Democracy

he Future of Democracy

The Last Time Democracy Almost Died

From our series on democracy in America: learning from the upheaval of the nineteen-thirties.

By Jill Lepore

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Dear reader, 

Thank you for signing up for Future of Democracy e-mail alerts! You will be among the first to know when The New Yorker publishes new pieces on the crisis facing American democracy. This limited series will run through November and the Presidential election.

Many institutions of our government are dysfunctional and getting worse. Our electoral system has produced, in a single generation, two Presidents who received fewer votes than their opponents. A changed media landscape has loosened our collective grasp on reality. Technology is enriching some and leaving many others behind; meanwhile, as the country’s demography shifts, a nativist far-right is resurgent. Although President Donald Trump is undeniably a leading actor in this crisis, it precedes him and seems certain to persist after his departure, whenever that may be.  

Throughout the course of this project, a wide range of New Yorker writers will explore the past, present, and future of American democracy: tallying our problems, reckoning with their implications, and inspecting proposed solutions. 

Is there a specific topic you want the series to explore? Write to us at democracy@newyorker.com and let us know! Feel free to e-mail us with feedback on the project, too. We’d love to hear from you.

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Thank you for reading.

—The Editors

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