The Disease Killing Democracy is Distrust

By: Philip K. Howard

Coming into the new year, it is vital to come to grips with the disease that most threatens American democracy—nearly universal distrust of its governing institutions. The anger and polarization rivening society are symptoms of distrust.

Distrust is the virus that got in the brain of those people who stormed the Capitol last January. They believed America's electoral machinery had somehow been rigged to steal the election from Donald J. Trump.

Distrust is what motivates millions of Americans, despite all evidence, to refuse COVID-19 vaccinations.

A deep well of distrust is what powered the riots across the country in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.

Overcoming distrust is not easy. Facts don't work because distrustful people don't believe they're facts. It doesn't matter that vote recounts in Georgia and other states, confirming the accuracy of the final tally, were led by Republicans. It doesn't matter that vaccinations actually work to reduce the harm of the coronavirus, and that vaccinated friends suffer no ill effects. It doesn't matter to the "defund the police" activists that most minority communities want an active police presence.

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