What Can We Give the U.S. For Its 250th Birthday?

How do we commemorate the 250th birthday of the United States while resisting the extremes of either hubris and triumphalism or apathy and self-loathing? This semiquincentennial year arrives amid great peril and polarization: Our democratic freedoms and our system of checks and balances are under severe threat, distrust of institutions is pervasive, and even the term “democracy” has become fraught and partisan. So, perhaps one of the best and most unifying ways we can mark this birthday is to make this a year of civic renewal.