Saving Democracy Is Up To All of Us – Washington Monthly
How activists and citizen journalists can revive the American promise.
| 5:04 PM
It is no secret that American democracy is teetering on the edge of destruction. A white nationalist authoritarian movement currently headed by Donald Trump wants to destroy majoritarian popular consent before a minority of racist whites, prudish evangelicals and overcompensating, insecure men lose their grip on both the culture and the government. Meanwhile, hyperpartisan division is making the notoriously clunky, procedurally challenging and risk-averse American system of government impossible to navigate for anyone trying to change the status quo.
But there is a silver lining to our precarious danger: we are also witnessing an increase in citizen activism, both political and social, unseen in generations. When a police officer murdered George Floyd on that fateful day in May, it reignited a public protest movement still coursing through the nation. Thousands of normally apolitical Americans have joined local clubs, citizen groups and even filed to run for public office.
There is an awareness among many Americans that if the institutions cannot save us, we must play a direct part in saving ourselves. Recording and communications technologies are helping greatly in the effort. The ability to capture police brutality and open racism on video has changed the conversation and awakened the majority of Americans to how often the officially sanitized police record of events differs from the awful reality. Ordinary citizens now have the power to hold both individual and state-sanctioned oppressors accountable in public spaces.
This phenomenon applies to Donald Trump and the federal government as much as to local police officers and bigots. Consider for a moment the recent hullabaloo over Trumps attempts to sabotage the Postal Service. While Democratic leadership in Congress can and should use every tool at their disposal over the issue, there is realistically only so much they can do. The Administration can ignore every subpoena as long as Senate Republicans allow them to get away with it, and precipitating a Constitutional crisis by sending the Capitol police to arrest the Postmaster General could easily add to the destabilizing chaos in which Trump thrives.
The greatest power to stop Trump comes from all of us as direct activists and citizen journalists. Much of what the rightwing authoritarian movement wants to inflict on the country, depends only on quiet acquiescence from the rest of us.
For instance, it was normal people taking pictures of postal boxes being removed from city streets that caused the USPS to backtrack and halt the practice until after election day. And postal workers themselves can put up fierce resistance to any attempts to sabotage ballot delivery. On top of the National Letter Carriers Association directly endorsing Trumps opponent Joe Biden, there are already reports that postal workers plan to deliver ballots on time come rain, sleet, snowor Trump and DeJoy:
Whatever DeJoys actual motive may or may not be, true letter carriers were disturbed by the sight of mail going undelivered. Its frustrating for us, Julion said. Because we know this is not what we do. In an organization of people sworn to get the mail delivered no matter what, DeJoy became known as Delay.
What will likely have a bigger impact on the election is the avowed determination of the 300,000 letter carriers themselves to deliver the ballots this year no matter what DeJoy and his boss Trump do.
Even more so than priority mail, Julion said.Im confident, you get those ballots in our hands, were going to deliver them. If nothing else gets delivered, those ballots will.
He added, Theres a message we want to deliver, too.
The message is that nobody is going to steal this election if they can help it, that falsehoods and sabotage are not going to stop letter carriers from doing their sworn duty and thereby enabling people to exercise their right to vote even in a pandemic.
This is what we do, Julion repeated, adding, We can handle it.
This is what will be required until at least January 20, 2021: an army of regular citizens stepping up to document wrongdoing and use whatever power they have in their work and social life to halt the destruction of democracy and move forward the cause of justice. If Trump and the Republican National Committee send a combination of private and DHS goons to intimidate voters in minority communities, it will be up to citizens to take video and use social media to organize communities to force them to back down. If they try to send squads to prevent the counting of mail-in ballots in a second Brooks Brothers Riot, it will be up to all of us to protect the vote counters by documenting it and standing in their way with overwhelming numbers. It will be crucial for young and healthy Americans not directly assisting anti-totalitarian campaigns to volunteer as poll workers to ensure that in-person voting will not be affected despite the pandemic. And so on.
The next few months will be a crucible not only for American democracy, but the health and safety of the international community and planet. Democratic leaders can do more, but theres still only so much that they can do until Trump is gone because of the flaws inherent in the system. But if we all do our parts and put all hands on deck, we can get through this together.
Original post:
Saving Democracy Is Up To All of Us - Washington Monthly
- Partisan and creepy interviews are threat to democracy, Nick Robinson says - The Guardian - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Star Wars-themed democracy rally held in Irvine - FOX 11 Los Angeles - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- End Times Fascism: Naomi Klein on How Trump, Musk, Far Right Dont Believe in the Future - Democracy Now! - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Australians sizzle on election day with 'democracy sausage' and 'budgy smugglers' - Reuters - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Claims Criticisms Of Judges Are 'Attacks On Democracy' | Will Cain Show - Fox News - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Hundreds rally in Farmington for democracy and climate action - The Portland Press Herald - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Chilling: Wisconsin Gov. Evers Pushes Back After Trumps Border Czar Threatens to Arrest Him - Democracy Now! - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Students and faculty advocate for academic freedom at pro-democracy rally - The Stanford Daily - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Opinion | 3.5% and the Hopeful Math for Saving Democracy - Common Dreams - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- In Brief with Mu Sochua, President of the Khmer Movement for Democracy - 9DashLine - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Democracy on edge: Germany labels leading AfD a 'far-right threat,' facing historic clash - Haaretz - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- May Day Alaska: Rallies support workers and protest Trump, threats to democracy - Alaska Beacon - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Trumps Assault on PBS and NPR Chooses Oligarchy Over Press Freedom and Democracy - The Nation - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- How Bad Is It?: Andrew Marantz on the Health of Our Democracy - The New Yorker - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Romanias war on democracy Is this a stolen election? - UnHerd - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Star Wars fans join in California rally for democracy on May the 4th - Honolulu Star-Advertiser - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Hundreds of activists stage Malis first pro-democracy rally in years since coups - AP News - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- Cacciari Warns Against Banning AfD As Threat To Democracy - Evrim Aac - May 5th, 2025 [May 5th, 2025]
- The Dangers of Trumps First 100 Days: A Democracy in Exile Roundtable - dawnmena.org - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Democracy is a gift worth fighting for - MinnPost - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Can Ukraines fight for democracy survive without US support? - Middle East Institute - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- This 1938 pro-science manifesto defended democracy against fascism - Big Think - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Three U.S. Citizen Children, Including 4-Year-Old Battling 4th Stage Cancer, Deported to Honduras - Democracy Now! - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Media Freedom Rapid Response Input regarding the EU Democracy Shield - European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- The crucial role of schools in protecting Australia's democracy - The Educator - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- What Im Thinking Now, as a Political Bridge-Builder and Democracy Reformer - AllSides - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Ateneo universities across the Philippines mark the launch of the Philippine Observatory on Democracy - Ateneo de Manila University - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Whats wrong with democracy in Europe? - The Economist - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- What Greek tragedy could teach us about the decline of our democracy - The Boston Globe - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- What the Trump assault on American democracy has taught us - The Globe and Mail - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Lowering the voting age will benefit democracy | Letters - The Guardian - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Trump calls Harvard a threat to Democracy amid executive orders targeting higher education - NBC News - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Democracy on the Brink: Scholars Warn of Americas Authoritarian Turn - The Fulcrum - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Editorial: Dont Let Trump Kill News and Democracy - InDepthNH.org - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- When White House begins to embrace conservative influencers, where will 'American democracy' head? - Global Times - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Judge Halts Trumps Anti-Voting Executive Order - Democracy Docket - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- The State of Democracy Requires Us to Expand the Map - Democracy Docket - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- A threat to Democracy: Trump continues bashing Harvard amid attacks on major institutions - Politico - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Democracy is hard; freedom is worth all the inconveniences: Arvelo - Seacoastonline.com - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Bookstores are arsenals of democracy - Princeton University Press - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Courts Handed Trump A Slew of Legal Losses This Week - Democracy Docket - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Poll: 61% of Israelis fear for democracy, 66% say internal rift is greatest threat - The Times of Israel - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- In praise of a democracy on paper - The Globe and Mail - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Opinion | When governors sabotage democracy just because they feel like it - The Washington Post - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Reuters: Trump Will Offer $100+ Billion Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia - Democracy Now! - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- DRC Agrees to Ceasefire with Rwanda-Backed M23 Rebels - Democracy Now! - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Don Wooten: Pope Francis, Trump and the tension between capitalism and democracy - Dispatch Argus - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Gen Z Has a Complex Relationship with Democracy, Survey Reveals - The 74 - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Tunisian Authorities Raze Refugee Camps That Housed 7,000 - Democracy Now! - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Rock This Democracy To Hold Next Street Protest, Rally On May Day - The Newtown Bee - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Opinion: We shouldnt forget those who helped democracy come into being - Anchorage Daily News - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- The Trump Administration Is Not Just Erasing History, They're Rewriting the Future and Attacking Democracy | Opinion - Newsweek - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- The New Far-Right Coalition Thats Out to Destroy American Democracy - The New Republic - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Thailands fragile democracy takes another hit with arrest of US academic - The Conversation - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- An existential threat to democracy: the US judge facing a challenge to her election victory - The Guardian - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Is Trump about to end democracy in the USA? - Funding the Future - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- President Trump Is Not the Only Threat to Our Democracy - The Regulatory Review - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Key Federal Elections Agency Moving Forward With Trumps Anti-Voting Order - Democracy Docket - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Simple hope alone wont protect democracy and the rule of law - Colorado Newsline - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Op-ed: Why we need human factors to save democracy - The Tufts Daily - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Bad for democracy: North Carolina could throw out valid ballots in tight election - The Guardian - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Debt, development, and democracy: Prospects for meeting the SDGs in Africa - Brookings - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- SIUs Paul Simon Institute hosts Kettering Foundation CEO to discuss future of democracy - WSIU NEWS - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Introducing The Expand Democracy 5 - The Fulcrum - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Your womens, gender and sexuality studies degree isnt useless its essential to maintaining democracy - The Tufts Daily - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- New political party seeking expanded democracy and a return to the center launches in New Mexico - Source New Mexico - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- In Promising News for Riggs, North Carolina Cuts Number of Ballots at Risk of Rejection - Democracy Docket - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- American Revolution: Paul Revere rides again, this time in a democracy coming apart - The Baltimore Banner - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- There is No Democracy Without Direct Democracy - resilience.org - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- When the Fight for Democracy Is Personal - The Atlantic - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Churches to ring bells for democracy: 6 p.m., April 18, commemorate ride of Paul Revere - PenBay Pilot - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Ukraines Democracy Still Works Without Elections - Foreign Policy - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Social Democracy isnt Going to Save the West - Counterpunch - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Trumps not hurting democracy. Hes blowing up their oligarchy, which is why theyre so mad - The Hill - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- New Fund Seeks $20 Million to Aid Nonprofits Standing Up to Democracy Threats - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Sinister SAVE Act will do the opposite for democracy | Letter - centralmaine.com - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- We've reached a critical turning point in our democracy - Columbia Missourian - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- A Democracy of Convenience Is No Democracy at All: A Letter from Mahmoud Khalil on His Ongoing Detention - Left Voice - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- DOJ Sues Maine for Refusing to Comply with Anti-Trans Order - Democracy Now! - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]
- Riggs Will Fight as Long as it Takes to Ensure Votes Are Counted in North Carolina - Democracy Docket - April 18th, 2025 [April 18th, 2025]