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Our Work

Resources

Explore our Working Papers to understand the issues facing America’s democracy and ideas for solving them. Browse Background Papers for background reading on American democracy. Search our database of scholarly articles to understand more on our elections, political polarization, democracy and a host of other topics. Use our toolkits and speaker/discussion guides to make a difference in your community.

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Knight Election Law Forum

Knight Foundation and the ABA are working together to host the Knight Election Law Forums, a virtual series aimed at equipping journalists with essential, nonpartisan, fact-based knowledge on election law to better inform their communities.

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Take Action

Get Involved Locally

Connect and volunteer with other lawyers and legal professionals in your state who are working to protect elections and strengthen public trust in their integrity.

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Listening Tours

Join the Task Force for American Democracy on a cross-country listening tour focused on addressing the key issues facing our democracy, such as ensuring trust in elections and improving civic dialog.

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Mission

The mission of the ABA Task Force for American Democracy is to: (i) inspire and mobilize America’s duty-bound legal profession to actively support and defend American democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law; (ii) ensure that lawyers are educated and held accountable to their professional obligations to support and defend our democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law; and (iii) Leverage the legal profession to educate the public on the reasons for, and the importance of, democracy and the rule of law.

Background

American democracy is under threat. The facts are sobering:

  • In a recent Pew study, 51% of Americans said they are dissatisfied with how democracy is working and 46% said they are open to other forms of government, including rule by a strong leader.
  • Less than one third of Millennials consider it essential to live in a democracy.
  • According to a 2022 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey, 25% of US adults can name only 1 of the 3 branches of government and more than 20% can't name any branch of government.
  • Against all available evidence, many Americans believe the 2020 election was stolen and question the integrity of our election systems. Some even say they are prepared to resort to violence if their desired candidate does not win the next election.