Paul Simon Public Policy Institute offers $5K prizes for democracy projects

CARBONDALE, Ill. (KFVS) - The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is offering three prizes for the design and implementation of projects aimed at revitalizing democracy in communities.

The Paul Simon Democracy Prize, worth $5,000 each, will be awarded to current Illinois college or university students for their designs.

According to the institute, the proposals could involve hosting public discussions or debates, registering voters, funding school newspapers to cover local issues, creating a speaker series on community matters, developing a program to recruit and train poll watchers or an entirely new idea to expand and revitalize democracy in their communities.

To apply, students will need to submit a 3 to 5 minute video proposal to the institute by Saturday, April 1.

The videos will be judged on the elements of the proposal, not the quality, but creativity is welcome. The institute is looking for plans that are persuasive, imaginative, optimistic and can realistically be implemented within six months.

“Paul Simon was compassionate and passionate about many things — especially the enduring challenge to renew and revitalize our democracy,” said Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Director John Shaw. “We want to find ways to encourage and inspire students to think about, design and implement concrete programs to improve our democracy.”

Winners will be announced on Monday, April 17.

The three winning videos will then be posted on the institute’s website and YouTube channel.

More on the democracy prize can be found by clicking here.