Source: The Dallas Morning News
Looking across the data, several clear patterns emerge.
1) Systemic change outranks short-term wins
When asked what excites them most about improving democracy, one priority clearly stood out. 28% of respondents selected developing long-term plans for systemic change and another 18% emphasized mobilizing communities to take action. Additionally, 18% focused on modernizing elections through innovation. Taken together, a majority of respondents (nearly two-thirds) favored structural or long-horizon change rather than issue-specific or short-term reforms. This suggests that many are thinking strategically about redesigning systems that can endure political cycles.
2) Polarization is seen as a structural problem
When asked to identify the biggest challenge facing democracy today, responses clustered even more tightly. 39% of respondents cited political polarization and declining trust and 33% pointed to the need for structural changes to improve representation. Together, over 70% of respondents framed democracy’s core challenge as a systemic failure, not merely a cultural or informational one.
Far fewer respondents identified lack of civic engagement (10%) or outdated technology (9%) as the primary problem. Barriers to voting and concerns about government overreach each accounted for less than 5% of responses.
This pattern reinforces a well-founded understanding that polarization is widely understood as something institutions and parties produce and reward, not just something voters bring with them.
3) Reform priorities are broad, but representation leads
When respondents were asked what single change they would enact if they could, no option achieved a majority, but the distribution is still telling. The largest share of respondents (32%) prioritized reforms aimed at improving representation and accountability. Another 22% focused on reforming electoral rules and political incentives, while 19% emphasized expanding participation alongside stronger governance capacity. The remaining responses were spread across smaller categories, underscoring the absence of a singular reform consensus. Notably, representation-focused reforms outpaced participation-centered approaches by more than ten percentage points.
Rather than a single solution, respondents saw democratic reform as an ecosystem needing coordinated changes in representation, participation, and institutional design. This dispersion reflects systems-level thinking that democratic failures rarely stem from a single rule or institution, and that lasting reform requires alignment across governance aspects.
4) Compromise is valued but not unconditionally
Responses to questions about compromise reveal nuanced insights. No single view commanded a majority. Instead, 25% of respondents said compromise is acceptable as long as equity and access are protected, 19% emphasized the importance of finding common ground, and 18% stressed that compromise is necessary but not at the expense of individual rights. Taken together, a clear majority endorsed compromise, but only under defined democratic conditions. Very few respondents (4%) viewed compromise as secondary to mobilization alone. The dominant position on compromise is conditional, with principled compromise tied to legitimacy, inclusion, and democratic accountability.
5) People and possibilities inspire more than institutions alone
Finally, when asked what inspires them most about democracy, respondents consistently pointed to human agency over formal structures. Nearly one third (32%) highlighted the potential to build something truly representative, while 20% emphasized democracy’s role in protecting people from tyranny, and 18% pointed to the energy of people working together for change. Across responses, human agency consistently outranked institutional form. Democracy is a collective project based on participation, experimentation, and shared responsibility, rather than a fixed set of rules.
Democracy builder type breakdown
The following summarizes the results from the 130 respondents:
🧠 The Strategist (34%)
Strategists dominate quiz-takers, indicating many democracy builders focus on long-term systems, incentives, and institutional design over single-issue fixes.
🔗 The Connector (20%)
Connectors, the second-largest group, highlight the movement’s focus on coalition-building, cross-sector ties, and turning ideas into shared action.
💡 The Innovator (14%)
Innovators focus on new models, tools, and experiments, often seeking ways to modernize democracy through creative or technical approaches.
🤝 The Includer (13%)
Includers focus on equity, access, and representation, showing how vital inclusion is to democracy-building, even if not seen as a separate reform.
🛡️ The Guardian (11%)
Guardians focus on protecting democratic norms, rights, and institutions due to fears of backsliding and eroding trust.
📣 The Mobilizer (9%)
Mobilizers focus on energizing individuals and turning concern into action, representing a smaller but often vital part in maintaining movement momentum.
In total, a majority (54%) of respondents fall into the Strategist or Connector types, signaling strong interest in systems-level change and coalition-building. No single type dominates completely, suggesting the democracy reform space is pluralistic by design, with complementary strengths. A healthy democracy needs all of these! The distribution reflects a movement that values design, relationships, and experimentation at least as much as mobilization alone.
These findings help explain why Expand Democracy’s work sits at the intersection of research, convening, incubation, and experimentation. Democracy builders are asking for better systems, better evidence, and better connections across silos. As we move into the next year of Expand Democracy’s work, these responses will continue to inform how we support the people already doing the hard work of democratic strengthening.
Methodological note: Percentages reflect responses to individual quiz questions; not all respondents answered every question. Results are descriptive and reflect a self-selected group of Democracy Builder Quiz participants.
Expand Democracy’s Substack is a reader-supported publication.
