How Democracy Survived

Why Democracy Survived

“The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded,” he said. “We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”

 

PEOPLE MAKE A DEMOCRACY FUNCTION

Our democracy rests on much more than the act of voting. We saw this over and over again the last several months. There were so many key moments by citizens that kept history from turning even more sour:

• Election officials carried out a clean election and then defended their work at holding a largely free and fair election;
• Grassroots groups shot down haywire attempts to undermine electoral process (like in Michigan), expanded voter access, and fought for people's rights to get to polls without intimidation;
• Governors and state elected officials enforced and approved the democratic processes even in the midst of a raging pandemic;
• Organizers and regular folks pressured elected officials to honor election results and forced Republican leaders in Pennsylvania and elsewhere to send electorates who represented those results; and
• Judges shot down unhinged theories of scary-sounding but fact-deficient claims and held strong against overt political pressure.