A 21st-Century Moonshot Necessary to Save a Democracy at Risk
By Tom Coleman
This article originally appeared in the Bipartisan Policy Review (Feb 2021 ed.), a publication of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University.
In my opinion, Donald Trump has been the worst president in our nation’s history. His affinity for autocrats and dictators around the world is one of his worst traits. Trump himself has exhibited autocratic behavior to the very end of his presidency. Trump’s display of his autocratic tendencies should provide Americans with a wake-up call. Because autocracy is the antithesis of democracy, we must immediately take steps to assure voters will not easily be misled to permit the loss of our democracy and their personal freedoms.
As an elected official, I often found the general public was uninformed about relevant facts or too dependent on a single source of “information” conveyed by traditional and social media, leading to many individuals being unable to recognize unacceptable behavior—even criminal behavior—often conducted in plain sight.
If a large number of citizens do not understand that democracy requires certain fundamental rights or overtime withdraw their support of the political, administrative, and judicial institutions that safeguard these rights, then our democracy is in danger.
Traditionally, voters have not had to independently seek out information on their own about various policy issues but have looked to the political party of their choice and its candidates to provide it for them. Today, when our two major parties are undergoing a realignment with membership composed of new and different voters with new and different political and policy beliefs, this is not a valid option.
Voters are inundated with information delivered by the print and electronic media and online social media platforms. The latter is currently not regulated by the government, although that is now under discussion in Congress. This avalanche of information may or may not provide a better understanding of our government and its citizens’ role and responsibilities that accompany it.
To avoid the loss of our democracy, I believe the nation must embark on a program to ramp up the teaching of U.S. civic education. While public education is mostly a state responsibility, the federal government has a role to play. The U.S. Department of Education should assist in developing and funding new programs and materials. Students attending elementary and secondary schools as well as post-secondary institutions would be recipients of this effort.
We need a 21st-century moonshot to save a democracy at risk—and we need it now!
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About The Author
Tom
Tom Coleman is a former Republican U.S. representative from Missouri. He has served as an adjunct professor at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and at American University.
Tom, I agree with you that Trump was the worst President in our history (and, we have had several “bad” ones). This leads me to the thought that there needs to be additional basic qualifications that must be met for those seeking to run for President, Vice President, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
I am thinking knowledge testing plus psychological testing to determine that each prospective candidate has the capability to participate, if elected, in a meaningful, constructive way. And, further candidates must know the rules that must be followed (e.g., regarding personal financial matters).
This is not said lightly, but with clarity that we must do what we can in a fair and impartial manner to do what we can do to only permit those persons who qualify to run for these offices.
It is my opinion that as our country has grown immensely in population and economically our political leadership has fallen way, way behind, requiring a rethink of how our government leadership candidates are chosen.
You are right that for the most part those who vote have no idea regarding what the issues are, or how and why those issues are important. And, those who are running for office rarely explain the actual issues or where they actually stand on issues, and why. That said, the most candidates do know what their audience wants to hear, so the tell them exactly that, while at the same time spewing lies and mouthing about their opponents and the other political party(ies).
While I applaud your recommendation to “ramp up the teaching of U.S. civic education”, that will not be enough. In addition to this, we need to adopt the aforementioned testing of candidates, and we need to remove from our definition of “free speech” a right to lie – about other candidate(s), parties, positions, etc. This could keep candidates, the press, the political parties, PACs, and others “honest”. And, there must be consequences for violating the truth.
This is all common sense stuff to me which could be defined and implemented for the best for our country, and all of us.