Is American democracy going to be OK?
You hear this question asked regularly around the country these days. There is a national and worldwide narrative that American democracy is in persistent decline -- even dying.
How many publication cover stories have you seen -- or conferences have you attended -- with a headline or session titled "The End of American Democracy"? Here are some I found from established, credible publications and generally respected sources:
"How Democracy Ends," "How Democracy Dies," "The Death of Democracy," "Twilight of Democracy," "The End of Democracy Has Already Begun," "Why Democracy Is in Decline in the United States," "We Won't Know the Exact Moment When Democracy Dies."
My search found nothing hopeful on the future of American democracy.
While all these titles and headlines have a similar grim tone, my concern is: What is measurable? Everything I've found is anecdotal.
If our American form of democracy is dying, don't we need to know exactly how sick it is?
If it is trending down, and it appears to be, where is it now, and where is it going?
I am also concerned that we do not know what "democracy" means to everyday Americans. Does it mean different things to different people?
The problem might be less about the death of democracy and more about the death of listening. What happens to a democracy when everyday Americans feel they are not being heard?
"If democracy is supposed to be based on the will of the people, someone should go find out what that will is." -- George Gallup (1901-1984)
I bet we can all agree that democracy is more about a spirit than a policy or law. So, as leaders, what do we do? Where do we go from here? How do we go from decline to renewal?
Gallup and the Kettering Foundation are combining forces to work on this. According to Gallup, only 34% of Americans are satisfied and 61% dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in the U.S.
Gallup and Kettering are attempting to fix this through measurement to gain a deeper understanding, and eventually offer recommendations that reverse this trend. To get American democracy headed in the right direction, we'll need the full participation of leadership and especially citizens.
Approaching massive challenges such as declining democracy -- as with climate change, national debt or world hunger-- always starts with asking one question: What can be measured?
Gallup has committed our best researchers and scientists to conduct an annual audit of American democracy, promising to continue it for the next 100 years. Our reports will be -- as is always the Gallup way -- nonpartisan and special-interest free.
We apologize in advance if, at times, we sound overly hopeful. Most of our team members tend to be relentless optimists.
The goal of the Gallup-Kettering initiative is to provide the most accurate data and, with your help, reverse the declining trend.
The future of the United States depends upon this project. The whole world needs a strong American democracy. If you and I don't fix it, who will?
"You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time." -- Charles Kettering (1876-1958)
