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Strengthening Democracy

A collection of 65 issues

10ish Minutes for a Healthier Democracy

It’s springtime, when a young person’s fancy turns to thoughts of love and some of America’s fancy turns to thoughts of primaries. Some is the hardest working word in that sentence. Nearly 80% of folks who are eligible to vote in primaries don’t. Which gives the

The First Question to Ask When Making Good Change

You can learn a lot about humanity when you answer the phones in Congress. You learn how frustrated people are. How angry and lonely they are. How powerless they feel. But there’s one particular thing that’s stayed with me from being a junior staffer in Congress taking hours

One Way to Change a Broken Status Quo

I once saw a terrific sign at a cash register: “If you’re afraid of change, leave it here.” A few months back, I was talking with a friend who was pulling together a group of colleagues to tackle a wicked problem in their field. The nagging issue, my friend

A Two-Minute Solution to a Serious Democracy Problem

Every so often, I like to check in on the U.S House Press Gallery’s casualty list. It tracks the number of U.S. Representatives who aren’t running for reelection. So far, that’s 54 members. The AP cut right to the heart of it: that’s 10%

On Making Change When We Feel Powerless

The first trick of the powerful is to make others feel powerless. But let’s linger on that word trick for a moment. Because it’s got a telling ancestry. It comes from the old French meaning to cheat or deceive. So if the first deception, the first cheat, of

How We Can Work From Love

The other afternoon, I drove slowly home in thick snow, listening to an interview with a reporter who covers conflict. How are you doing right now? the host asked. Leaning hard into spiritual resilience, the reporter said. Making sure I’m doing the things that I love, that fill me

Three Unexpected Ways to Meet the Moment

These days, when I’m making dinner or doing the dishes, I’ve been bellowing, “This Little Light of Mine” at the top of my lungs. Or I'll crank the Bruce Springsteen live version up good and loud. It’s an antidote to fear; it gets me out

How We Reply to Violence

I once heard a wildly successful tennis player say that we can be motivated by one of two things: fear or love. Fear is a familiar face these days. Fear for beloveds, ourselves. Fear about who we are to each other. Fear that our country can’t find a path

Who Has the Power to Do What You Want

It’s a snowy January day up here in Maine. I recently learned that my state’s 100-Mile Wilderness stretch of the Appalachian Trail can be so brutal, hikers say, “No Maine, no gain.” Soon, I’ll go walk the dog on the beach (we’ll save the 100-Mile Wilderness

For When the News Could Crush Your Spirit

One snowy evening, I was cutting sweet potatoes and listening to a newsy podcast. The headlines were heavy with humanity at its worst. As the two hosts talked about a horrendous event, the first host said, I guess there was a guy who risked his life to tackle one of