Opinion | States and cities are experimenting with how to save democracy

Rob Richie is co-founder and senior adviser of FairVote.

Americans face the biggest test of their democratic foundation since the Civil War, but that’s no reason to feel helpless.

Across the country, states are playing their traditional “laboratories of democracy” role — often inspired by action in cities that law professor Joshua Douglas terms our democracy’s “test tubes.” If we can replicate the innovations of states and cities for chipping away at voter cynicism, there just might be a way back from the brink.

States and cities are responding to new and challenging democratic problems that didn’t exist before the digital age and weakening of civic associations and local media. And they certainly can’t revamp American democracy without significant scaling. But if we can harness the lessons learned, they can help move us in the right direction.

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Already, voters in Alaska and Maine won’t have “spoiler” concerns in their presidential and congressional elections because of the adoption of ranked-choice voting in the wake of cities showing proof of concept. Local independent redistricting is reinforcing wins for non-gerrymandered maps in states such as California, Michigan and Wisconsin.

But we have to do much more to confront the central forces behind American nihilism: growing fears of political violence, weakening respect for institutional norms, deepening partisan polarization and skepticism of lawmakers who are backed by monied interests.

Let’s start with new ways of defending our election officials on the front line. Political violence not only raised its ugly head in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but toxicity is increasing locally. CivicPulse found that about half of our local leaders experience hostility relating to their service at least once a month, while Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative reports that 1 in 6 have been threatened.

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In the face of this harassment, the Bipartisan Policy Center found election official turnover rising to 39 percent in 2022, and Northwestern University’s Medill New Service reports that fully 70 percent of South Carolina’s top election officials have left their jobs since 2020 due to “threats to their safety and constant pressure from voters.” Issue One’s “Faces of Democracy” campaign highlights ways you can support local officials, and Living Room Conversations creates structures for local dialogue across differences in its Trust in Elections project. In the highly charged environment of Arizona’s Maricopa County, Republican clerk Stephen Richer combats rampant disinformation on social media and prioritizes transparency in reporting results.

There’s no more direct way to help than signing up as a poll worker, with the League of Women Voters’ Vote411 an invaluable resource. A Brookings Institution report found that more than 1 in 7 poll workers in 2022 were new — but that half of local election offices find it difficult to fill openings. A promising and replicable local model to introduce teenagers to the nuts and bolts of elections comes from Maryland’s Montgomery County. High school students can earn public service credits as poll worker aides in a safe environment on Election Day — introducing them to voting and demystifying what election workers do.

Others seek to restore greater faith in our government and trust in our neighbors. As spotlighted by the National Civic League’s All-America City Award that recognizes community innovation and Citizen University’s efforts to catalyze individual action, civic institutions can help keep us together in these divisive times, often in partnership with local government.

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Nashville provides an example of how people can feel more ownership of what governments do and the inevitable tradeoffs in policymaking. For most Americans, government budgeting is a particularly opaque mystery, and what happens behind closed legislative doors can be ugly. Nashville’s participatory budgeting program engages residents directly in spending decisions. The city council unanimously allocated $10 million in American Recovery Plan funds for participatory budgeting, with the process concluding this year after more than 13,000 residents had voted on final project priorities.

Ultimately, we must address the underlying electoral incentives that punish elected leaders who venture to put voters over narrower partisan calculations. One culprit is gerrymandering, where modern technology and declines in swing voters put its dangers on steroids.A new partisan map is projected to shift partisan control this year of at least three of 14 congressional districts, and it’s common for legislative leaders to create safe seats for loyal incumbents.

Portland, Ore., this year is showcasing a trailblazing combination of ranked-choice voting and three-member districts — one that creates a voter-driven process to represent American pluralism by empowering at least three in four city voters to reliably elect a candidate of their choice. The Fair Representation Act would bring that to Congress, ending one-party monopolies in every corner of the country, and voters this November may triple the number of states with ranked-choice voting.

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Money in politics might be the single biggest source of voter cynicism, with Pew Research Center finding a near-consensus that billionaires and special interests corrupt our leaders. The reality is more nuanced, but it doesn’t help to see campaign contributions soaring into the billions when more than 9 in 10 Americans don’t donate a dime to federal candidates.

New York City’s generous public financing matching program in 2021 helped open the door to a surge of women and people of color in office. An even more ambitious reform model promoted by Sightline Institute comes from Seattle. Its democracy voucher system encourages every voter to be a donor. City officials mail four $25 democracy vouchers to all registered voters, who can then donate them to one candidate or divide them among campaigns. A University of Washington study found that the program had increased the number of donors per race by 350 percent, with candidates nearly tripling support from small donations.

Such initiatives will need refinements to go national, but they’re all part of a rich history of Americans coming together to make our nation “the more perfect union” envisioned by our constitutional framers. When tempted to curse the darkness, the proverb suggests we light a candle. Local innovators are doing just that.

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