In Democratic Practice, It's Time to Go on Offense
Our political system is broken. Americans don’t trust institutions (or each other) and feel that their voices are not being heard. This has been true for a while, and has been demonstrated in thousands of surveys and studies. For virtually every election in this century, candidates aiming to ‘change the system’ have won – and then not really changed the system.
The current debate about democracy presents it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Some political figures talk about “saving” democracy, as if it is something static that can’t be improved. Others don’t talk about it at all, and act as if most Americans would be fine with an authoritarian government. We’re being told we must either defend government blindly or torch it completely. In the 2024 election, blind defense lost. In the aftermath, the torching has been destructive and just as unpopular.
It is time to go on offense. Democracy has never been static, and our political system can be improved. For one thing, there are many participatory, equitable, small ‘d’ democratic ways for cities, states, and countries to make decisions and solve problems. Many people are not aware of them, but when they do hear about these things, Americans support them.
We need more imagination about how we can change our system, and more information about how democracy is evolving in some American cities, and in other countries. As part of a partnership between the National Civic League and ActiVote, you can now rate your democracy and select which ideas and reforms make the most sense to you.
What else can we do to change our system?
- Challenge people to come up with new messages about civic health, trust, and engagement – inspire them to envision the kind of democracy they want. Encourage them to use media other than the written word, like videos, images, infographics, cartoons, or other creative ways to get their ideas across.
- Give people a say, starting with the issues that matter most in their daily lives: the local decisions about planning and land use, schools, and how local budgets are spent. People of all political affiliations want more control over their communities. As many examples show, we can create processes and settings where they can be heard, relate to officials and staff, learn together, make good decisions, and find ways to help implement policies and plans.
- Use many of these same digital tools, meeting formats, and hybrid strategies to give people a say on state and federal issues as well.
- Spread the word about these examples, collect and summarize the results, connect the people participating in different places, and raise the awareness of and demand for better democracy.
It is possible to change systems. In fact, the National Civic League played a leading role in the last major wave of systems change, 130 years ago. Yes, this is difficult, but the basic reality is simple: people want to be heard. We need to demonstrate and communicate examples of how they can be heard, measure the results, ask people which of these options they want, and embed those opportunities in our governments.
