Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term Jan. 20, the American people have witnessed unprecedented destruction of U.S. institutions. The tirade Trump and his fellow Republicans in power are on is rapidly leaving our government in a state vulnerable to a hostile authoritarian takeover.
Democracy, as it functions in this country, enabled the Trump administration to infiltrate, weaken and weaponize every level of the federal government. Rampant gerrymandering, the Senate filibuster and the overwhelming amounts of money spent on elections have muddied the Founding Fathers’ vision for a modern beacon of liberty, even if that vision was already muddied by racism, classism and sexism.
However, Americans can’t turn to chaos or hopelessness in the face of an authoritarian threat unlike any before seen stateside. Although we can no longer blindly trust American democracy as it exists today, we must continue to advocate for democracy at all levels.
A quick Google search defines democracy as “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” However, democracy can and should be practiced beyond the state. For example, workers should use unions as a way of democratizing their workplaces and consolidating their collective power. Federal and state legislation could make large companies delegate a certain number of board seats to workers, democratizing those companies’ corporate structures.
In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris positioned herself as a defender of democracy and Trump as an authoritarian threat. Although Harris was certainly correct that Trump is a threat to democracy, she didn’t often connect her themes of democracy to concrete policy with democratization at its heart. Instead of purporting democratic material change, she stayed in the abstract, “saving-the-soul-of-our-nation” argument utilized by former President Joe Biden.
This argument falls short when the arguer fails to acknowledge the failings that formed the soul of our nation has often been filled with malice toward the most vulnerable. Democracy as a concept has failed Black people, women, immigrants and Indigenous people for centuries, a failure that continues in many parts of the country today.
Democratizing policy is not an entirely new idea. Theorists and political analysts have made an argument for democracy as an applied policy rather than an abstract idea for years.
“We need to offer a conception of democracy materially grounded enough to bridge that gap — to convince more people that democracy isn’t just some woolly ideal but the very means by which their material lives might be improved,” Osita Nwanevu, a magazine editor and author, told the New York Review of Books in a recent interview.
Nwanevu is just one person arguing for a more democratized policy system. People are doing this by voicing their concern at town halls, attending a local protest or reading their town’s newspaper, whether they realize it or not.
Democracy is inherently tied to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and supporting these things at a community level brings meaningful change people can see in their everyday lives. Small publications expose corruption among city officials, and voicing dissent locally reaches those same officials directly.
Incorporating democracy into habits and policies that benefit the lives of Americans is paramount to ensuring its future in our country. From the top down, democracy needs to be at work to fight authoritarianism. Democracy in the U.S. has often fallen short of being a real solution to the problems we now face, but with some work and faith in its principles, it can reshape American life to be more equitable for all people than it has ever been before.
Jackson McCoy is a junior studying journalism and environmental studies at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to share your thoughts? Let Jackson know by emailing him at jm049122@ohio.edu.
