I attended a conference on democracy and governance Monday. A wide assortment of thinkers, writers, reformers, analysts, policy folks, business leaders, and elected officials. It was challenging and inspiring all at once.
(I was thrilled to finally meet, in person, someone I’ve shared a number of Zoom calls and Substacks with, and learned so much from—Rush Ben-Ghiat):
It’s a long list, but here are the Top Eight takeaways that most resonated with me.
“The Illusion of Inevitability” — while many tactics play a role in undermining democracy (normalizing malfeasance, exploiting limited awareness, undermining alliances, rewarding complicity, delegitimizing the judiciary, flooding the zone, intimidation, and disinformation), central to these tactics is creating “the illusion of inevitability.” If the path to autocracy appears inevitable, it creates a huge disincentive to resist it, and an equally powerful incentive to comply. DO NOT allow that (false) sense of inevitability to set in.
“Democracy Will Win a War of Attrition”/ Create Friction — right-wing strategists like Steve Bannon make clear that they are pursuing a “flood the zone” strategy. Those who support democracy must fight back early and aggressively to turn it into a war of attrition. By creating delays, generating friction, displaying individual acts of courage (which inspirs others to do the same), and taking advantage of their inevitable overreach, we can slow the decline and give ourselves an opportunity to grab meaningful power back in 2025 and 2026.
“Which Identity Is Activated?” In motivating others to get involved (especially those beyond core political activists and partisans), think carefully about how they are approached. People play many roles in life—and you could fail or succeed in enlisting their involvement based upon which “identity” you are appealing to, and how you frame the situation. (Ie. a business leader may be enlisted to stand up for higher education because the ongoing attacks will destroy their long-term workforce; appealing to a sense of ethics, principle and right v. wrong as opposed to partisanship)
The paramount importance of effective governance in the long battle for democracy. For those fighting for democracy, it’s critical to ensure that once in power at any level, we lead effective governments that represent and serve the everyday needs of our constituents.
Poor outcomes for everyday American is not a “messaging problem,” it’s a “reality” problem;
Identify issues that impact people’s lives—hospitals, schools, community. Make a difference on those issues to improve lives;
When we have power, we must do good things with it;
Have to run where the voters are. (ie. everywhere);
We must close the loop between policy and implementation;
We must focus on removing the barriers to achieving big, necessary change.
Red Flags of an Authoritarian State: “There’s no more sure way to lose a war than to deny that you’re in one.” Here are sure tell-tales of a crisis:
Government itself punishes people and institutions for being part of what the government considers the “opposition”: through official action, they target individuals, law firms, financial resources (ie. Act Blue), universities, etc. The fact that “any Americans now think twice about supporting the opposition” is truly a red flag
“Authoritarians want you to betray others. But also betray yourself.”
“Authoritarians take away rights of many, and give unheard of liberties to the very few”
Takeover of the media
Authoritarians destroy a market-based “business society” and replace it with institutionalized corruption; the end result is a “new aristocracy” that is 100% loyal to the leader — “The system operates by providing opportunities only for those who conform and systematically discriminating against those who don’t.”
A deliberate and conscious political and power consolidation strategy makes it almost impossible to oust those in power, even when what they are doing is unpopular and ineffective
DOGE is a “profound innovation of the autocratic playbook”—upends the traditional oligarch-autocrat model by creating a parallel civil service with the oligarch in charge
Right-Wing “Narrative Dominance”—When it comes to newer media (podcasts, social media, YouTube, other channels of communication, led by a new generation of creators and influencers), the far right has achieved “narrative dominance”— they control the terrain, control the story, control what fights are playing out, and on what terms
By far (82%) of the most watched modern-day influencer networks/podcasts and channels provide right-wing content
most of these shows were not “political” at their core or outset, but ultimately communicated messages that amplified right-wing messaging
the left simply isn’t in this conversation at any scale
it’s telling that the biggest movement in the last election (vs. 2020) was young people; they are immersed in the more chaotic information environment than older generations, and those two points are related
the creators reaching these audiences go way beyond political creators
“My entire life has been with Trump as president”—the notion that Trump is bad for democracy doesn’t work with this cohort — he’s all they’ve ever known
Why this dominance?
Far right had a big head start
They invested - chose to change the landscape, invested in doing so, shaped the contours of narrative
Very few podcasts started as political podcasts; started in other spaces but then moved to that audience, and received investment from the right to do so
A self-serving feedback loop — algorithm rewards and channels far right narrative into conspiracy theories and fear mongering
Conservative political leaders engage these networks
But — this world is not static; can shift back
“Exhausted majority”—There’s a middle group (70%) of Americans, where most everything is more important than politics. To appeal to this group, the opposition needs to ground itself in widespread credibility, which it doesn’t have at moment. There are common cultural touchstones to build from to do this
The Attack on Universities: The sitting VP of the United States has declared the universities of this country as the enemy
What makes America great is what we’ve produced at the most extraordinary higher education infrastructure on the planet
Cuts to Pell grants will disproportionately impact community colleges
It’s critically important that people and institutions beyond academia speak out to support them; changes the conversation
“Reversible”
Despite all this concern, history tells us declines in democracy are “reversible.” There is more than enough pro-democracy and pro-rule of law muscle to resist authoritarianism in the United States. But:
Requires a much more forceful response — uncomfortable
quick, louder, aggressive
“You never know when your turn will be.” — speak up now, even it doesn’t impact you yet
“We must light our little fires in the darkness.”
“Market makers can shape incentives.”
“Focus your spend in places that lift democracy.”
“Business can be a moral and practical example to contrast with corruption of government.”
“Create coalitions. Create alliances.”
“Stop doing what doesn’t work.”
“To defend democracy, we need a lot more people to rock the boat. When we see what’s happening in our country, silence is not an option.”
“Best time to grow a tree is of course 15 years ago. Second best time is now.”
“Response needs to be faster and more forceful”
“Speak up immediately and often”
“We can do more, but not more of the same”
“I’m inviting you to a battle for democracy not for my sake, but for your’s. It’s in your interest to join.” Amen.
Day 193 — May 3, 2025
As we’ve seen happen previously, a nasty civil war has broken out among the right wing. While Trump and GOP leadership try to ram through the budget bill that recently passed the House, Elon Musk called the bill “outrageous, pork-filled” and a “disgusting abomination.”
“Shame on those who voted for it,” he tweeted. “You know you did wrong. You know it.”
He later promised to primary those who voted for it.
Perhaps signaling a larger exodus, Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that she had not read the entire bill, and now opposes the provision in it that prohibits states from regulating AI for the next decade: “I would have voted no if I had know this was in there.”
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