Who Has the Power?
Democracy doesn’t collapse in a single moment.
Democracy rarely ends in a single moment. More often, it changes quietly, through small shifts that feel procedural rather than dramatic. Authority moves farther from the public. Oversight weakens. Decisions once shaped by public consent are reframed as matters of efficiency, security, or necessity. None of this announces itself as a crisis, yet together these changes redefine what democracy means.
Across the United States, questions about power are no longer theoretical. Who decides how elections are administered? Who sets the boundaries of protest and dissent? Who determines which institutions are trusted and which are dismissed? These questions go to the core of self-government.
Elections remain essential, but democracy depends on what happens between them. It relies on transparency, independent institutions, functioning checks and balances, and a public able to question ... Read more