Democracy Optimist

As Americans gear up to vote in this year’s midterm elections, questions about the voting process continue to swirl. There has been election litigation all over the country regarding gerrymandering and the maps that will be used. Lawsuits have considered the rules about the voting process, such as with mail-in ballots. And the media keeps reporting on potential threats. That’s where vote.org comes in. It’s a nonpartisan organization that has a simple but important mission: to connect voters with the tools and information they need. Here to tell us all about it is Vote.org’s CEO, Andrea Hailey. Andrea has been at the helm of Vote.org since 2019, and she brings to the organization nearly two decades of professional experience focused on connecting with voters.

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Election Day is almost here, which means that in Kentucky voters can go to the polls on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Election Day as well as on Tuesday, November 3. Kentucky continues to serve as a positive national story about its transparent and secure election administration. Returning to the show is the person behind that smooth process, Secretary of State Michael Adams. Secretary Adams is in the middle of administering his fifth statewide election as Secretary of State,[1] and the voters have some important decisions to make. Not only will this election decide who will succeed long-time Senator Mitch McConnell, but every House seat in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Kentucky General Assembly is up for grabs. There are also important races for Mayor, city council, school board, and more.

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Few voting rights advocacy groups in the United States have a heritage as rich and proud as the League of Women Voters. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, the League of Women Voters has been at the forefront of nearly every voting rights issue in the last 100 years of American history, fighting for fair voting rights for all. Whether litigating in court against efforts to restrict voter access or rallying grassroots support for pro-voter legislation, the League is an important advocate both nationally and at the state and local level in the movement to make elections more accessible for all Americans. Joining host Josh Douglas to talk about the League of Women Voters’ mission to create a more perfect democracy, as well as their plans for 2026 and beyond, is its CEO, Celina Stewart. 

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The very future of American democracy is at stake in the coming midterm election. Is this an exaggeration? Or are we in a period of democratic backsliding? Helping us decide is Professor Steven Levitsky, who has studied democracy and authoritarianism around the world. Steve is the David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and a Professor of Government at Harvard University. He’s also co-author of several successful books, including two New York Times bestsellers: How Democracies Die and, most recently, Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point.

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Literacy and democracy go hand in hand. Literacy affects almost every aspect of a person’s life. After all, civic participation depends on voters being literate enough to understand the law, their rights, and the news that shapes public debate.

But literacy development is dependent on many factors, including where you live, your household circumstances, and, perhaps most importantly, whether you have access to books. Many Americans are fortunate enough to own a personal collection or have a local library within traveling distance. Still, this is a luxury some don’t have in certain regions of the United States—and especially in developing areas of the world.

Joining us to discuss the value of civic literacy is International Book Project Executive Director, Rachel Ray.

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Politics can play a major role in climate change. President Trump, for example, issued an Executive Order withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement, a major international treaty designed to coordinate global climate mitigation, arguing that it hurt the U.S. economy. Will that action motivate voters to show up in November? More broadly, how well does democracy work if people who care deeply about an existential issue don’t turn out to vote?

Our guest has spent the past decade working on this issue.

Nathaniel Stinnett is the founder and CEO of the Environmental Voter Project, which uses sophisticated data analytics and behavioral science to identify environmentalists who are registered to vote but do not regularly cast ballots—and then works to turn them into consistent voters.

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No wonder we have such a hard time talking about the biggest issues of the day without it devolving into partisan bickering. Many Americans feel more isolated in their political views than ever before. We assume the worst about “the other side.” We unfriend people we disagree with. We curate our media diets. And too often, when political conversations do happen, they quickly devolve into defensiveness, caricature, and partisan bickering. But democracy depends on citizens talking to one another—listening, questioning, and ultimately persuading. Democracy requires productive political conversations.

Here to teach us how to have better conversations across the political divide is Monica Guzman. She’s a self-described bridge builder, a journalist, and the author of the best-selling book, “I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.”

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Our democratic institutions face intense strain. Structural features of the Constitution—such as the Electoral College, the Senate’s equal representation of the states, and the powers of the Supreme Court—have produced a system that can feel distant from majority rule.

At the same time, the country confronts extreme political polarization, persistent racial inequality, and declining civic engagement. Free speech, both on campus and in public discourse, is also under pressure, shaping the debates we have about politics and society.

All of this raises a fundamental question: Is the Constitution equipped to sustain American democracy in the twenty-first century?

Our guest has thought deeply about these questions. Erwin Chemerinsky, cited by National Jurist magazine as the most influential person in legal education in the United States, is the Dean of Berkeley Law School in California. He’s also the author of No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States and Campus Speech and Academic Freedom: A Guide for Difficult Times.

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The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1971, effectively lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Young people were asked to fight in the Vietnam War, which many of them opposed. They organized anti-war protests on school campuses all across the country. “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote” became a common rallying cry. But these days, young people have not embraced their voting power in significant numbers. The youngest age group turns out to vote at the lowest rate among all age groups, often by a significant margin. 

Our guest wants to help, and she’s built an organization to do just that. Laura Brill is the CEO & Founder of The Civics Center, an organization focused on promoting voter registration for young people. 

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On this episode, Joshua Douglas speaks to Joyce Vance, author of Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping Our Democracy. In the book, Vance says democracy is the collective responsibility of all concerned Americans and that each of us has a role in preserving that democracy. 

Joyce Vance is a New York Times bestselling author, former United States Attorney, and current professor at the University of Alabama School of Law. She’s also a legal analyst for MS Now—formerly known as MSNBC—writes the Civil Discourse newsletter on Substack, and co-hosts two podcasts, SistersInLaw and The Insider.

**Federal funding for public media has been eliminated. However, you can take action to address this issue. Join WEKU's 1850 campaign for the future! 1,850 new supporters, each giving $10 monthly to keep WEKU strong. Donate today!