Our democracy is in crisis. 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—with the shrewd assistance of malicious actors at home and abroad—loosened our collective grasp on reality. Our politics have become alarmingly acrimonious; one of the potential disasters of the 2020 election is a result that is widely considered illegitimate. 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, with his scant regard for the values of justice and the rule of law, is undeniably a leading actor in this crisis, it precedes him and seems certain to persist after his departure, whenever that may be.
The New Yorker, enlisting a wide range of writers, will be exploring the past, present, and future of American democracy: tallying our problems, reckoning with their implications, and inspecting proposed solutions. If the Trump era has proved anything, it is that American democracy, which has never been without profound flaws, cannot be taken for granted. And yet institutions, movements, thinkers, and citizens—countless citizens, of all kinds—have shown their determination to preserve what is vital and necessary to a liberal-democratic society. We hope you’ll join us as we learn how our democracy might be made stronger, fairer, more responsive, and more equitable.
—The Editors
