American democracy is not in a good place. Institutional breakdown and mistrust define our political moment. Polarization has broken our politics, and President Donald Trump has elevated fealty to him — as opposed to the Constitution — as the core principle of governance.
And the American story is part of a global story. If the post-World War II decades tell the tale of liberal democracy triumphant, the 21st century paints a darker picture. Values and ideals once considered foundational and immutable have come under threat from anti-democratic forces across the globe. The rise of autocracy and the retreat of liberal democracy may well be the dominant narrative when historians look back on the first quarter of the century.
So, where does the story go from here? That’s a question we wanted to take on in this ambitious series of narrative features, video explainers, and podcast episodes that we’ll publish over the next two weeks.
Senior correspondent Zack Beauchamp traveled to Brazil to find out how that country succeeded in holding off its own autocratic threat, and what the United States can learn from it; you’ll learn about what he found in a feature piece, as well as audio and video dispatches, this week. Our video team provides other perspectives: first, a piece that tells the story of how Finland turned back its homegrown fascist threat in the 1930s; second, an explainer on an idea whose time has come: expanding the House of Representatives.
Coming next week: Our Today, Explained podcast team traveled to Poland to report on its own experience with democratic backsliding; this two-part episode will shine further light on the fragility — and resilience — of 21st-century democracy.
Meanwhile, Beauchamp offers a zoom-out view of the lessons from other democratic near-misses. He also has a Q&A with Matthew Yglesias, revisiting a piece the Vox co-founder wrote on this site 11 years ago — “American democracy is doomed” — and assessing the state of our democracy now. Finally, Lee Drutman, a leading scholar on democracy, offers a historical look at America’s attempts at reform. His is an empowering argument: Reform has been a constant in the American story, and this moment should be no different.
As Drutman writes in his piece, “Trump is not forever.” There will be an American future on the other side of this benighted present. What that future looks like is entirely up to us.
This package takes as its starting point that global democracy is in a bad way — but that the diagnosis, while serious, isn’t terminal. America can learn from the example of other democracies that have also faltered, but ultimately succeeded. It can learn from its own past, which tells us that democratic reform not only is possible but inevitable. And it can learn from ideas given new life by our predicament, as we search for a path out of this anti-democratic cul-de-sac.
—Swati Sharma, editor-in-chief
This story was supported by a grant from Protect Democracy. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting.
- The country that beat its Trump
- The Brazilian playbook for defending democracy
- What American democracy can learn from 1930s Finland
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