In a 2024 election season that reflected the most polarized American electorate in a generation, there was one thing that both Republican and Democratic citizens agreed on: our democracy is in peril.
A Georgetown University study from last March found that 81 percent of American voters believed the most partisan arm of the other party presented a threat to democracy, and 68 percent were unhappy with the way democracy works in our country.
On November 5, voters chose our new president — Donald Trump, one of the people respondents in the Georgetown study (among others) called out as a particular threat to democracy. And, indeed, Trump’s four-year long insistence that he won the 2020 election — not to mention the January 6, 2021 insurrection he supported — would seem to back that up.
Vice President Kamala Harris alluded to this on Wednesday when she graciously did what Trump failed to do four years ago: conceded defeat. “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results,” she said. “That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny. And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”
As we move on from November 5, we all face another decision: You’re either for democracy. Or you’re against it. There is no middle ground.
If you choose democracy, as I really hope you do, then know that it requires vigilance, and hard work; that it is agonizing and sometimes offends; that it can break your heart; that it is, as President Biden said in his afternoon speech on January 6, 2021, “fragile and to preserve it requires people of good will.”
Are you on board? Then, here are a few ways to strengthen democracy:
Fact-check your facts. Years of sharing lies and half-truths made it easy to convince millions of Americans that the 2020 election was rigged, and to convince some number of Americans to believe crazy allegations like J.D. Vance’s assertion that undocumented immigrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. (They were not.)
Bookmark the non-partisan factcheck.org at Penn’s Annenberg School of Communications — and check in every day.
Consciously avoid spreading untruths. Be the type of person Soviet dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn extolled in his 1970 Nobel lecture: “The simple act of an ordinary brave man is not to participate in lies, not to support false actions.”
Pay attention to Pennsylvania. The U.S. Capitol isn’t the only place where democracy is threatened. Peel your eyes away from D.C. and demand the Pennsylvania state legislature actually look after the interests of the state’s citizens. Tell them to keep their hands off new laws that make voting as easy as possible; demand redistricting is fair and not gerrymandered by joining Fair Districts PA; elect representatives who support the rule of law.
Make state elections easier. Go even further and encourage legislators to make voting easier — mail-in ballots with simpler rules; open primaries to let independents have a say in primaries; automatic voter registration for recently incarcerated; Election Day holidays. Other states do these things, with no incidences of fraud, so we could too.
Demand a social media reckoning. Steve Brill’s NewsGuard issued a scathing report before last November’s election on the proliferation of misinformation on Facebook, and social media companies have been called to account for their danger to our society several times over the last couple years.
This is not about limiting constitutionally protected speech; it’s about limiting what is not protected: inciting violence. As Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League, said to the New York Times: “Freedom of expression is not the freedom to incite violence. That is not protected speech.”
You’re either for democracy. Or you’re against it. There is no middle ground.
Better yet, stop using social media to get and share information — or, at least fact-check it first. See above. (Cat pics still okay.)
Teach, or advocate for more, civics in schools. Remember laughing at the idiocy of Alabama Senator (former Auburn football coach) Tommy Tuberville who didn’t seem to know the three branches of government? That’s not funny. We need Americans who know how America works — from how a law is made, to who makes them, who is supposed to defend them (including the president!), to why civic engagement matters.
Support independent local media. The decimation of local news all over the country has left citizens with fewer reliable sources of information, and with little or no knowledge of what their local government is doing — and with too much reliance on overheated national news organizations. That makes for a less engaged local citizenry and gives politicians the go-ahead to run amok. Support The Citizen, subscribe to The Inquirer, support WHYY — or pick your own.
Support Philadelphia Republicans who will actually compete in the marketplace of ideas. There needs to be a place at the table for constructive, opposing views to stimulate new ways of thinking and doing, and to increase accountability for our elected officials. It is shameful that, until the recent rise of Philly’s Working Families Party we’ve been a one-party town for decades.
Be a better citizen of your city in whatever ways you can, toward whatever goal you’re most passionate about or your community needs the most. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Have zero tolerance for corruption and unethical behavior. A few years ago, we had two indicted sitting City Councilmembers in the city of Philadelphia — one of whom, Bobby Henon, ran unopposed for reelection in 2019, then stayed in office. Worse, almost no elected officials in Philadelphia called on Henon to resign or spoke out against his co-defendant, union boss John Dougherty.
Now we have a sheriff, Rochelle Bilal, who has been accused of wasteful spending and spreading fake news about her own accomplishments. Who’s calling for her to step down — or, even better, for the chronically corrupt office to be closed? Again, almost no one.
Celebrate those who are doing the right thing, whether Republican or Democrat, especially when it’s brave. See, for example, The Citizen’s Integrity Icons, an incredible group of city workers doing their best for Philadelphians.
Push our elected leaders to listen to real people. Like, not just members of the media, pundits, lobbyists or each other. Chances are they’ll be surprised about what people actually care about. Hear what local philanthropist/businessman Richard Vague learned after 2016, when he took a cross-country tour to talk with middle-class voters all over America.
Read something about our American democracy. Start way back with Alexis de Tocqueville whose Democracy in America celebrated our greatness, but acknowledged too, our weaknesses as a community and as individuals in the midst of a grand human experiment. Turn to Democratic Vistas, Walt Whitman’s seminal work about America, which also recognizes America’s contradictions, and celebrates its hope.
Talk to each other. Take a step outside your bubble, have a conversation with someone you think might disagree with you on something. Find a local branch of Braver Angels, a national organization that leads bipartisan conversations with Republicans and Democrats — and discovers more commonalities than differences.
Or try these tips from Megan Phelps-Roper, who grew up and was social media coordinator for the hate-mongering Westboro Baptist Church until she started talking to her critics on Twitter. Meaningful conversation can make a difference. Yelling at each other gets us where we are today — divided, exhausted and angry.
Vote. Of course, vote. 
MORE ON HOW TO STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY FROM THE PHILADELPHIA CITIZEN