Democracy Under Threat
Democracy is under threat across the United States. Conservative and business interests are covertly undermining long-established rights, stifling local voices and advocacy. States are experiencing a three-pronged attack on democracy: attacks on voting rights, attacks on direct democracy initiative processes, and state preemption efforts that silence local decision making.
Why do these attacks matter for climate equity? We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: making significant changes to improve racial justice and address climate change requires following the lead of local communities. Without the voices, priorities, and vision of low-income communities, communities of color, and rural and urban communities, we won’t make the profound shifts that we need.
American democracy is deeply flawed -- but it is our best tool for building a better future. That means that we need to be aware that our levers of democracy are under siege.
What attacks are taking place?
Attacks on Voting Rights: Coming out of the Trump era and the 2020 election, conservatives have doubled down on the profoundly anti-democratic conclusion that to win elections, they need to change the composition of the electorate by excluding people who are young, people of color, urban, or low-income. Conservatives are building on decisively disproven narratives of voter fraud to advance their agenda of disenfranchisement. According to the Brennan Center, by summer 2021, legislators had introduced 389 bills with restrictive provisions in 48 states. Sweeping voter suppression laws passed in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and a number of other states, dealing a damaging blow to voting rights even as advocates fought back ferociously.
Attacks on Direct Democracy & Ballot Initiatives: Meanwhile, similar attacks are occurring on direct democracy – voters’ right to use ballot initiatives and referendums to sidestep politicians and go directly to their peers. Direct democracy is embedded in state constitutions around the country, a successful outcome of organizing by workers, immigrants, and communities against the corruption, greed, and abuses of the Gilded Age. Initiatives have been successful vehicles for progressive policy in red states – living wage laws, LGBTQ protections, and more. But conservative forces are determined to limit the ability of local advocates, labor, and other interests to use the initiative process. In 2021 alone, restrictions on the initiative process have been enacted by legislators in eight states -- Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah. Meanwhile, a recent Mississippi Supreme Court decision effectively suspends the initiative process altogether for state residents.
Attacks on Local Decisionmaking: Finally, as we described in a set of resources on preemption and climate equity that we published last spring, preemption threatens democracy by leveraging the power of big business in state legislatures to curtail the power of local governments. We pointed to dozens of examples of corporate capture of state legislatures cutting off local government actions advancing climate protections and racial equity.
What can we do? Follow and support local, state, and national organizations that are tracking and fighting these efforts – organizations like FairVote, the Brennan Center, Fair Fight, a Better Balance, the Fairness Project, ReClaim Idaho, People over Profits, the ACLU, and more. Hold elected officials accountable. Join forces with groups that work on other issues to fight these structural fights. As political scientist Lilliana Mason recently explained, attacks on electoral rights are in essence a movement “for future white ethnic minority rule in this country – which is not compatible with democracy at all.” Be aware, speak up, and keep fighting for a better future!