There are moments in American history when the question is not which party will win, but whether self-government itself is working as intended. This feels like one of those moments. On Feb. 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born into a…
What does this mean?
Last night, America witnessed a political tremor that may very well be a preview of a historic electoral tsunami in 2026. From Virginia to New York, from Boston to Cincinnati, and across the statehouses and city halls of this nation,…
‘Never before have we seen this,’ Pritzker and Perryman agree
The politicization of democracy is one of the most disturbing precedents of Donald Trump’s second presidency, Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said during a livestreamed conversation with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. American democracy and constitutional freedoms never have endured the…
Trump administration refuses to document ‘anti-Christian bias’ concerns
President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias faces yet more litigation demanding the release of records related to the commission’s investigation of government agencies. Democracy Forward and Interfaith Alliance filed a lawsuit Oct. 22 to obtain documents from…
When leaders turn guns on their own people
History teaches us a hard truth: Democracies don’t collapse only when institutions fail — they collapse when leaders turn their weapons on the very people they are sworn to serve. Tanks in the streets, tear gas in the squares, troops…
3 things you can do to defend our constitutional government
I am deeply grieved by what I am seeing in the United States today. Since the current administration took office, there have been 34 to 40 federal injunctions and more than 120 lawsuits filed against the administration’s overreach and breaches…
The midwives of democracy are already at work
Nearly nine months into 2025, it seems there is no escaping the soul-crushing headlines of clawed‑back voting rights, mass deportation raids, families torn apart, the law enforcement takeover of D.C. and record-breaking heat waves resulting in fatalities all around the…
Why a Democracy Advocate in Putin’s Russia Didn’t Fear Death
He lives to trouble Vladimir Putin, the authoritarian strongman of Russia who may have had the advocate for democracy killed a little more than a year ago and who definitely had him poisoned before that.
Walesa and Polish prisoners of war denounce Trump’s treatment of Zelensky
Polish democracy advocate Lech Wałęsa and 39 other former prisoners of war sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump expressing panic and dismay at the way he treated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last Friday. “We…
Are we a democracy or a republic? Why words matter
“The United States is not a democracy! It’s a republic!” my independent Baptist high school government teacher declared over the sound of gunfire and cannons exploding in the Civil War re-enactment across the street. Almost three decades later, the debate…
Show up and speak up to save democracy, panelists urge
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he is struggling to fully comprehend the Trump administration’s overwhelming assault on basic freedoms as well as its ongoing attempt to dismantle federal programs and agencies. Calling the situation a “crisis” would be an…
How ‘flood-the-zone’ politics is changing democracy and ministry
The “flood-the-zone” strategy is not new, but it is wildly effective. How can we understand its effect on churches and ministers? The immediate aim of President Donald Trump’s White House is to keep journalists off balance, news and social media…