Dear ,
Democracy’s been too polite.
In real-time, we are watching authoritarians bend democracy to their will by disregarding the constitution, rigging election rules, smearing journalists and political opponents, weaponising algorithms, and eroding oversight. To say it’s a game of chess versus checkers doesn’t even cover it because, actually, they’re rewriting the rulebook mid-game.
But democracy isn’t powerless. It has its own defences and tools to fight back and keep power in the hands of the people. Ballot initiatives, citizen assemblies, independent commissions, courts, referendums…tools built into the system itself. The real problem is that, too often, we leave them unused.
Take Texas, a Republican-majority state. This year, the state legislature approved new electoral maps for the 2026 midterm elections. A federal court found that these maps deliberately disenfranchise Black and Latino communities. This is gerrymandering: drawing district lines to give one party an unfair advantage. This move could lock in Republican control in the US Congress for years to come.
Then look at California. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is fighting the Texan move by introducing Proposition 50, the “Election Rigging Response Act,” a referendum to be held on 4 November that would enable new temporary electoral maps to be drawn for 2026 and beyond. Newsom frames it as a defensive move: offsetting what Texas (and others) are doing to re-even the playing field.
It’s an imperfect solution. It’s uncomfortable, even. It enters into a dangerous, short-sighted game where the only loser is democratic norms and standards. In principle, there should never be a political need to redraw maps in a hurry or tilt the scales in any direction. Ideally, reforms would be built through consensus, with time for debate, and broad agreement before they go to a referendum. That’s the democratic playbook we fight for.
But ideals only hold if the system itself survives long enough to live by them. And that’s the reality in the United States today. The reality is an assault on democracy from the very people meant to protect it at the highest level.
Newsom’s response is not the direction we want to go in. It shouldn’t become the new normal. But in a democracy, context is everything. Right now, the political context in the United States requires immediate emergency action, without losing the sense that this is temporary and redistricting should be returned to the independent commission once democratic safeguards are restored.
Yes, it’s a dangerous game, and we at Democracy International will monitor it closely. Proposition 50 captures the dilemma perfectly: to save democracy in the long run, democratic procedures are used to weaken it now. But the goal is to preserve enough democracy so that those norms can one day function again. It’s using a democracy detour to save democracy.
This isn’t ideal, but if we wait for the perfect conditions, we won’t have a democracy left to defend.
That’s the point. Democracy doesn’t survive on politeness. It survives on using every democratic tool we have to maintain an even playing field. It survives by boldness.
Authoritarians rewrite the rules to lock their power in place. Real defenders of democracy, like activists for citizen-led redistricting across the US, strengthen the rules to make democracy resilient.
Today, the world needs more of the latter.
.png "Picture of Daniela Vancic, Europe Lead Policy&Advocacy Democracy International e.V")
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