Jessica Carpenter is the Marketing Director at BridgeUSA. She is a senior at Arizona State University studying journalism and political science. She is also a member of the BridgeUSA chapter where she works on social media and event planning. Growing up in a one-way political leaning household, Jessica found Bridge as an answer to understanding both sides of the political spectrum. She is passionate about finding solutions and understanding what motivates people to action.
Manu Meel is passionate about empowering and elevating the impact of young people. Currently, Manu serves as the CEO of BridgeUSA, a national organization that is investing in the future of democracy. Through his work, Manu has contributed to several news outlets, advanced pro-democracy efforts nationally, and led the policy operation for a Baltimore mayoral candidate. In the past, Manu worked as an associate at the venture capital firm Amplo and at the Department of State as a political analyst in counterterrorism. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media platforms.
America is in a state of crisis. No matter where we look, there are challenges that serve as indictments of our democracy. The pandemic has claimed over 330,000 lives. Working class people face the worst economic prospects since the Great Depression. Racial wounds have been exposed as people voice their anger and frustration towards injustice. Simply put, America does not appear to be living up to its highest ideals. The one thing that seems to unite a highly divided American people is that the current situation is unsustainable, to say the least. That’s a bad predicament for the future of our democracy.
As young people who will inherit today’s fallout, it is difficult to be hopeful about the prospect for a better tomorrow. Institutions seem unresponsive to urgent problems. People seem extraordinarily divided on fundamental issues. And the possibility for any progress seems to diminish by the day. At a time when our democracy will need an active and engaged electorate, young people are resorting to apathy and pessimism.
The shift in the political sensibilities of young people is prominent on social media platforms, within social interactions, and among college campuses. The politics that young people have matured into has taught us that party differences hinder the ability to problem solve. In turn, this has left us to bear the brunt of two recessions, a warming climate, and wavering democracy. The belief that we cannot make the status quo better has caused many of us to either divest from politics or flock to extreme ideological circles, closing off the prospect for agreement across differences.
As we look to the future of our country, many of the problems that our democracy faces require institutional fixes that every American can get behind. Whether it is ensuring the integrity of our elections or reducing the influence of corrupt electoral practices, institutional change is necessary to shore up confidence in the future of our democracy. However, strengthening democratic institutions is only part of the solution. Democracy also requires an active citizenry. Ensuring that the next generation of citizens are engaged and that our civic fabric is strong are necessary for building a better future.
To recall the genius of the Founders, the most fundamental unit of democracy is people, and our institutions were designed to serve the people. Moreover, recent examples of countries attempting to democratize show that only having democratic institutions does not guarantee a strong democracy. If the citizenry remains highly divided, apathetic, and pessimistic about the future of democracy, solely focusing on institutions will be a futile exercise. In other words, democracy is only as strong as the participation of its citizens. If young people fall victim to the polarization and apathy prevalent in society today, the future of democracy is at risk.
To strengthen our civic fabric and inculcate democratic values within the next generation of Americans, we must strengthen our civic fabric and highlight opportunities for common purpose amongst the American people.
We assume that party differences create unbridgeable divides, which then fool us into thinking that working together is no longer possible.
First, we must foster empathy and create spaces for healthy civic discourse. This begins with ourselves. We have lost the ability to constructively disagree, exchanging friends and family members for faceless voices and interactions that push us away from those who think differently from us. We assume that party differences create unbridgeable divides, which then fool us into thinking that working together is no longer possible.
In turn, we have been rewarded with not only an apathetic public, but a public that no longer knows how to talk to one another. Conversations that breaks these new barriers are far and few between. It may seem naïve, yet talking to one another matters; our democracy is back to basics and trust must be restored between people of different perspectives. Our leaders have struggled with trust as well, resulting in stifling gridlock. Yes, a lot of inaction can be blamed on misguided institutional incentives within politics. However, gridlock is also the result of diminishing empathy and a renewed sense of righteousness. We need humility, compassion, and healthy dialogue to compliment institutional reform if the future of democracy is to remain strong.
Second, we must identify opportunities for new common ground. We need to put resolutions at the head of our democratic output. To do this, we don’t need a push toward common agreement, but of common purpose. We need to push towards acknowledging differences and working through these differences anyway because our union depends on it.
Despite the many issues that divide us, there are three issues that garner significant consensus, especially amongst young people: democracy reform, the environment, and the economy.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center in 2019, 77 percent of voters agreed that the U.S. needed to prioritize climate change, including 78 percent of conservative youths. Upwards of 70 percent of voters agreed that reformations in campaign spending, voting accessibility and gerrymandering needed to be addressed, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. And according to another study by the Pew Research Center in January 2020, Republican and Democratic voters agreed 69 percent to 92 percent respectively that wealthy people had too much power in the economy.
All of this means that despite our difference in perspectives and ideology, the majority of Americans see these three issues as of great importance and want to see action on them. That’s good news: it means that there is a foundation upon which common purpose can be found.
Finally, we need to restore hope. Fortunately, history can provide some solace and guidance, and maybe even some direction. The late political scientist, Samuel Huntington, once wrote that, “America is not a lie; it is a disappointment. But it can be a disappointment only because it is also a hope”.
The American story is unique in that it began as an experiment founded on a set of beliefs: equality, liberty, and opportunity. These beliefs relied upon a shared understanding that the most fundamental and important unit of any society is people. A society that neglects its people is not a democracy, but a tyranny. And American democracy embodies this ethos to its very core. While far from perfect, the American story has always been one that aspires for more equality, preservation of liberty, and an extension of opportunity so that the people are best positioned to flourish.
The future of democracy will depend on institutions and an active citizenry working to address urgent issues despite the many differences that divide us.
There have been many times in the past when a generation of Americans faced a choice while confronting significant adversity and uncertainty. From the Civil War to the Spanish Flu. From the Great Depression to World War II. From Jim Crowism to the 2008 recession. Each of these inflection points in history required our democratic institutions and the American people to step up in their own right. For institutions, it meant responding to the will of the people and acting to protect the natural rights of every American. For the people, it meant acting with empathy and constructively engaging to discover shared values despite significant policy differences.
From Huntington’s perspective, and our perspective, the hope that America offers is in its spirit and affinity for unified change in spite of the many setbacks that have maligned American history. After all, the story of America highlights a tried and tested template for what is needed in a functioning democracy: responsive institutions and an active citizenry.
The future of democracy does not depend on finding agreement on everything. Instead, the future of democracy will depend on institutions and an active citizenry working to address urgent issues despite the many differences that divide us. We can begin with issues like democracy reform, climate change and the economy, opening new doors afterward. We must renew faith in the strength of and promise of American democracy. We must prove that having a discussion about politics isn’t a ticket to repudiation, but a chance to build forward.
This article originally appeared in the Bipartisan Policy Review (Feb 2021 ed.), a publication of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs.