Why Democracy?

American Democracy’s Development Through Time

American Democracy is as dynamic as the nation itself. Much like the economy and political atmosphere of the country, the way democracy is understood and implemented changes over time. While the country may be going through a difficult period, it is by no means the first time the American people have doubted their government. And through the push and pull of public opinion, democracy has always adapted. A brief history of major coalitions of American political ideology illustrates this.

Democracy started off quite narrowly. Fearing a tyranny of the majority (and having a limited view of what an American “citizen” was), the Founders implemented structural elements that were anti-majoritarian, such as the Electoral College. In 1924, for example, Andrew Jackson won a plurality of the popular vote and the electoral college but lost the presidency in the House of Representatives’ contingent process. Some people rebelled against the “elitism” that allowed for such a democratic failure. Then, when Jackson did become president, his coalition came in as a rallying cry for the common man, meaning white men. Later, the Civil War Amendments and Civil Rights Act of 1866 expanded the concept of citizenship. Then, as the tides turned again, the Reconstruction coalition propped up big businesses as the economy became industrialized and promises of removals of racial barriers to franchise took a back seat. But then the economy crashed, and the New Deal coalition came to power, and brought with them a renewed emphasis on liberalism and civil rights. Here, the 1965 Voter Rights Act was passed, and arguably, this was the first time America became a true democracy. And then, after a wave of civil rights expansion, the pendulum swung back, and in came Conservatism, where changes to voter registration were implemented.

American democracy has always been a question of progress, not finality. While we are now in a period of political fragmentation, history suggests that this may not be lasting.

The Disconnect from Democracy in the United States and Abroad

Lately it seems that there is a growing global sense of anxiety instead of excitement when looking toward the future. This anxiety is not unfounded: in 2020, life expectancy in the United States fell for the first time; inflation is pushing home ownership, a traditional bellwether for economic security, further out of reach for newer generations; a global pandemic killed around 3 million people, according to the World Health Organization; and the United States, for many an excellent example of democracy, faced an insurrection on January 6th, 2021. Polls show that Americans’ trust in government is also lower than ever before, and some are losing faith in democracy itself. Democracy is a form of government that relies on the trust of its participants, otherwise, the system will fail. In this Working Paper, we explain why democracy, when implemented well, can be a vehicle for positive change instead of a cause for concern.

The Reasons for Feelings of Disconnection

There are many reasons Americans feel disconnected from democracy, and we have listed some major reasons below. If even some of these concerns can be addressed on a large scale, we believe American faith in democracy can be put on the path to recovery.

A Dissatisfaction with Candidates for Election

Many Americans believe that candidates running for public office (at least with high positions in government) are out of touch with the issues most important to the average American. A contributing reason for this is the economic disparity between politicians and voters. In 2020, the majority of Congress members were millionaires, whereas the average American household income was less than 1/10th of that, coming in at $67,521. A 2015 Pew research survey revealed that 76% of participants felt that money has a greater influence on politics and elected officials currently than in the past, and that 64% of all Americans believe the high cost of a presidential campaign “discourages good candidates from running.”

Americans also believe politicians and candidates are less trustworthy than in the past. In fact, just 22% of the public say that most elected officials put the interests of the country ahead of their own interests; 74% say they put their own interests ahead of the nation’s. Whether this is due to economic disparity or political scandals, it is clear that Americans feel that those running for government offices do not represent the “ordinary” American.

Finally, candidates running for office in the U.S. have become more polarized over time, with the number of moderates running for office decreasing. While it is true that American politics have become more polarized in recent times, American voters are less ideologically polarized than they think they are (although they are affectively polarized—meaning they strongly dislike and distrust members of the opposite party). This misconception is strongest among the most politically engaged people. The disparity between where leaders are ideologically and where their voters are precludes legislative policy agreement on many issues because average voters are not able to assert their (often weak) policy preferences.

A Dissatisfaction with the System of Government

Especially due to recent presidential election controversies, many Americans feel that the way we elect the President is no longer working. From a 2022 survey, about 63% of U.S. adults believe the President should be elected by a nationwide popular vote instead of the Electoral College. A major reason for this could be that the Electoral College allows a candidate to win the presidency without winning the popular vote, like the 2000 election of George Bush and the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

Perhaps even more detrimentally, regardless of the type of system we have in place, a large group of Americans believe that our elections are fraudulent. A 2023 poll found 30% of respondents believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election due to voter fraud.

A Feeling That the Political System is Stacked Against Them

With a two-party system and a population of around 332 million people of diverse racial and ethnic origins, it is easy to understand that many minority groups do not feel represented by their senators or congresspeople. While, as a nation, we have made many strides to overcome the structural biases built into our political system, many feel that these biases have not been eliminated. A 2021 Pew Research Survey found that half of American adults say “a lot” more needs to be done to ensure equal rights for all Americans regardless of their race, while about 34% say that a little needs to be done, and 15% say nothing needs to be done. Out of those who believe “a lot” needs to be done, they are fairly split on how to go about achieving this: half believe necessary changes can be made within the current system, and half believe most laws and institutions need to be rebuilt due to fundamental structural bias.

The feeling that the system is stacked against people is not just limited to minorities or race— a 2017 poll found 55% of white Americans felt discriminated against on the basis of their race, and a 2021 survey found that 8 in 10 Republicans felt the current system is stacked against conservatives and people with traditional values.

Youth Disengagement

The younger generations (younger millennials and Gen Z) are politically active in ways that differ from the past generations. During the 2022 midterm elections, only about 27% of young people (aged 18-29) voted. But that it not to say that young people are uninterested in politics. Young people are often at the forefront of social movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too. In May of 2020, 38% of young Americans (ages 18-24) surveyed said they posted political content online in the past 7 days, and 70% said they received information about the 2020 election on social media. In a survey of young people aged 18-29 in 2022 where respondents were asked to select the three most important issues they are the most concerned about, 41% selected inflation/gas prices, 29% selected abortion, 25% selected jobs that pay a living wage, 23% selected climate change, and 19% selected gun violence. Furthermore, younger people are trending towards alternative sources of news to keep them updated on current events. A 2022 Pew Research study shows a quarter of U.S. adults under 30 regularly get their news from TikTok.

Ideas on How to Reconnect People with Democracy

Understanding the Difference Between Political Movements versus Political Parties

Americans tend to tightly align themselves with a political party, and often feel a strong sense of identity in which party they belong to. A 2017 study found Americans feel more strongly attached to their political party than even their race or religion. As the graphic to the left indicates, members of each party are taking increasingly polarized positions on political issues.

Ideological consistency based on a scale of 10 political values questions (see Appendix A). Republicans include Republican-leaning independents; Democrats include Democratic-leaning independents (see Appendix B).

Provide Youth with Active and Meaningful Participation in Political Activity

Growing up in a new age of technology, Gen-Z generally responds to political messaging in a different way than previous generations. Based on in-depth interviews with Gen-Z participants, researchers have found that overall, Gen-Z is suspicious of traditional advertising. They are more likely to pay attention to digital advertising that comes across as more authentic—messages that are brief, use humor, and shared through social media. They especially respond to unfiltered messages that capture the “messiness” of real life. When it comes to what messages resonate with them, they respond well to compelling stories, and often open dialogue around them. Research also shows that regarding politicians, Gen-Z prefers to see a candidate’s personal side (again showing their preference for authenticity), and dislike when candidates speak in political jargon or come across as untransparent.

Liberal democracy based on the expert assessments and index by V-Dem, ranging form 0 to 1 (most democratic).

Note: Shown is the "period life expectancy." This is the average number of years a newborn would live if age-specific mortality rates in the current year were to stay the same throughout its life.

Explain Why Democracy, as a Form of Government, Is Ultimately Best for Its Citizens

The Government Effectiveness Index captures perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service, and policy formulation and implementation (positive values mean higher effectiveness). Liberal democracy is based on expert assessments and an index by V-Dem, ranging from 0 to 1 (most democratic).

Protecting democracy in America is critical, as democracy impacts almost every aspect of our nation. When it comes to our economy, studies show that foreign economic policymakers largely prefer to trade with democracies over non-democracies, likely because democracy provides a stable and reliable government for trade. Democracy also promotes innovation in technological performance, which is an essential element of a healthy economy. Perhaps even more importantly, democratic countries have healthier people, resulting in longer life expectancies, as shown to the left.

Further, democracies are simply more effective at providing for the basic needs of their citizens. Democracies also have more educated populations because, overall, citizens of democracy spend more time in school than citizens of other forms of government.

And probably most importantly, democracies are more effective at protecting human rights.

Based on the expert assessments and indices by V-dem, ranging from 0 to 1 (most rights / most democratic).

As evidenced from the facts above, democracy affects almost every aspect of American life, and these are easy to take for granted. Based on the information above, statistically, living in a democracy makes a person more likely to live a longer, healthier, and more prosperous life than a person living in a different type of government. These facts alone show the protection of American democracy is essential for the well-being of its citizens.

Possible Solutions to Restore American Faith in Democracy:

• Leverage NGOs currently working on these issues.
• Encourage younger and more relatable politicians to run for office.
• Implement term limits or age caps to congressmen or judges.
• Provide support to moderate candidates running from either party.
• Pass laws tightening security on elections/implementing more non-partisan checks on elections.
• Support the creation of a viable third party.
• Increase comparative media coverage of other countries and their democratic journeys (to show that a perfect democracy is unachievable, and on the world scale, the U.S. is overall more “democratic” than many other countries)
• Pass more legislation on the inflammatory spread of “fake news” via social media and traditional media.
• Lower the voting age to 17 (research shows this increases voter participation among young people, as most are still living with their parents at 17, who encourage them to vote) Tik Tok and other social media campaigns to engage youth.

This document has been submitted to the Task Force for American Democracy for consideration and has been posted and/or circulated for information purposes only. The views expressed herein represent the opinions of the author(s) and not those of the Task Force or the ABA. They have not been reviewed or approved by the House of Delegates or the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association and, accordingly, should not be construed as representing the position of the Association or any of its entities. This publication is freely available to download, copy and distribute provided there is attribution to the ABA Task Force for American Democracy, and provided this notice is reproduced on all copies.