Celebrating Democracy - 250 Years and Beyond!. The Jackson Public Library and the Whitney Community Center are partnering to launch a special 2026 series: Celebrating Democracy – 250 Years and Beyond! The first program in the series is Why Democracy? on Sunday, January 11th, from 4:00–5:30 pm at the Whitney Community Center.

Why Democracy? Democracy is often treated as an unquestioned good—the one political principle on which people across the ideological spectrum can agree. Yet its value has been challenged repeatedly throughout history. To understand democracy’s place in the modern world, it is essential to examine the arguments on which it rests. This involves clarifying what democracy is, considering why influential thinkers—both historical and contemporary—have distrusted it, and exploring the strongest contemporary defenses of democratic governance. This program is presented by Dr. Josh Duclos the 1923 Chair of Humanities at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH and hosted by the Friends of the Jackson Public Library and the Friends of the Whitney Community Center as part of the Celebrate Democracy 250 Years and Beyond! series, is FREE, and runs Sunday, January 11th from 4-5:30 pm at the Whitney Community Center. No Limit. Not required, but to help us better plan Click Here to sign up.