be a defining characteristic of our current age. Previous eras suggest it is within society's power to restore respect for objective facts. Humankind just needs to put it on the agenda.

Jun 19, 2018
Multimedia

Truth Decay and Trust in Institutions

In this Events @ RAND podcast, the Pew Research Center's Carroll Doherty joins RAND's Jennifer Kavanagh for a discussion about the causes and consequences of Truth Decay and declining trust in institutions.

Jun 7, 2018
Multimedia

Truth Decay and Civil Discourse

In this Events @ RAND podcast, Jennifer Kavanagh addresses the connection between Truth Decay and the erosion of civil discourse, as well as Truth Decay's effects on policymaking and the future of democracy.

May 24, 2018
Blog

Regulation or Research? How to Reduce Truth Decay in the Media

What is social media's role in the decline of trust in the media? Is government intervention needed to help stop the spread of misinformation? A panel of researchers discussed the connection between the media and Truth Decay at a RAND event in Boston.

May 22, 2018
Multimedia

Truth Decay: A Narrated Video

"Truth Decay" is the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life. RAND is studying the causes and consequences of this phenomenon, and how they are interrelated. We invite other research organizations and individuals to join us in finding potential solutions and responses.

May 16, 2018
Article

How to Increase Immunity to Truth Decay

Americans have always held differing views about policy issues. But more and more, they disagree about basic facts. This is a symptom of what RAND calls “Truth Decay,” and it's doing severe damage to democracy in the United States.

May 16, 2018
Multimedia

How Truth Decay Happens

“Truth Decay”—the shrinking role of facts and analysis in American public life—threatens democracy, policymaking, and civic discourse. RAND is studying this phenomenon to help understand what drives it and how to address it.

May 16, 2018
Multimedia

Truth Decay and the Media

In this Events @ RAND podcast, a panel of experts discusses the connection between the media and Truth Decay. They address the effects of changes in the information environment, including the rise of social media, the shift to a 24-hour news cycle, increasing partisanship of some news sources, algorithms and filters, and media literacy.

May 8, 2018
Commentary

People—Not the Tech Companies—Will Ultimately Stop Disinformation in Europe

Authorities can continue to seek to punish the tech companies for the circulation of false articles. But this is unlikely to make a difference until more people take the time to acquire the skills to distinguish between fact and fiction.

Apr 9, 2018

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