Eric Liu’s New Book Live Like a Citizen Explores How We Strengthen Civic Life
30 Sep 2026
What does it mean to live like a citizen at a time when public life can feel increasingly divided and disconnected?
Eric Liu explores that question in his new book, Live Like a Citizen: 8 Ways to Change Your Mindset and Our Country, available October 13.
The book focuses on citizenship not simply as a legal status, but as a set of habits that shape how people participate in their communities and relate to one another. Organized around eight practices, Liu looks at how people can see and listen more carefully, engage disagreement more constructively, join with others, remain open to change, and imagine a shared future.
Eric Liu on Citizenship, Community, and Democracy
At the center of Live Like a Citizen is the idea that civic life is something people practice. Through stories drawn from communities across the country, Liu examines how everyday choices can influence trust, connection, participation, and a sense of shared responsibility.
The book continues themes Liu has explored throughout his career as co-founder and CEO of Citizen University, an author, civic educator, and former White House speechwriter and deputy domestic policy adviser. His work focuses on how power operates, how people participate in democracy, and how communities build the habits needed to navigate difference and create change.
As a speaker, Liu brings those ideas into conversations about citizenship, leadership, civic engagement, community, and democratic participation. He helps audiences examine how individuals and institutions can strengthen connection, understand their own role in public life, and engage more thoughtfully with people whose experiences or perspectives may differ from their own.
With Live Like a Citizen, Liu extends that conversation into a practical framework for thinking about what citizenship looks like in everyday life and how small acts of participation can shape the communities we share.