Modern Threats to American Democracy: A Study of 21st-Century Declines in Civic Engagement
This project offers an argument that isolates several major forces that it contends pose a critical threat to the endurance of modern American democracy. It evaluates modern and classic political philosophy to identify the prerequisites for a stable democracy, identifying and defining voter education and participation as necessary contributors to civic engagement. It provides a socio-legal framework for evaluating four phenomena that have shifted in their impact on politics over the past 20 years: the roles of money and media in politics, as well as disenfranchisement by gerrymandering and by felon voting restrictions. It demonstrates how each has a new and worsening impact on voter education and/or participation, thus threatening the continued existence of modern American democracy.
- Co-author: Burnquist, Andrew
- Co-author: Morote, Nicole
- Co-author: Mason, Maria
- Thesis director: Affolter, Jacob
- Committee member: Hoekstra, Valeria
- Contributor (ctb): School of Politics and Global Studies
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College