Democracy…imperiled or impervious?

During the same week in which we observed Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Union Station in Washington, D.C., was defaced with swastikas. This is dismaying and shocking. To be sure, there have always been extremists among us, but it's been a long time since we've seen so many Americans in positions of leadership (or running for such positions) openly express extremist views, spread conspiracy theories, and engage in bigoted and even violent rhetoric. And now, extremism is spreading like a virus. We have serious domestic and international issues to address, yet too many of us are fighting the battles of 20th-century Europe in 21st-century America. Those lessons should have been learned long ago, but as we know, history too often has a way of repeating itself. We can't let it. The Renew America Movement is heavily invested in fighting this tide. Keep your eyes open in February and beyond for new initiatives from RAM to help counter the growing trend toward extremism in the U.S. —Miles Taylor, Executive Director, Renew America Movement

• Russia says it won't start war with Ukraine after Biden warns Feb. invasion 'distinct possibility' —NBC News

• Jan. 6 committee subpoenas individuals tied to fake elector push —CNN

• Nearly 6 in 10 Republicans say they will not vote for any candidate who admits Biden won ‘fair and square’ —Yahoo! News

• Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer: Next generation will determine if American experiment still works —NPR

• Biden says he'll name a Black woman as Supreme Court pick by end of February —CBS News

What’s the trouble with voting?

Readers of The Topline know our view is that American democracy is facing a crisis and is in need of some key voting reforms—for example, creating nonpartisan redistricting commissions, and instituting innovations like vote-by-mail and ranked-choice voting that help increase voter participation and choice. But while most Americans agree that our democracy is under threat, in a nation polarized on so many other issues, we can't even agree on what the threats are. Pennsylvania is a good example. Some Republicans there are cheering as a victory for “election integrity” an appeals court ruling today that struck down the commonwealth’s 2019 mail-in voting law. —Pennsylvania Capital-Star

• Pennsylvania. On the other side of the democracy divide in the Keystone State, Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed the proposed congressional map sent to him by Republican lawmakers. “The public deserves a fair map completed in a bipartisan manner; the General Assembly failed to adopt one,” Wolf said. Now, the job of drawing Pennsylvania’s new district lines will fall to the state courts. —The Morning Call

• Alabama. A federal court blocked Alabama’s newly drawn congressional map this week, ruling that it likely violates Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it only includes one district where Black voters have a majority voice. The order gives the legislature two weeks to present a map that includes “two districts in which Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority or something quite close to it.” —CNN

• Texas. As part of an ongoing federal court challenge in Texas, a bombshell sworn declaration was submitted this week. Senior Republican State Sen. Kel Seliger said, “Having participated in the 2011 and 2013 Senate Select Redistricting Committee proceedings, and having read the prior federal court decision regarding SD10, it was obvious to me that the renewed effort to dismantle SD 10 violated the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.” —The Texas Tribune

MORE: Meet the trio who may have figured out how to save American democracy —The New Republic

Schmidt: The party’s over

“America used to have four factions within the named two-party system. They were: liberal Democrats, conservative Democrats, liberal Republicans, and conservative Republicans. These factions broke up in the 1990s, and we’ve been barreling toward increasing dysfunction ever since, where moderates no longer have a voice. [Political scientist Lee] Drutman offers hope, provided we don’t wait too long. He proposes steps that can be taken to heal our fractured democracy. It is time that the 42% [of Americans who identify as independent] start demanding representation and reform.” —Lynn Schmidt in Johnson City Press

Lynn Schmidt is a Renew America Movement Fellow and a columnist and Editorial Board member at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

MORE: Swing voters don’t see the same democracy crisis you see —The xxxxxx

Focus on global democracy

A new analysis by Transparency International shows that the global fight against corruption has stagnated. Several leading Western democracies, including the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and some European Union member states have slipped down the corruption index over the past 10 years. “This is a wake-up call for many of the countries at the top of the index,” said Roberto Kukutschka, a research coordinator who worked on the report. “They need to take care of their institutions; they need to pay attention to the issue of corruption, because I think it is much harder to build back what you lost than to preserve what you have and improve from there.” —Voice of America

• Hungary. Hungary will host a gathering of populist leaders from around the world ahead of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s re-election bid in April. Among participants will be Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and Santiago Abascal, the head of Spanish far-right party Vox. The American Conservative Union, the political lobby group that hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), is helping organize. —EU Observer

• Burkina Faso. Having seized power of the West African country in a coup this week, Burkina Faso’s military leader is calling on the world to back the country in its fight against Islamist militants. But the junta chief may find it difficult to secure any military support from the West. Analysts see the coup as opening up a much desired avenue of influence in the tumultuous region to Russia. —The Wall Street Journal

• France. The French are trying out a new voting system in their primary elections next week. Under “majority judgment,” voters express their opinions on each candidate by evaluating them individually instead of pitting them against each other from the start. The idea is to determine the candidate who has the best average grade and is therefore most acceptable to the wider electorate—while weeding out those who are deemed least palatable. An interesting concept. —France 24

MORE: Crisis of U.S. democracy emboldens Latin American populists, says rights chief —Financial Times

Forrest & Daymude: To stabilize democracy, reduce extreme polarization

“Political polarization, or the ‘violence of faction’ James Madison warned of in Federalist 10, is as great a threat to democracy today as it was in 1787, dividing voters and their representatives into diametrically opposed camps that are unwilling to compromise or yield power to their opponents. … With the 2022 midterm elections on the horizon, it is critical that candidates and the media resist the poison of extremism rather than attempting to gain from it.” —Stephanie Forrest & Joshua Daymude in Brookings Institute

Stephanie Forrest is an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute, a professor in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University (ASU), and the director of the Biodesign Institute at ASU. Joshua Daymude is a postdoctoral researcher at the Biodesign Institute at ASU.

MORE: Democracy at risk? Extremism experts worry amid rise in 'fringe ideas' —USA Today

Welcome to a new year and a new year of monthly reads! This month’s read is: “The Age of Acrimony” by Jon Grinspan

Today’s political landscape is tumultuous and divisive, causing many to fear for the future of our democracy. What if I told you this is not the first time in our nation’s history people have feared for the state of our democracy, or that the 2022 political climate isn’t that bad? In Jon Grinspan’s newest book, “The Age of Acrimony”, the author provides a deep dive into the rabid political landscape of the late 1800s all the way up to the early 1900s. Grinspan’s book paints a picture of how vitriolic politics and campaigns were during that time. The author also highlights the story of a progressive father-daughter political dynasty, William “Pig Iron” Kelley and Florence Kelley. 

The parallels between then and now is at times startling, yet comforting, in knowing our nation has faced similar problems before, and American democracy has persisted. If you’re looking for a read to offer a renewed sense of hope that our political climate isn’t as bad as it seems, pick up a copy of “The Age of Acrimony” by Jon Grinspan. And when you get to the part where they used to roll coffins down the street with the names of political opponents scrawled on the sides, give thanks that that campaign tradition went out of style. —Mary Anna Mancuso, Renew America Movement National Spokesperson

Have you read this? Share your thoughts with me on Twitter @MaryAnnaMancuso

Want to purchase this book? Click here.

Have a suggestion for our next monthly read? Send them my way: [email protected]

Hear, hear, Stephen R.! Tuesday’s “What’s Your Take?” was spot on. Tragically, we must, along with all our NATO allies, attack Russian troops with relentless fervor and unyielding determination if they invade. Putin speaks no other language. Ukraine and all the former Soviet Republics; former Iron Curtain countries such as Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania; and neighbors such as Finland and Mongolia are all at risk. Let's hope Biden is clearly threatening such action to Putin. —Fred L., Michigan

Biden should impose stricter sanctions on Russia and not engage in another war. —Mary F., Colorado

We must respond militarily to Russia, or Poland will be next. —Frederick D., Oregon

The United States has unwaveringly stood with our Allies or independently for all mankind. To ask what to do in answer to a threatening dictator assumes we are not the Great Nation we have always been. To step away from defending another’s Liberty is to step away from defending our own. —Lon S., Utah

It is in the U.S.’s national interest to defend democracy from dictators. I’m not sure why that needs arguing. —Will C., Mississippi

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff, the Renew America Movement, or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.