Democracy: Of, By, and For Whom?
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the years I spent in Iraq, working on reconciliation and governance in the aftermath of ISIS. Again and again, conversations would circle back to the same refrain: “At least under the other guy, the trash got picked up. At least the streets were safe.” Even if that safety came at the cost of freedom, fairness, or dignity.
It’s a dangerous bargain. And one that’s starting to feel eerily familiar in the U.S. – the growing belief that maybe we need a strongman to “set things right.” But that kind of order always comes at a cost. And even if you think that cost won’t reach you, it will. Sooner or later, it will.
That’s why the challenge today isn’t just to defend democracy, it’s to help people see it. To see its merits. To see themselves in it. Legal safeguards and institutional reforms matter, but they’re not enough. (Re)building democracy means changing how people feel about it, reconnecting them to the idea that democracy is something they shape, not something distant or imposed.
We have to make democracy personal again.
Too often, it’s become something people receive, not something they create. And when people don’t see themselves reflected in the process – when they don’t feel seen, heard, or valued in public life – it’s not because they don’t care. It’s because they don’t believe there’s a place for them in it.
And when that happens, people start handing over the keys to their futures – and their freedoms – in exchange for the illusion of order.
For those of us working in the democracy space, this moment demands that we go beyond institutional fixes. If we want people to see themselves in democracy, we have to meet them where they are.
A recent report by the Bridge Alliance, The Path Forward for the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem, puts it plainly: to meet this moment, we need more than policy – we need narrative capacity. We need to remind people what binds us together: freedom, equality, and pluralism.
That means:
Connecting reforms to real concerns like education, safety, and economic security.
Elevating voices from communities too often excluded, not as symbols, but as co-authors of our future.
Shifting from saving democracy to creating democracy so people see themselves not as passive recipients, but as active participants.
Engaging not just through policy memos, but through art, culture, and storytelling that reach people’s hearts as well as their minds.
If people don’t see themselves reflected in our institutions, or in the way we talk about them, they’ll walk away. Or worse, they’ll turn toward stories and leaders that offer belonging without justice, and identity without accountability.
So yes, we must defend democracy. But more importantly, we must invite people to help create it. That’s how we continue the story of American democracy. That’s how we make it real.
Not just of the people. Not just by the people. But for the people – all of them.
