Democracy faces enormous challenges in our local communities, our nation, and across the globe. UVA is committed to being a university that responds to those pressures by researching best practices and supporting democratic engagement. Three major units focus on public service to the Commonwealth (Weldon Cooper Center), presidential scholarship, public policy and political history (Miller Center), and civic education and political participation (Center for Politics) while numerous units embedded in the schools support civic engagement and well-being in more discrete areas.