Young Americans give me more hope for substantial electoral and democracy reform

Not a lot of hope, to be sure, but more

The Harvard Institute of Politics (IOP) released a new poll this week that is getting a lot of attention. As it should; The poll shows that a majority of young Americans believe our democracy is either “in trouble,” or “failing.” Among the young people (ages 18-29) that they interviewed:

• 7% rated the US a “healthy democracy”

• 27% called it a “somewhat functioning democracy”

• 39% called it a “democracy in trouble”

• and 13% called it a “failed democracy”

• (13% were unsure)

This poll gives me the chance to combine the two major topics of this newsletter: polling and democracy reform. I will not squander such a rare opportunity.

First, it is worth saying that I think the young people are right. Our minoritarian electoral institutions, the radicalized right, identity politics, and the strength of opinion leaders have all created an environment where democracy can be subverted from the top down — especially if one party has decided to put subversion of elections near the top of their agenda.

By now, most readers of this blog will know I am in favor of reforming our electoral system to combat some of these issues. I see our institutions, which reinforce two-party politics and degrade any incentive for ideological moderation, especially for the party which represents a routine minority of voters, as one place we can make substantial changes. Changing our laws for Congressional elections so that outcomes are more proportional and allow for multiple political parties, for example, could increase trust in the process and provide incentives for cooperation in Congress — and, if we’re lucky, the disavowal of anti-democracy actors (which is notably missing on the political right today).

The chance we may make some of those reforms increases when Americans from across the aisle agree we are in trouble and must do something about it. The Harvard IOP poll is useful in this regard as it shows a majority of young Democrats, Republicans, and independents see the US as a democracy under threat. Here are the results for each rating above broken down by party:

Another really hopeful sign is that these young Americans still say they see value in democracy. This is despite some fear-mongering in recent years about their commitment to popular sovereignty. In the IOP poll, after I removed young people who had no response, 90% of them said democracy was “very” or “somewhat” important to them.

. . .

I am pleased to see that young people are committed to democracy and see the threats to our system for what they are. Now, we must get them involved with the various reform movements.