Democracy Debt
The work of strengthening American democracy
Computer programmers often face a choice:
Implementing an easier but limited solution that will need to be upgraded later
Implementing a more time-consuming but more robust solution
Option #1 incurs what is known as “technical debt;” by saving time and not resolving a problem in the present, one must do additional work in the future.
America has accumulated a mountain of “democracy debt.” We have allowed problems to fester, none of which kill democracy immediately or on their own, but each of which raises that risk.
Our democracy debt has accumulated by failing to solve many issues, including (non-exhaustively and unordered):
Guardrails of democracy being observed as norms and not codified,
Disappearing civics education,
Lack of electoral consequences for voter suppression and other anti-democratic acts,
Media and social media ecosystems that radicalize and divide,
Increasing minoritarian tilt of the Senate and Electoral College,
Growing fear of opposing political tribes and negligible coexistence work,
Election structures that support extremism over moderation,
Election administration that too often ignores best practices for audits and recounts,
And as of yesterday, a 6-3 Supreme Court with a record of undercutting voting rights.
Whoever wins the presidency, American democracy will remain endangered. When someone with Trump’s authoritarian record receives 40% support, democracy is not safe.
In the coming four years, I hope that all parts of society begin to pay down our democracy debt - in order “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”