Democracy’s in Good Hands (Yours)

We often talk about toxic polarization: how it’s tearing us apart, eroding away any middle ground, and making it a lot harder for us to come together as Americans to solve problems. This toxicity is particularly apparent during election season. We’ve all watched election disinformation lead to everything from election denial to voter intimidation to a full-on violent insurrection. This presents a significant threat to our democracy.

A healthy democracy relies on participation; we need every vote counted and every voice heard. But it also requires confidence in elections and voting systems themselves. That’s why our educational programming includes pro-democracy messaging that helps women remember that poll workers are their neighbors and it’s folks just like them who serve their community on election day.

“In our community, the people that run the elections are the people I see at the grocery store and who I wave to from the mailbox. I trust my neighbors.”

And of course, poll workers aren’t just neighbors, they’re volunteers, too! They’re people who recognize their civic self-efficacy and are using their power to make our elections work.

“You know what gets me steamed? Good people volunteer their time to make sure our elections go smoothly, and then some folks start spouting about voter fraud?”

This year, we’ve created educational messages about many of the issues that could make America work better for everyone: healthcare, the economy, access to abortion, paid family leave, and race and discrimination education in schools. But our democracy messaging is the core of our work: we can work through “the issues” together in our communities and legislative bodies, but only if we trust our neighbors enough to make our democracy work.

There’s no quick fix for this problem. Our country didn’t become polarized overnight, and we’re not going to heal this schism overnight either. It’s a long term process. We believe civic engagement needs to happen year-round and engage whole people, seeing one another in our full humanity. That’s why we’re in community with women day in and day out, using research-driven programming to strengthen civic self-efficacy and protect against disinformation. Our approach is not transactional, it’s transformational, rooted in a commitment to long-term relationships and movement building. In this way, it transcends any partisan or ideological divide and leads to women using their civic power for long-term change.

Remember, it’s neighbors who make elections work, and it’s neighbors who make democracy work!