America’s Judges Are Bungling the 2024 Election

Does Our Democracy Need a Separate Court System?

Last year, while organizing a global democracy forum in Mexico, a member of that country’s national electoral court requested I add a speaker to our program: an American judge who was an expert in how elections work.

First, I contacted election lawyers, who told me they knew of no judges with such expertise. Then I called judges, eight leading U.S. jurists in all. Among this diverse group of judges were Republicans and Democrats, those who work at the state level and the federal level, in district courts …

Stop Trying to ‘Save’ Democracy

Or Waiting on a Politician To Do It for You. Instead, Practice It—At Work, School, and Little League

Please don’t save democracy.

If you’re a politician—stop promising to save it.

Please! Stop even trying.

Because you can’t. Democracy isn’t something you save. The sooner we stop talking about saving democracy, the …

How You Can Spot—and Stop—the Next Putin | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

How You Can Spot—and Stop—the Next Putin

The Global Fight Against Authoritarianism Should Begin at Your Town Hall

Want to join the global fight against authoritarianism?

Then participate in your community’s local government.

Because authoritarians do not teleport fully formed from Jupiter into the leadership of nations. They have to …

Can Ukraine’s Experiments in Local Democracy Survive the Invasion?

From Balta to Vinnytsia, Communities Have Been Growing in Power—and Democratic Innovation

As I write this, Russian troops reportedly are moving north through the Odesa oblast, or region, toward the river Kodyma, along which sits a town called Balta.

This is not new …