by jpitney | May 27, 2025 | Democracy, Uncategorized
Daniel Stid: Friends, I am committed to updating you here every other week with my reflections on philanthropy, civil society, and democracy in America. Alas, a sprawling and recalcitrant draft has conspired against me this week. But in the spirit of holding this...
by jpitney | Nov 9, 2024 | Democracy, Madison, Uncategorized
Nathan Gardels at Noema: To base the idea of democracy solely on elections invites illiberalism because it implies that majoritarian rule is all that is necessary. But, as the American founding fathers well understood, the will of the majority does not embrace all...
by jpitney | Oct 7, 2024 | Democracy, Journalism, Journalists
Steven Overly and Annie Rees at Politico: Nobel laureate and journalist Maria Ressa wants to scare some sense into American voters. The U.S. election is just a month away, and she considers the outcome to be a “tipping point” in the fight for democracy over...
by jpitney | Aug 10, 2024 | Constitution, Deliberation, Democracy
Nathan Gardels at Noema: It is a mark of just how deep the crisis of governance across Western democracies has become that conflict irresolvable through political competition is giving way to the reconsideration of founding constitutions and the institutions they...
by jpitney | Apr 14, 2024 | civic virtue, Civility, Democracy, Populism, Uncategorized
Brooks, Arthur C. “America’s Crisis of Civic Virtue.” Journal of Democracy 35, no. 2 (2024): 23-39. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2024.a922831. The connection of rising narcissism to incivility is straightforward. Researchers have found that...
by jpitney | Jan 14, 2024 | Democracy, Foreign Policy, Public Opinion, Russia, Tocqueville, Ukraine
Tocqueville wrote: “Now, it is this clear perception of the future, based on judgment and experience, which must often be lacking in a democracy. The people feel more strongly than they reason; and if present ills are great, it is to be feared that they will...
