Democracy Needs Better Stories
According to a recent Partnership for Public Service survey, only 29% of Americans say democracy is working. Not because people don’t want it to, but because for millions, it doesn’t feel real.
Democracy is losing the narrative war. Not because authoritarianism has better ideas, but because it has simpler ones: “The system is rigged.” “Your vote doesn’t matter.” “Nothing changes.” “It’s a deep state.” These stories spread because they feel true to millions of people who have been left out of decisions that shape their lives. Unfortunately, they’re not entirely wrong.
Political democracy — the right to vote, to speak, to organize — is essential. But when people have no meaningful say over their political or economic lives, democracy feels like a performance. You get a ballot every few years and a boss every weekday. Cynicism lives in the gap.
This is the narrative challenge of our time: not just defending democracy as it exists, but expanding what people believe democracy could be. A system where communities don’t just elect representatives but they govern resources, shape institutions, and practice participation as a daily act. One Project believes in economic democracy. The idea that the public should have a vote in how resources and energy are spent. This isn’t a detour from the fight for democracy. It’s where that fight needs to go next.
Democracy requires new stories. Durable narratives that help people see themselves as agents of a democratic system worth believing in, worth building and with keeping intact.
This is why we’re proud to stand with the Democracy Narratives Alliance (DNA), a coalition of 35+ organizations and funders coordinating narrative change efforts across the democracy field. For too long, this work has been siloed without a shared strategy for amplifying them. The DNA is an attempt to change that.
At One Project, we believe the infrastructure for economic democracy and the narratives that make it imaginable have to be built together. You can’t build participation without tools and you can’t build tools without stories that make people want to show up.
The battle for democracy, real democracy is happening right now. We’re glad to stand by DNA and our other partners in this fight.
Check out DNA’s democracy narrative resources and strategies.