The Unbearable Weight of ‘Democracy at Stake’

Like a reality show audience buckling up for yet another “most dramatic season ever,” Americans once again find themselves hurtling toward an historic, pivotal presidential election.

One candidate would be the first woman elected to the country’s highest office. She’d also be the first South Asian president. The first president to be a daughter of immigrants. The second-ever Black president. And her plans reflect those life experiences: She wants to codify Roe v. Wade and help first-time homeowners.

The other candidate has promised firsts, too, like closing the U.S. Department of Education and implementing the largest mass deportation in the nation’s history.

Last month, a survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that three out of four Americans believe democracy is at stake during this election. The statistic made headlines, and the sentiment has been repeated in news coverage leading up to early voting, now less than 30 days away. But what does that really mean?

Former President Trump has bragged that Americans “won’t have to vote anymore” if he wins. And if he loses? It’s still unclear if Trump will accept a loss — or if he’ll repeat the 2020 lie of a stolen election, reopening wounds from the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. In Texas and elsewhere, it may also mean right-wing extremist disruption to the democratic process, or even political violence, as The Barbed Wire’s Steven Monacelli reported in a recent column.

But do voters understand those threats? How can that oft-repeated turn of phrase — that democracy is “at stake” — break through the noise for the Texans overwhelmed by having their rights chipped away and struggling to afford groceries?

We consulted historians and therapists for some perspective.

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First of all, it makes sense that we’re tired.

“We’ve gone through a rapid historical transformation in our society in the last 10 years,” said Jeremi Suri, professor of history and public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Suri teaches students how to understand history and social issues, and he validated that — particularly for Texans — recent changes have been both numerous and impactful. The politics getting decided at the state and federal levels are life-changing. The right to choose (or not) motherhood is significant, but reproductive rights in Texas really may mean the difference between life and death. Texas is getting more and more hostile for queer and transgender residents, which often leads to an increase in suicide attempts. We’re second only to Florida in banning books — and some school districts have even become hostile to authors.

And the state’s residents look different than they used to.

Census data shows Texas ranks within the top ten nationwide for racial diversity — and that’s a data point that’s growing, not shrinking. The probability that two people chosen at random will be from different racial and ethnic groups in Texas is at 67%, up more than 3% since 2010 . Latinos now make up around 40.2% of the state's population, eclipsing non-hispanic white residents, who make up 39.8%.

“Our society looks very different,” said Suri, “but our institutions have not kept pace with that.”

“There are many, many people who are uncomfortable with a more diverse Texas and a more diverse United States. And they're trying to use our institutions to basically fight a battle they can't win, which is to hold back history, to hold back historical change,” Suri said, citing the cultural clashes during the end of slavery and again during desegregation. It took one Texas school district a whopping 48 years to desegregate.

Peniel Joseph, the founding director of the LBJ School's Center for the Study of Race and Democracy who holds a doctorate in American History, told The Barbed Wire: “We are this nation of immigrants, where we are this multiracial democracy.” And yet, there are some conservative factions “trying to set us back and use these institutions against us and it starts with suppression,” he said.

But change — of any kind — has always been a constant for Americans.

“American democracy from 1776 to the present, in a lot of ways, has increasingly expanded opportunities to participate,” Joseph said. “When American democracy started, women couldn't vote; African Americans were both considered legal property, who were enslaved, but then there were some who were free, who couldn't vote; and poor, white working class (people) couldn't vote. So over the years, over the centuries, we've expanded American democracy.”

As others have noted: American history has been one long, arduous journey to extend the rights first espoused in the Constitution to all citizens, regardless of race or sex.

And democracy, specifically, is about being able to pick a team captain who will speak for the group, said Joseph. Democracy, he said, is when everyone has a right to have a say in their government — and a choice in who will represent you at the local, state, and national level.

But the task of choosing someone can feel Herculean, especially when we’re struggling day to day. It’s true that there has almost always been division, violence, and high stakes in elections throughout American history. Then again, in previous decades, voters didn’t have access to all of the information in the world at their fingertips. They didn’t lie in bed doomscrolling, further sinking into a creeping sense of dread with each new revelation about one candidate or another.

“We’re asking people to do (normal) things that they did before 2020 in a context of the loss of income, the loss of parents, the loss of a kind of surety about what the future meant,” said Melanye Price, who holds a doctorate in political science and is the director of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice at Prairie View A&M. Price is an endowed professor of political science at the historically Black college, which is the second oldest public institution of higher learning in the state. Price said democracy is at stake in this election — but believes that kind of language is too lofty and complex for most people to truly understand.

This isn’t the time to bombard people with “lofty goals,” Price said. Instead, “It's a time to say, ‘Breathe, and if you walk with me, I'm going to help you do this.’”

It doesn’t help that some groups have been actively experiencing collective trauma, according to Diana Anzaldua, founder of Austin Trauma Therapy Center. Anzaldua points to national and local events like the nearly 100,000 people statewide who’ve died from the COVID-19 pandemic; the 2020 racial justice protests; the 2021 winter storm, which left hundreds dead and thousands without power; a 2021 state ban on abortions; the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde; the 2023 shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets; a post-pandemic housing and affordability crisis; and multiple laws and policies targeting the LGBTQIA+ community and communities of color.

“We’re too traumatized to deal with the big picture future,” said Price.

“We’re talking people off the side of a ledge,” she told The Barbed Wire. “We’re not planning for the future.”

In that kind of environment, “the only thing you're going to be thinking about is, how do I survive?” Anzaldua told The Barbed Wire, adding that people who’ve experienced trauma more commonly face anxiety, distrust in systems, and cognitive difficulties, which can make voting feel overwhelming or unsafe. Feeling that their voices don’t matter can cause people to disengage from political processes.

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But there is good news — and a way to clear the fog.

A vote to “save democracy” doesn’t have to be an existential crisis, Anzaldua assures.

First, we can look at what’s tangible instead of focusing on the vast unknowns — a strategy Price says she’s been using more and more frequently.

“I don't tell Black people anymore, ‘Your ancestors sacrificed and died for you to vote.’ That's true, but what I say more than anything is, ‘Look at how many people have been killed by law enforcement and vigilante justice in your lifetime. None of these (elected officials) are going to cure any of these things, but there might be people who are going to make it worse.”

“I’m not nuts,” Price continued. “I don’t believe that Kamala Harris is going to fix all of these problems, but the question is, do you believe they will be exacerbated by her opponent? Like, I'm just really trying to get to people in their bread and butter.”

For issues related to reproductive health, Price says voters would do well to consider what policies you’d want in place if you had a daughter who got pregnant as a teen. Texas had more than 26,000 rape-related pregnancies in the 16 months after our abortion ban took effect, and some Republican candidates have said they’d force their own daughter to carry such a pregnancy to term. For issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Price asks her students how they would want Black history taught to their children.

Price, Joseph, and Suri all told The Barbed Wire that this election is about how you want to see change manifested and the future you want to live in. It’s not only about Nov. 7, it’s about how you want to move forward as we write history. What rights you want for yourself or your children, what debts you want future generations to pay.

“It’s really, what are you doing day to day in your community, to solve problems, to bring people together? So it’s really being in churches and mosques and synagogues. It’s really being in youth centers. It's really participating in athletics. It's so many different things,” Joseph said. “Democracy is just a way for us to have the fullest expression of our freedoms individually, but it's also a way for us to achieve more collectively together.”

From a practical standpoint, Anzaldua says, it’s important to prepare your nervous system so you can manage the stress and overwhelm. One way to prepare? Anzaldua suggests early voting to take advantage of the extra polling locations and potentially shorter lines. On an individual level, Anzaldua stressed intentional breathing, going outside, and — completely earnestly — touching grass. Put your bare feet on something green and alive. Move your body. Be informed, but don’t be handcuffed to your phone.

“We have to leave the door open for hope that things get better,” Price said. “We have never voted because of the circumstances we currently were in, we always voted based on the circumstances that we thought we could achieve later.”

There’s no doubt that “democracy is at stake” in this election — but if that feels overwhelming, follow Anzaldua’s advice. Take a breath, make a plan, and choose hope.