GUEST COLUMN: A threat to our democracy
By Bryan Whitledge
Public Services Librarian, Clarke Historical Library
There are variations of a four-word phrase that have been uttered quite a bit in the past few years by politicians, media pundits, educators, historians and more: “Threats to our democracy.”
For some, these words are terrifying. For far too many, they are merely four words out of the mouths of some nerds that could mean anything and nothing all at the same time.
So, why is it that “threats to our democracy” are troubling to me and others?
Democracies — as well as the freedoms that are engendered in democratic forms of government — are not inevitable. The rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were considered inalienable by the crafters of the United States Declaration of Independence.
But these rights are only inalienable when a government respects them. And governments only respect rights when governments are accountable to the people.
According to the Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World 2022” report, authoritarianism is on the rise (i.e., governments that aren’t accountable to the people). Nearly four in 10 people in the world live in a country that is “Not Free.” Another 40% live in “Partly Free” countries, and only two in 10 people on this planet live in “Free” countries.
Fortunately for those in the U.S., we can count ourselves in that 20% who live in “Free” countries. Of course, this doesn’t mean everything is rosy — we have much more work to do to create the more perfect union to which we strive.
Unfortunately, it turns out, our progress toward that more perfect union is slipping. The “Freedom in the World 2022” report notes that the U.S. freedom score has declined by 10 points on the Freedom House 100-point scale since 2013.
Part of this decline is surely due to our collective lack of understanding of government and civics. One statistic from the American Bar Association’s 2023 Survey of Civic Literacy can shed light on the larger story of awful civics literacy in the U.S. Only 5% of people can name the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment. Twenty percent of people couldn’t name one freedom!
My fear is that a survey of the Central Michigan University’s student body would result in similar statistics. We can try to sugarcoat such numbers and make excuses. Those of us who are compassionate might try to be understanding of the limits on people’s time or the historical conditions that might make many skeptical of our government.
At worst, we say that it is okay if people don’t know the specifics of how our government works, as long as they have “the gist.”
The truth is that the lack of understanding of our government that we have the right to engage is horrifying. And it won’t get better simply by hoping that it gets better. It takes work and an investment of time and resources.
For individuals, one has to do the work to stay informed. One must seek out differing viewpoints that are grounded in accurate facts. We must talk to each other, even when we don’t agree.
To be sure, we don’t get to have our own sets of facts that fit our desired narrative. Misinformation is among the biggest threats to democracy. We must hone our information literacy skills if we want to sort truth from fiction.
Yes, that work to get informed might be tedious and boring. But that is the price we must pay for our democracy. A few hours of time to know what is on the ballot and how it affects you and your community isn’t too expensive.
Second, if one imagines our democracy as a big table, there is an open seat for you if you seize the opportunity (voting, writing a letter to policymakers, etc.). Nobody is going to specifically invite you to the table, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a seat.
And what happens if you don’t seize that opportunity to engage in our democracy? Well, those who have designs on shaping our democracy in a way that benefits them and their friends will be happy to exclude you from the conversation. Then, they can get what they want, which could be bad news if they want to continue to chip away at our democracy. So, grab your seat at the table.
Third, for our society, we need to improve civic education. At the K-12 level, our education infrastructure needs to put an emphasis on civics in a way that is similar to the focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). We also need to vociferously push back against policies that limit the accurate teaching of history and civics.
At the higher education level, we do a great job preparing students for the workforce, and we need that same preparation so students leave with the skills and knowledge to be engaged citizens. To that end, classes that fit the definition of civic education shouldn’t be “elective,” unless we consider our democracy to be similarly optional.
The threats to our democracy are not yet the daggers to the heart that destroy our freedoms. But they could be.
Bryan Whitledge has been at the Clarke Historical Library for 12 years. He holds a Master of Library Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master of Arts in political science from Central Michigan University.
