A Gift That Keeps on Giving …

American democracy is a gift our founding fathers gave us that must be preserved at all costs. How we do that will be a Herculean task given the forces arrayed against us today, both within and outside the United States.

To preserve American democracy, one must first admit that the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol, to obstruct and prevent Congress’s constitutional duty to affirm the 2020 Electoral College vote, was an insurrection.  It was an intentional effort to subvert more than two-and-one-half centuries of the peaceful transition of power from president to president that has been the bedrock of our nation’s endurance.  It was not a protest, as argued in some corners of the American political arena.  Patriots did not stage it.  Nor was it inspired by American values, the rule of law, or widespread evidence of electoral fraud.

The January 6th insurrection was the manufactured figment of a crazed authoritarian imagination that Americans would neither notice nor care about.  Of course, too many so-called patriotic Americans do not appear to care, even though one cannot help but notice, given all the attention the attack has generated in the media, in public, and in our many courts of law.

To better preserve American democracy for us today and for generations to come, we propose the following:

• Supporting our democratic institutions and long-held alliances: The independence and integrity of our democratic institutions must be reinforced, not dismantled through misinformation, innuendo, and falsehoods.  Attempts to undermine institutions such as our judiciary, media, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, regulatory bodies, military, and defense alliances must be firmly and clearly rejected. The checks and balances enshrined in our founding principles must be honored by anyone who has sworn an oath to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution.

• Prosecuting insurrectionists and enforcing Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The timely prosecution and imprisonment of those who participated in or incited the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol will discourage and even prevent future attacks on American democracy’s treasured institutions. Freedom of speech, assembly, and the press must be safeguarded to ensure equal protection under the law for all citizens regardless of where they might live in America.

• Providing more accessible access to voting.  By encouraging easier voter registration, voter turnout for elections at all office levels will improve. Easier voter registration can be provided by expanded early voting options, automatic voter registration, verified voter registration, combating voter suppression tactics that disproportionately impact marginalized communities, and making Election Day each November a national holiday.

• Strengthening election integrity at the federal, state, and local levels. Ensuring the integrity of our elections can be helped by conducting rigorous auditing procedures backed by the initial use of paper ballots, using unquestionably secure voting technology, investing in cybersecurity free of domestic hacking and foreign interference, and requiring voter identification when voting.

• Ensuring transparency and accountability: Holding elected officials accountable for their actions through robust oversight mechanisms, including independent ethics commissions and investigative journalism, will significantly increase transparency in government decision-making processes.   Whistleblower protections must be strengthened.

• Promoting civic education.  Investing in civics education in our nation’s public and private schools will ensure that future generations understand the principles of American democracy, their rights and responsibilities as citizens as defined by the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the critical importance of civic engagement and participation.

• Countering election disinformation.  The American public should be better educated on identifying and countering misinformation and disinformation campaigns regardless of their source, including candidate, party, and special interest campaigns. Media literacy and critical thinking skills should be widely promoted while holding social media platforms accountable for any significant, provable spread of false information.

• Fostering civic discourse and a return to bipartisanship: We must find a way to bring bipartisanship, especially on matters of protecting American democracy, back to the public arena.  We can and should encourage constructive dialogue and collaboration across party lines. If the American voter so insists, hyper-polarization can be combated by promoting empathy, mutual respect, and a commitment to finding common ground on issues of national importance.

• Promoting fairer representation: Chronic gerrymandering in our legislative districts must be addressed and prevented by implementing independent redistricting commissions or other fair mapping processes. Other reforms, such as ranked choice voting to ensure that electoral outcomes more accurately reflect the preferences of the electorate, might also be considered.

• Reducing the undue influence of money in politics: Accountable campaign finance reforms should be adopted to regulate better and thus reduce any undue influence wealthy donors and special interests might have on the political process. Measures such as the public financing of elections and timely disclosure requirements for political spending should be considered.

Corrections to the American electoral system, like those proposed here, will undoubtedly strengthen American democracy as we know it—if we only have the will to do so now.