--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: American democracy faces a massive…" description: "\"American democracy faces a massive challenge. I don't think it is a certainty that we're headed toward Putin's Russia, as some commentariat does. But p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/jonathan-chait-14941_american-democracy_american-democracy-faces-a-massive-chall_1242288.png" --- # American democracy faces a massive challenge. I don't… ![“American democracy faces a massive challenge. I don't think it is a certainty that we're headed toward Putin's Russia, as some commentariat does. But people need to mobilize and build up small-d democratic institutions to prepare against that eventuality.” quote by Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/jonathan-chait-14941_american-democracy_american-democracy-faces-a-massive-chall_1242288.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/jonathan-chait-14941_american-democracy_american-democracy-faces-a-massive-chall_1242288.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8ca/jonathan-chait-14941_american-democracy_american-democracy-faces-a-massive-chall_1242288.png) > “American democracy faces a massive challenge. I don't think it is a certainty that we're headed toward Putin's Russia, as some commentariat does. But people need to mobilize and build up small-d democratic institutions to prepare against that eventuality.” [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democratic societies must strengthen grassroots institutions to resist authoritarian drift, even if the threat seems distant. **In simple terms:** Build local democracy to guard against authoritarianism. Key Takeaway Invest in community politics now. Themes democracy authoritarianism grassroots resilience Mood cautious determined Type political strategic When to use this quote - local elections - community organizing - policy advocacy - education campaigns Key Concepts political theory civic engagement institution building Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens stay motivated to build institutions? - What safeguards prevent democratic backsliding? A Different Perspective Mobilizing may be hindered by apathy or repression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-democracy/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-faces-3883118/) [Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic/) [Democratic Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democratic-institutions-477715/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Massive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/massive/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/putin/) [Russia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia/) [Small Democratic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-democratic-3883119/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [American democracy has two faces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/american-democracy-has-two-faces/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [I worry about the entire structure of American democracy under Trump.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/i-worry-about-the-entire-structure-of-american-democracy-under-trump/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [Human beings act in a great variety of irrational ways, but all of them seem to be capable, if given a fair chance, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/human-beings-act-in-a-great-variety-of-irrational-ways-but-all-of/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The real origin of the democratic spirit - and most likely, many democratic institutions - lies precisely in those spaces of improvisation just outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/the-real-origin-of-the-democratic-spirit-and-most-likely-many/) [David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/) > [The court's recent decisions have made life more difficult for the democratic institutions that perform the day- to-day work of our nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-dewine/the-court-s-recent-decisions-have-made-life-more-difficult-for-the/) [Mike DeWine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-dewine/) > [Democratic institutions generally give men a lofty notion of their country and themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/democratic-institutions-generally-give-men-a-lofty-notion-of-their/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [It is equally unreasonable to run a university as a "participatory democracy," the approach to governance that once existed in Europe. That approach in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/it-is-equally-unreasonable-to-run-a-university-as-a-participatory/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [Democratic institutions form a system of quarantine for tyrannical desires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/democratic-institutions-form-a-system-of-quarantine-for-tyrannical/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We know that literate people are more likely than others to participate in their societies' democratic institutions and that the risk of war drops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-gillard/we-know-that-literate-people-are-more-likely-than-others-to/) [Julia Gillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-gillard/) > [“Democratic institutions awaken and foster a passion for equality which they can never entirely satisfy. This complete equality eludes the grasp of the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/democratic-institutions-awaken-and-foster-a-passion-for-equality/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [No matter which party is in the White House, doubt in America's democratic institutions rattles our nation to its core. This should not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-murphy/no-matter-which-party-is-in-the-white-house-doubt-in-america-s/) [Patrick Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-murphy/) > [Decisions taken by the most democratic institutions in the world are very often wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-manuel-barroso/decisions-taken-by-the-most-democratic-institutions-in-the-world-are/) [Jose Manuel Barroso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-manuel-barroso/) > [What we are lacking in Burma is an independence effective judiciary, and unless we have all three of the democratic institutions - strong and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aung-san-suu-kyi/what-we-are-lacking-in-burma-is-an-independence-effective-judiciary/) [Aung San Suu Kyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aung-san-suu-kyi/) > [The Marxians love of democratic institutions was a stratagem only, a pious fraud for the deception of the masses. Within a socialist community there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-marxians-love-of-democratic-institutions-was-a-stratagem-only-a/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Democratic institutions, even in the oldest operating democracy in the world, are anything but perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-remnick/democratic-institutions-even-in-the-oldest-operating-democracy-in-the/) [David Remnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-remnick/) ## More by Jonathan Chait > [In public, Barack Obama's giving the simple version of his beliefs for the mass public. 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And that Trump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/it-s-possible-that-the-clowning-and-the-buffoonery-and-the/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [That's an important Obama accomplishment: he raised taxes back to Bill Clinton levels, and made a major dent in inequality doing so. That's certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/that-s-an-important-obama-accomplishment-he-raised-taxes-back-to-bill/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [President Obama is so much smarter and a better communicator than members of Congress in either party. The contrast, side by side, is almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/president-obama-is-so-much-smarter-and-a-better-communicator-than/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [Trump was the logical outcome of the Republican's irrational, racialized backlash to Obama that had utterly come to dominate the party's thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/trump-was-the-logical-outcome-of-the-republican-s-irrational/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [Republicans fighting back against changes Obama made means those changes are important, as with most of the major progress in American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/republicans-fighting-back-against-changes-obama-made-means-those/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [It's pretty clear that Hillary Clinton was a deeply, deeply flawed alternative. She had the wrong combination of the internal political chops to muscle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/it-s-pretty-clear-that-hillary-clinton-was-a-deeply-deeply-flawed/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [We're not going to be living in a world where white identity politics is the basis for a major political party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/we-re-not-going-to-be-living-in-a-world-where-white-identity-politics/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [Barack Obama is an intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/barack-obama-is-an-intellectual/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [Obama took 20 million people from the category of ignorables and put them into the category of unignorables. No one had to do anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/obama-took-20-million-people-from-the-category-of-ignorables-and-put/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) > [I never thought Hillary Clinton was a very good politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/i-never-thought-hillary-clinton-was-a-very-good-politician/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) [Explore all 44 Jonathan Chait quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) ## More American democracy quotes > [ Elvis \[Presley\] had a stepstool, if you will, to success because he came from the dominant culture. They identified with him. Michael Jackson had… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/elvis-presley-had-a-stepstool-if-you-will-to-success-because-he-came/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [That's what separates out American democracy from dictators and horrible governments across the world and the reason why that works is that we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-r-chamberlain/that-s-what-separates-out-american-democracy-from-dictators-and/) [Charles R. Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-r-chamberlain/) > [This will be the day when we shall bring into full realization the dream of American democracy -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/this-will-be-the-day-when-we-shall-bring-into-full-realization-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [This has all the appearance of a foreign power trying to undermine structures of legitimacy of an American election. That is a serious matter.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gerson/this-has-all-the-appearance-of-a-foreign-power-trying-to-undermine/) [Michael Gerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gerson/) > [Men like Abraham Lincoln recognized that if the slaveholders were not stopped, it would only be a question of time until they spread their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/men-like-abraham-lincoln-recognized-that-if-the-slaveholders-were-not/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [These communities that are losing local news coverage are losing something deeper. They're losing a connection to American democracy. And those connections must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-stelter/these-communities-that-are-losing-local-news-coverage-are-losing/) [Brian Stelter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-stelter/) > [“Today you go into make a modern recording with all this technology. The bass plays first, then the drums come in later, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/today-you-go-into-make-a-modern-recording-with-all-this-technology/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [As a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, American democracy is being undermined by the ability of the Koch brothers and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/as-a-result-of-the-citizens-united-supreme-court-decision-american/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [If everyone on the Court always voted for the prosecution against the defendant, for the corporation against the plaintiffs, and for the government against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/if-everyone-on-the-court-always-voted-for-the-prosecution-against-the/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [Political violence has no place in Pennsylvania - the birthplace of American democracy - nor anywhere else across this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-shapiro/political-violence-has-no-place-in-pennsylvania-the-birthplace-of/) [Josh Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-shapiro/) > [The atomic weapons race and the secrecy surrounding it crushed American democracy. It induced us to conduct government according to lies. It distorted justice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stewart-udall/the-atomic-weapons-race-and-the-secrecy-surrounding-it-crushed/) [Stewart Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stewart-udall/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. They're troublemaking efforts. They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-are-russian-efforts-to-disturb-the-fabric/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [“Still, it strikes me that, taken together, they do make an argument, and it is this: the rise of American democracy is bound up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/still-it-strikes-me-that-taken-together-they-do-make-an-argument-and/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [Mr Jefferson meant that the American system should be a democracy, and he would rather have let the whole world perish than that this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/mr-jefferson-meant-that-the-american-system-should-be-a-democracy-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. The working theory behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-have-no-doubt-that-there-are-russian-efforts-to-disturb-the-fabric-2/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 168 American democracy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-democracy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "American democracy faces a massive challenge. I don't think it is a certainty that we're headed toward Putin's Russia, as some commentariat does. 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