Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Restoring our democratic community

Restoring our democratic community
Getty Images

Kevin Frazier will join the Crump College of Law at St. Thomas University as an Assistant Professor starting this Fall. He currently is a clerk on the Montana Supreme Court.

Democracy is simpler than it’s made out to be; it’s about people and the communities they form in order to identify shared problems and implement mutually beneficial solutions.


The strength and scope of that democratic community is the sum of millions of decisions made by you and me on a daily basis—who we talk to, who we get to know, and who we collaborate with at work and in our neighborhoods. Those small decisions can build a powerful democratic community.

But throughout our history we’ve squandered much of that power by letting other individuals and entities dictate who joins our democratic community—in fact, we’ve given social media companies, political parties, and special interests the authority to confine us within democratic bubbles. These bubbles are hard to burst—the public spaces and institutions that used to break us free of narrowly defined communities no longer serve that function. For instance, higher education institutions cater to a very small set of society and neighborhoods that previously allowed folks across the socioeconomic spectrum to run into one another have now priced out certain folks. Income inequality, housing unaffordability, and disparate educational and economic opportunities are all indicative of a larger, troubling trend: Americans have fewer friends from fewer places with fewer differences in their backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The upshot is that for reasons somewhat within our control our democratic community has fragmented into cliques with all the pettiness you’d expect from the mean students in high school. There’s unfounded gossip, unnecessary exclusion, and unproductive drama.

Of course, I’m not the first to recognize this. Others have as well and, in response, have offered a mandatory national service program as a way to reconnect Americans to one another at an early age—but with a notable shortcoming. Proponents of national service usually pitch it as short-term (usually a year or two), skill-based (service opportunities intended to advance a member’s professional prospects), and focused on the individual (a member has some say over when, why, where, and how they serve). In other words, developing a stronger, broader democratic group is at best a second-order priority under common national service proposals.

If we agree that restoring our democratic community should be more of a priority both generally and in the specific context of a national service program, then we need to upend the traditional model. Think back to your late teens—maybe your senior year of high school. Now, imagine a classmate you considered an acquaintance —a temporary partner in a shared, short-term experience oriented around individual skill development. Fast forward to today. Do you consider this random Joe or Jane to be a part of your democratic community? Do you know anything about their goals, struggles, and hopes? Would you even call them an acquaintance at this point?

My hunch is that the answer to each of those questions is “No.” And, that’s fine! Understandable, even. But it’s also instructive—building a strong democratic community requires building relationships.

Thankfully, we can take a look at our own close relationships to figure out how to redesign proposals for national service programs with our democratic community in mind. The relationships that last are those that include regular connection, meaningful shared experiences, and a mutual agreement to build and deepen those relationships. There’s little about the traditional conception of national service that checks those boxes. Instead, the traditional model would build summer camp-esque relationships that burn hot like an overcooked s’more but then disappear as soon as the campfire goes out. Though your friendship bracelets might make it into the real world, the actual friend would not.

A national service program designed with a democratic community in mind could build off the following aspects: first, it should be cohort, rather than individually-based—you’d be assigned to a diverse cohort of about 50 other Americans; second, it should be long-term—your cohort would have a month-long service obligation each year until you turn 30; third, it should address communal needs first—individual skill development should not be the overriding purpose. In other words, service opportunities should predominantly emerge from consultation with local leaders and community members rather than from the professional aspirations of the national service members.

This service cohort approach has plenty of kinks to work out. Members could have a few “passes” to skip a service assignment when work, family, or other opportunities demand it. There’s myriad ways one could shape cohort selection--for instance, cohorts could be made demographically representative of the U.S. or could turn on different variables like socioeconomic status or even political affiliation. Those details can be resolved down the road. For now, we need to have an honest and productive national conversation about restoring our democratic community through service.

If we want to build a democratic community, then we need to rebuild our capacity to form relationships with one another. A reimagined approach to national service could start that process.

Read More

Are President Trump’s Economic Promises Falling Short?

U.S. President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter in the Oval Office at the White House on May 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker

Are President Trump’s Economic Promises Falling Short?

President Donald Trump was elected for a second term after a campaign in which voters were persuaded that he could skillfully manage the economy better than his Democratic opponent. On the campaign trail and since being elected for the second time, President Trump has promised that his policies would bolster economic growth, boost domestic manufacturing with more products “made in the USA,” reduce the price of groceries “on Day 1,” and make America “very rich” again.

These were bold promises, so how is President Trump doing, three and a half months into his term? The evidence so far is as mixed and uncertain as his roller coaster tariff policy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Closeup of Software engineering team engaged in problem-solving and code analysis

Closeup of Software engineering team engaged in problem-solving and code analysis.

Getty Images, MTStock Studio

AI Is Here. Our Laws Are Stuck in the Past.

Artificial intelligence (AI) promises a future once confined to science fiction: personalized medicine accounting for your specific condition, accelerated scientific discovery addressing the most difficult challenges, and reimagined public education designed around AI tutors suited to each student's learning style. We see glimpses of this potential on a daily basis. Yet, as AI capabilities surge forward at exponential speed, the laws and regulations meant to guide them remain anchored in the twentieth century (if not the nineteenth or eighteenth!). This isn't just inefficient; it's dangerously reckless.

For too long, our approach to governing new technologies, including AI, has been one of cautious incrementalism—trying to fit revolutionary tools into outdated frameworks. We debate how century-old privacy torts apply to vast AI training datasets, how liability rules designed for factory machines might cover autonomous systems, or how copyright law conceived for human authors handles AI-generated creations. We tinker around the edges, applying digital patches to analog laws.

Keep ReadingShow less
Global Lessons, Local Tools: Democracy at Home and Abroad

Global Lessons, Local Tools: Democracy at Home and Abroad

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 5 from Rob Richie and Eveline Dowling. This week they delve into: (1) Deep Dive - Inviting 21st century political association; (2) Australian elections show how fairer voting matter; (3) International election assistance on the chopping block; (4) Checks and balances and the US presidency; and (5) The week’s timely links.

In keeping with The Fulcrum’s mission to share ideas that help to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives, we intend to publish The Expand Democracy 5 in The Fulcrum each Friday.

Keep ReadingShow less