American Democracy Is at a Low Point. We Need To Strengthen It at the Local Level.

There is no shortage of indicators that faith in American democracy is at a low point. This crisis stems from a mix of challenges: polarization, segregation and resulting disparities across race and geography, corruption, declining trust in media and institutions, disinvestment in civic education, social media, and the spread of concentrated toxic online ideological communities. But as each month passes, we’re brought new signs of the crisis in our nation’s civic health.

Here are just a few from 2023: In May, Carolyn Cawley, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, issued a major press statement that the civic education crisis in our country “endangers our democracy,” demanding immediate action. In July, the headline for Gallup’s annual survey of trust in civic institutions read “Historically Low Faith in U.S. Institutions Continues.” In October, the Brookings Institution published an explainer guide titled “Understanding democratic decline in the United States.”