The United States is having challenges in maintaining and upholding democracy. In Oregon, all of the candidates for governor have all called each other “extreme” for one reason or another. In many states, people who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election won their primaries and are candidates for high office. The Democracy Day journalism collaborative held an event in September 2022 to highlight issues and seek solutions. In a post on Waging Nonviolence, the group outlined seven ideas for coming together as partisans for democracy:
- Look beyond electoral politics
- Define “anti-democratic” behavior beyond partisan identities
- Bridge the understanding of “anti-democratic” behavior to mobilize against it
- Calling out toxic othering
- Now is not the time for neutrality
- Partisanship for democracy versus bipartisanship
- A cross-ideological democracy movement is both necessary and possible
This post is excellent reading, with many links to supporting material. As for each of us, let us do what we can to help uphold our democracy.
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Andy Sylvester