Published on Show Me Mizzou Dec. 17, 2025
Story by Jay Sexton, Rich and Nancy Kinder Chair of Constitutional Democracy, Professor of History and Kinder Institute Director
As we mark the 10th anniversary of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, I am struck by how our story mirrors that of American constitutional democracy itself. Both have thrived not through central planning but through the energy and initiative of people working from the ground up. From the beginning, our students, faculty, staff and partners have shaped the institute’s course.
What began as a small academic forum has grown into a leading institute of its kind: 30 faculty and staff now oversee a thriving constitutional democracy major with more than 100 students, a one-year master’s degree, experiential programs on three continents and more than 50 annual public events. There is energy and action on the fourth floor of Jesse Hall.
Our expanding alumni network and our advisory board have been critical to our development. They provide energy while fostering the institute’s entrepreneurial culture. We owe particular thanks to Rich and Nancy Kinder. Their vision and generosity provided the seed from which we have grown.
There is irony in all of this. The Kinder Institute’s stature has risen just as the foundations of American constitutional democracy have come under strain. Yet, this underscores our central lesson: Democracy endures when citizens take ownership of it, when problems are confronted and when trust is forged across partisan lines. Our work demonstrates that our nation is only as strong as our public institutions of education.
Our programs are devoted to every level of constitutional democracy. Locally, our Missouri initiatives empower students to engage directly in their own state. Nationally, our emphasis on the U.S. founding and our Washington, D.C., program equip students to grapple with enduring questions of governance and civic life. Internationally, our partnership with Oxford’s Rothermere American Institute situates American democracy within global contexts at a moment when domestic and foreign politics have become entwined.
Taken as a whole, 10 years of the Kinder Institute affirm a key lesson from the American past: Constitutional democracy is at its best when civic-minded, intellectually independent people bring their collective power to bear in pursuit of the nation’s founding ideals.
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