Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

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Generational politics have been discussed on Democracy Works with past episodes on Millennials and Baby Boomers. This episode focuses to Gen Z, those born from the late 1990s to early 2000s. This generation's formative experiences include school shootings, a global pandemic, and reckonings with racial and economic inequality. In his book Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America, John Della Volpe argues that Gen Z has not buckled under the weight of the events that shaped them.

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Political violence has deep roots in American history. From 1968 to today, Jeanne Sheehan Zaino explore why violence remains a force for change in U.S. society. 

        Getty Images, B.S.P.I.
    

        Despair Is Defeat
    
Charles Savenor
Dec 30, 2025
In recent days, headlines have carried a familiar and unsettling refrain: a shooting at Brown University; gunfire at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach; a violent attack at the doorstep of a professor in Brookline, Massachusetts. Each incident is different, yet together they form a troubling pattern. American life is increasingly interrupted by violence, intolerance, and the erosion of the civic norms that once sustained our democracy.
These interruptions are no longer rare. They come in schools, houses of worship, public gatherings, and private homes from coast to coast. They disrupt daily life and our understanding of what it means to share a society with people of different identities and beliefs. When individuals begin to see those who disagree with them not as neighbors but as enemies, democracy begins to unravel.
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        When Insisting on “Neutrality” Becomes a Gag Order
    
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Universities across the country are adopting policies under the banner of “institutional neutrality,” which, at face value, sounds entirely reasonable. A university’s official voice should remain measured, cautious, and focused on its core mission regardless of which elected officials are in office. But two very different interpretations of institutional neutrality are emerging. 
At places like the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Harvard, neutrality is applied narrowly and traditionally: the institution itself refrains from partisan political statements, while faculty leaders and scholars remain free to speak in their professional and civic capacities. Elsewhere, the same term is being applied far more aggressively — not to restrain institutions, but to silence individuals.
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        What a Year of “Democracy Builder” Responses Tells Us
    
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As the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary, these themes explore how democracy is sustained through philanthropy, local action, trust, storytelling, and shared civic power.

        26 Lessons for 2026 - Part II
    
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Picking up from where I left off, here's the second half of 26 themes that have emerged leading into 2026, when we'll observe America at 250. Again, where possible and appropriate, I cite sources and seek to give credit where it’s due. If I’ve misattributed anything, please tell me and I’ll fix it. And if there's something you'd add, I'd love to know.
(CLICK the > next to each number for the full content of each theme.)
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