Some core tenets of democracy are people's participation, the resolution of conflict, equality and justice. In this two-part series, students write persuasive paragraphs about threats to these values and to American democracy. While this series might seem depressing, don't worry! We are all about IMP∆CT, so future stories will feature actions we can take to protect our government system that is "for the people, by the people."

Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star editorial cartoon by John Cole

Election Distrust

By Owen S.

A reason that democracy is threatened in the United States is because of election distrust. Leading up to and then after the 2020 Presidential election, Donald Trump said that the election was rigged. He got his lies out to the public by using social media and other websites. All of this caused some people not to trust the election or rely on the results from the ballots. The owner of Twitter even took his account away because he had been spreading his lies there. The “Big Lie” first came out when a political analyst used the term to warn of the dangers of Trump’s messaging. Then Trump decided to adopt this term and use it to refer to the result of the 2020 election. Trump said that he should have won against Joe Biden. He was trying to make it look like he was wronged because he wanted to get back into office by making the election officials look bad and untrustworthy. In conclusion, if Trump’s lies are not fixed, our democracy’s future will remain unpredictable for years to come.

Misinformation

By Delara B.

Another reason that democracy is threatened in the United States is because of misinformation. Misinformation, or fake news, is information that is untrue and is spread to cause confusion or disruption. This is a big problem in the US. For example, in the 2020 election, Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, yet he told his followers he won. This led to the January 6th Capitol Insurrection, and massive mistrust in the voting system. For example, according to Brookings, 57% of white Americans, 38% of Latinx, and 30% of African-Americans believed that the 2020 election was rigged. Misinformation is threatening our democracy because when people believe misinformation, they start believing less in our democracy. When the line between truth and lies is no longer visible, nobody can trust anything - or anyone. Trust is a key component to democracy. Without trust, our democracy will not function. With misinformation unidentified, our democracy will not function.

Source: The Daily Evergreen, Washington State University student newspaper

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Gerrymandering

By Maclean S.

A threat to democracy is gerrymandering. This is a process where a certain party manipulates the voting boundaries in favor of their party. This is a problem because the votes are supposed to be free and fair. If they are rigged to favor a certain party then it is breaking the Constitution. A recent example of this is the case of Hakeem Jeffries, current Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. Jeffries, a Democrat, launched an aggressive bid in May 2022 to protest Congressional district map changes that would split up historically black neighborhoods, perhaps lessening Democratic hold on the area. The problem with this is that if two parties can’t agree on making new boundaries then that can create conflict between them. A lot of times when this happens people start grouping together based on their political beliefs, where they live, and family members. When people become polarized like this, they can start arguing and even rioting. This can split people based on where they live and who they think is right. In conclusion, if we try to change boundaries in an unfair manner, it can create conflict. The Constitution was based on compromise so instead of gerrymandering, representatives from both parties should come together and compromise.

Source: Campus Times, student newspaper of the University of Rochester

Political Polarization

By Katy F.

Another reason that democracy is threatened in the United States is because Republicans and Democrats can't get along. This is called political polarization, which is political attitudes moving away from the center, towards extremes. An example of this is when Trump's followers broke in the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021 Insurrection because they were angry and thought that the election was stolen. This has come to be known as "The Big Lie," as Joe Biden won the 2020 election 306-232 in the Electoral College. Not all Republicans are this extreme but there does seem to be a general mistrust in government. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of Republicans think Democrats are more dishonest, and 83% of Democrats think that Republicans are close minded. This is a threat to democracy because we need our representatives to compromise and govern our country in a peaceful way.