What’s Next for Democracy?

By Jessica Newfield (MPA Candidate '21)

The 2020 US election has been called “historic” for several reasons, including the highest voter turnout since 1968, the most votes for a presidential candidate in history, and the first incumbent American head of state to not concede and incite violence in the face of a certain victory for his opponent. In a recent interview for Democracy Now, Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, describes the situation as “nearing very close to the brink of a constitutional crisis (...) This is an unprecedented attack on democracy. The voters have spoken, and what we’re seeing is a president who refuses to recognize and embrace the will of the people.”

As we regroup and continue to rally during the next couple months leading to the critical Georgia Senate run-off, the GSPP community reflects on what’s next for Democracy in our country: 

Dean Henry Brady, in recent Campus Conversations, on the institutional consequences of a polarized nation: 

 “I hope we can spend the next four years finding a path to work together (...) People distrust the government, distrust institutions much more than they did before. Liberals trust higher education, science and the press. Conservatives trust religion, the police, and the military.  It’s hard to understand how a society can continue to get along when there are these partisan divisions with respect to very basic and important institutions.”

MPP’22 student Sage Ellington-Lawrence on a failing electoral system:

“I think pretty much all of us have found this election cycle to be extremely draining, but through it all I sometimes forget all of the important issues that are at stake and focus solely on the necessity of removing Trump from office. When Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ victory speech finally came on November 7th, I remembered the plethora of issues that we now have the potential to act upon. As progressives, we must continue to advocate for policies that match the scale of the problems we face. The last couple of weeks have also made it even more clear that our electoral system is extremely antiquated and by design does not allow for free and fair elections in the US. To me, this is a clear reminder of how important the rules that govern institutions are in determining who wields power, whether it is in our legislatures, our elections, or our economy.” 

MPP’22 student Aaron Tiedemann on being at a turning point for democracy:

 “What’s next for democracy in America: I am hopeful we take this crisis as a wake up call to safeguard democracy. When I was an undergrad during and right after 2016, I wrote my dissertation on the risks to our democracy. At that time it didn’t feel like there were a lot of people talking about the need for substantial change to our institutions (besides President Obama in his farewell address). Now, It seems like there is a growing awareness and energy (at least among Democrats) to make some long overdue improvements to our democracy that will help us avoid this sort of crisis. Of course, that is going to be more difficult if Trumpism controls the other major party for years to come and if Democrats take the wrong lessons from this election. But at this point, we will either make the needed fixes or reach an even worse breaking point.”

Political advisor and Professor Robert Reich on long-term concerns for social security in America:

“I think it's clear, particularly now, after the coronavirus, how much of our social safety net is really in tatters. It was invented in the 1930s, and worked pretty well in the 1950s, and 60s and 70s. But when we have a calamity, or when we have a deep recession, such as what we are experiencing now and did during the 2008 recession, we can see there's just too many holes in the safety net. The changes that were made by Bill Clinton in terms of welfare, moving over to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, also have not proven to be helpful for families in deep and desperate need. And there are too many of those families right now. So it is time for an overhaul. I don't believe if the Republicans keep the Senate that we're going to be able to rely on the federal government to make that kind of overhaul. 

Regardless of what Joe Biden wants, it's going to fall more and more to the States. Certain states like California, and the state of Washington, Massachusetts, New York, will probably continue to be the vanguards of these safety nets, although they don't have very much money. You see, the irony now is that at a time when it is most important for the federal government to come up with a big stimulus package and repair these kinds of safety nets, and help stimulate jobs with a big infrastructure program, it's very unlikely that the federal government is going to be able to do that. So we're really talking about a long term plan, a long term agenda, maybe after the midterms of 2022, or maybe after the presidential election of 2024. Who knows. But undoubtedly, the safety net is one of the big obstacles to this country being where it should be in terms of equal opportunity and in terms of overcoming the deep frustrations, the anxieties that so many people have right now that are completely rational.” 

Director of One Fair Wage and Professor Saru Jayaraman on the importance of coalition building in ensuring a safe transition of power:

“Large coalitions of organizations are gearing up to mobilize to protect the democratic election results. The first moment in question will be December 7-14, when states will be submitting their electors to Congress. Groups are gearing up to mobilize around these dates to ensure that Republican state legislatures are submitting a true slate of electors. These mobilizations are important not only to ensure a safe transition to the next democratically elected president, but also to remind Democrats that they must deliver for the communities that won them the election - BIPOC communities, especially women of color, who were organizing around key issues like wages, health care, and climate change and expect to see change on those issues.” 

MPA’21 student Pajouablai Monica Lee on her election organizing efforts with the Hmong community:

“This 2020 election, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters turned out at huge unprecedented rates. Recent Catalist data revealed that more than 2/3 of AAPI voters voted for President-Elect Joe Biden, and nearly 4 million AAPI early voters casted their votes in 2020, compared to 1.25 million in 2016 – that’s a 310% increase! Do you know the other best part? Hmong voters were the margin of victory in key battleground states like Wisconsin and Minnesota which my Hmong Americans for Biden Affinity Group played a direct role in.

Given all of these small wins and the amount of time and energy we spent to help elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, my hope is that the Democratic Party continues to see our small but mighty voting bloc as a priority – that we are worth the investment because we are their margin of victory. I hope the Biden Administration, the Democratic Party, and our other AAPI counterparts will continue to include us and remember the Hmong community when doing AAPI outreach, and include our voices when writing immigration policies to end mass deportation of our undocumented communities, or education policies to make college more accessible and affordable for our lowest-achieving communities like the Hmong."

The US’ democracy is a work in progress to say the least. Its foundations are both aspirational and problematic. When talking with fellow bi-national French-American friends in 2016 about which Democratic candidate they would vote for, I recall them saying that they would vote for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders because she was the “safe choice” and “more likely to win”. The very fact that Americans have to be strategic when casting their vote indicates that the electoral system is not truly representative. Again, in 2020, this strategic obligation is even more palpable for many progressive Americans who don’t resonate with the generally centrist policies of the Democratic party. 

It is time to convert the “armchair revolutionaries” (as Black Lives Matter and Black Futures Lab Co-Founder and author Alicia Garza describes them in Big Ideas: Election 2020), to showing up to do the real, grueling work of collective organizing and get the Democratic party to “deliver big for real, regular people.”

The mass mobilization and organizing we’re witnessing is not going to go away. This is a form of new power that is here to stay. “Old power works like a currency. It is held by few. Once gained, it is jealously guarded, and the powerful have a substantial store of it to spend. It is closed, inaccessible, and leader-driven. It downloads, and it captures. New power operates differently, like a current. It is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. It uploads, and it distributes. Like water or electricity, it’s most forceful when it surges. The goal with new power is not to hoard it but to channel it.” - Jeremy Heimans, “New Power: How Power Works in Our Hyperconnected World—and How to Make It Work for You”

Here are some prerequisites for new power to take Democracy forward in the right direction in America:

• Elect progressives into the Senate and work with nonprofits that get the important civic education work done.
• Disrupt the spread of disinformation. Hold social media companies accountable to their complicitness in disseminating propaganda.
• Embed democratic norms and standardize election procedures across the US. Support the creation of an election federal agency.
• Eliminate the electoral college already. 
• De-weaponize race and support inclusive social movements (here's where to start)
• Build coalitions for racial and climate justice. Get involved in the squad’s projects for the Green New Deal. We know now that climate gradualism is not enough.
• Design a regenerative and inclusive economy that uplifts all people.

All this in mind, the words of late Congressman John Lewis' final essay still ring in my ears: "Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself." These words and the voices from the GSPP community remind us that civic engagement is emotional labor and a daily practice, a daily commitment to embodying truly democratic values. Values that encourage belonging over hate speech. Values that lift up diversity as a strength and not as an enemy. Values that protect irrevocably ALL human life. 

So for all our sakes, let’s put the Work back into Progress.