“Do You Really Think Our Democracy Will Last Forever?” event with the League of Women Voters

2–3 minutes

Speaker at the event and American High School students comment on the state of modern democracy

Staff Writer

The League of Women Voters held an event at Niles Discovery Church on Saturday, November 2nd, discussing the future of American democracy. With the guidance of Erwin Chermerinsky’s recently published book, No Democracy Lasts Forever, members of the league and AHS students shared their fears about the state of modern democracy.

Chermerinsky, a Constitutional scholar and author, writes of his grievances with the electoral college, filibustering in the Senate, and partisan gerrymandering. He believes the electoral college is not representative of the popular vote, that filibustering poses an unconstitutional threat to democratic lawmaking, and that partisan gerrymandering unfairly designates districts for Democratic or Republican favorability. He attributes many of these, and other, criticisms of democracy to a larger divisiveness he notices in the current political landscape.

The event shared an interview with Chermerinsky and opened a Q&A for attendees to discuss their thoughts on his beliefs and to address Americans’ fears in the week preceding election day. Pauline Weaver, a member of the League of Women Voters for over forty-five years and a recognized Alameda County Woman of Achievement, was the primary speaker of the event.

Weaver said, “This country is more divided now than we have ever been in our history, and we don’t listen to each other. Congress is at a standstill. Nothing is being done, and I find that very frustrating. I can remember the days of Tip O’Neill in the Senate, and he’d reach across the aisle to the Republicans, and they would come together and reach something in the middle, where nobody was really happy, but everybody got something, and we don’t do that anymore. Congress is at a standstill. I don’t think our representatives and our senators are doing the job that we sent them to Washington to do. I think that’s what worries me—that we are so set in our ways that we don’t compromise.”

Students shared similar sentiments regarding heightened political tensions, highlighting specific issues they have observed in the media.

Editor of the AHS branch of the Municipal Journal, Yashwanth Venkata Sunkesula (12) said, “We definitely need a reboot. Democracy has become synonymous with the word ‘fight,’ and defending it has shifted from defending the solutions and propositions people stand for to canceling specific politicians, which is wrong, whatever the reason. We also need more common sense. No matter what side you stand on, radical decisions help no one. There are no winners here.”

Shari Vaidya (10), founder of Shari Explains Law, a blog dedicated to making law and politics more digestible, said, “I feel like democracy currently is on a decline because we are in an era of late-stage capitalism where people can’t afford to live anymore, while the rich get ultra-wealthy. The rise of radical groups on both the left and the right have made political tensions extremely high. Things like lobbying and money and political tensions have such a devastating effect on democracy, and ultimately I believe it will be the death of it.”