A Letter from the Virgin Islands: Where a U.S. Territory Can’t Get Its Own Constitution

A Self-Serving Legislature Drives the Plot in a Story of Democratic Failure

What are the obstacles and opportunities facing democracy today? Zócalo is publishing a series of letters to highlight how the world’s democratic ideals are faring in practice. From the Virgin Islands: democracy expert J.H. Snider reports on why the U.S. territory does not have a constitution of its own, despite its citizens’ wishes.

This series is presented in tandem with tonight’s Zócalo event in Mexico City—“Are Elected Presidents Bad for Democracy?,” presented in partnership with Democracy International and Metropolitan Autonomous University for the Global Forum for Modern Direct Democracy 2023.

If you’re …

by J.H. Snider | March 2, 2023

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An altar to the victims of the Monterey Park shooting. Flowers, candles, small pictuers, and notes fill the table. Above the altar are three larger photos of three different victims, framed with flowers.

What Mourning Looks Like in Monterey Park

Bound by a Culture of Welcoming ‘Immigrants and Lost Ones,’ a Community Comes Together in the Wake of a Mass Shooting

by Wendy Cheng | March 2, 2023

On a radiantly sunny afternoon in late January, I visited the parking lot of Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park. It had been less than a week since a …

A male bullfinch with an orange chest and black head and wing tips in a cage.

Intellectual Snobbery Is for the Birds

How Birdkeepers and Bullfinch Sperm Taught an Ornithologist Something New About Evolution

by Tim Birkhead | March 1, 2023

Birdkeepers are almost universally scorned by anyone else interested in birds. Biologists and birdwatchers alike are generally opposed to the idea of birds being kept in captivity. But during a …

Carta de la Ciudad de México: ¿Puede la polarización construir democracia?

Uchas veces, el desacuerdo implica enemistad. La mejor apuesta para nuestro futuro es tender puentes entre los polos extremos

by Javier González | February 27, 2023

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No existen democracias sin algún tipo de polarización, lo que no es en sí mismo nocivo ni patológico. En realidad, las instituciones democráticas están diseñadas para …

A member of the Mexican National Guard stands in front of a red moving train in the Mexico City Metro subway.

A Letter from Mexico City: Can Polarization Build Democracy?

Too Often Disagreement Means Enmity. But Bridging Extremes Is the Best Bet for Our Future

by Javier González | February 27, 2023

Pills, colored half green and white, against a dimming white background. On the white part of the pill, there is a drawn smiling face, with the eyes in the shape of a heart.

What Happened When I Finally Got Medicated for My OCD

The Compulsions I Thought Were Part of Me Were Actually Burying Me

by Katherine Nevitt-Chung | February 23, 2023

This article is a co-publication of Zócalo Public Square and State of Mind, a partnership of Slate and Arizona State University focused on covering …

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