When democracy is under attack, what can people do? “Stand up, fight back!” goes the street chant. But is that enough to rebuild and reimagine democracy?

Yes, resisting attacks is important. But defending the status quo alone is a losing strategy when most people don’t like the current system of government. Most people in the United States, across nearly all demographic groups and ideologies, say that the nation’s government does not work for them, according to a Times/Siena College poll. Worldwide, the Pew Research Center found in 2021 that most people in electoral democracies think “their political system needs major changes or needs to be completely reformed.”

These people are not wrong. A decade ago, political scientists Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page concluded that “economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.” It’s no wonder people want change!

Making systemic changes to democracy isn’t easy. Too often, we look for one magical solution that will change everything. Democracy advocates around the world have identified more promising approaches. Based on this work, I suggest that we focus our attention on three emerging strategies for democracy renewal:

  1. Roots: Address the hidden root causes that are driving democratic backsliding.
  2. Horizons: Envision and start building the desired future of democracy.
  3. Ecosystems: Build bridges, infrastructure, and narratives to connect existing efforts.

Unfortunately, only a sliver of democracy funding and work currently aligns with all of these strategies. In the United States most funding focuses on maintaining and defending existing systems of electoral democracy—it’s time to move beyond defense and put these alternative strategies into practice.

How To Address Root Causes to Rebuild and Reimagine Democracy

Democratic practices of governance are in crisis, and we need to first understand the underlying ailments if we want to fix them. Otherwise, we may end up just treating the symptoms.

The Democracy Iceberg framework developed by Philea, the Philanthropy Europe Association, helps distinguish the causes of backsliding from the symptoms. It maps root causes of people’s frustration, catalysts that amplify this discontent, and the resulting visible symptoms. While rising polarization and anti-immigrant sentiment are highly visible, they are symptoms of democratic backsliding rather than causes.

Read the full article about rebuilding democracy by Josh Lerner at Nonprofit Quarterly.