By JENNIFER CLANCY
We talk about the death of a star, the death of a monarch, the lifecycle of a butterfly or a business. But life and death are not restricted only to the concrete: cultures, values, and even democracies have life cycles too.
From the exploration and land-grabbing savagery that settled this nation, to our collective fight for independence, then freedom; wars over autonomy and human decency; to victories over fascism and communism; and more recently, battle in the name of democracy — America has traditionally valued the principles of self-sovereignty, freedoms of person, of business and economy, of free speech and liberty. For many, comfort, opportunity, and relative stability have made it easy to take these hard-fought treasures for granted.
American democracy, and our prized role as global defenders of liberty and freedom, is not just at stake on some future ballot: The erosion of our democracy has been underway for nearly a decade, and we are only now starting to wake up to say, Hey! Stop the bleeding. Slow the wheels. We must put our petty differences aside and fight for our cherished experiment in self governance that we’ve worked so hard to build and exemplify. It’s not too late!
On Saturday, NPR’s Trump’s Trials podcast released an episode just hours before the assassination attempt on the former president at a political rally in Pennsylvania. The reporting team explored what the decline of a democracy really looks like, in action and in policy. And unwittingly, the timing could not have been more spot-on. In the aftermath, one pundit went so far as to frame the condition of our union as being “one inch from a potential civil war”.
Nobody wants that. So let’s get serious about changing our trajectory.
The true state of our democracy is not just a feeling or perception; it’s not based on any one political candidate winning or losing an election. It is not about partisanship or politics, parties or convention rhetoric. It’s not even hinged on any one Supreme Court ruling, no matter how surprising. The decline of a democracy is a slow and steady dismantling, happening one piece at a time, and right in front of our very eyes.
In fact, the death of a democracy is scientific.
There is a proven, tangible knowledge of what democracy means in practice. And if we want to see past the political bombast, if we dare to know when the tides are actually changing, we need to look no further than science.
If you’ve not had time to read or listen to Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky’s How Democracies Die, at least spare the twenty minutes the NPR podcast devotes to this conversation. “Since 2016, our democracy has experienced democratic backsliding. It’s not a theoretical question, it’s not a matter of if this might happen in the future. It’s happened.”
Tracking democracies around the world is an established mathematical equation. It is not conjecture, political, anti-Republican or anti-Democrat. In its annual democracy index, Freedom House characterizes the alarming global trend (a net decline in total global freedom 23 years running) as “a destructive race to the bottom”, and where America used to rank on par with other contemporary pillars of democracy such as Germany and Australia, it is trending away from political freedom and civil liberties to align more closely with Argentina and South Africa. What’s worse, most countries that currently rank the same as the U.S. have trajected toward increased freedoms, achieving more favorable rankings, while the U.S. has only recently (2016) begun to reverse course toward a more restrictive society, more akin to Croatia, Ghana, and Panama.
In short, the U.S. ranks behind 51 countries with more freedom. Not only are we no longer the global leader in freedom and democracy, perceived or otherwise, we are not even in the leadership. If this trend continues, America is at risk of slipping ever further down this list.
The authors remind us: “Democracy [should] not be taken for granted. These things don’t work by themselves; democracy is not a machine that runs on its own. It required heroic action by the people, and the institutions themselves are not what sustained us.”
Both President Biden and former President Trump are making the argument that American democracy and the future of our country are at stake, and they both have very different ideas about what that means exactly. And they are both right. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment. Too often we might overemphasize the importance of now — this moment in time — but I stress without hyperbole: We’ve reached a state of emergency.
So what can be done? How do we boomerang the trend back toward political freedom and the preservation of civil liberties? How might we improve our global ranking and again become an example for aspiring nations around the world? It’s going to take big institutional reform as well as the bravery and action of everyday citizens. Here’s how to protect the village:
- Stand up. Do you believe in the rule of law, that we are all created equal in the eyes of the law, and that no one person, regardless of position, favor, wealth, or public office, is above the law? Speak up. Be a fair and careful arbitrator of the facts and a maven of credible news media. This is on all of us at the individual level. This means being thoughtful about your posts, reposts/shares, which news sites you patronize, choosing podcasts that are productive not destructive, and where you vote with your dollar. Start now and go long.
- Vote. The couch cannot save our democracy any more effectively than the judiciary or Congress might. Even if you’re not in love with either of the sandwich options on the beverage cart, you’re not going to choose to starve! Do your civic duty. Bring your friends. Volunteer. Spread the word.
- Vote down ballot. Sure, it’s a presidential election, but there is so much more at stake than just the White House. Do your research. Set aside some time to actually read through your Blue Book. Support local news to better understand the candidates — federal, state, and local — that hope to represent where you live, the judges and magistrates, the referendums and ballot measures, school board and city council positions. Every single decision that you have the privilege to weigh-in on deserves and requires your attentive participation.
- Protect free and fair elections in 2024. This is equally the job of the citizen. Simply put, this means voting, participating in a peaceful process, promoting civil discourse (particularly around political and social issues); and it also means not spreading falsehoods, not condoning coordinated power grabs, not participating in acts of violence of any kind, and not checking out of the process altogether. Be present. Be counted. Be accountable.
- Hold elected officials accountable. This is bigger than you might think and it starts at your kitchen table. Support our public servants: the classroom teachers helping the generations of tomorrow discern how to find and assess credible information; the law enforcement officers working tirelessly to uphold our laws equitably and protect us all; the colleges and institutions teaching skills for civil discourse, diplomacy, and nonviolence; the local officials ensuring proper use of tax dollars to upkeep our streets and power grids; the families instilling values of equality, kindness, and service. These are our everyday heroes who collectively have the power. Let’s end any divisiveness and instead support the very fabric we’re made of. Together. As a community. As a nation.
The majority of the world’s population lives in only partially free or authoritarian countries (only 20% is free). Are we really going to stand idly by and hand back the freedoms that make each and every one of us who we are today? Because if we don’t grow the personal constitution and fortitude required to speak out and stand up in defense of American democracy, the door will close before we know it. We might never have the privilege to exercise those freedoms again in our lifetime.