Curiosity in Cities: An Antidote for Reviving Democracy

The fight between democracy and authoritarianism is displayed in increasingly explicit terms as Russia continues its brutal and illegal invasion in Ukraine. As both the importance and fragility of democracy become ever more apparent, exhortations for reform and actions abound. Politicians urge immediate action, noting the imperative to address increasing political polarization, modernize and improve election systems, fight disinformation, promote civics education—the list is endless. These reforms are vital. They are also insufficient.

Rather than intensive policy exhortations, reviving democracy requires curiosity and a genuine interest in learning from reforms that have worked in diverse contexts. The best place for this policy experimentation is often not the federal government, but rather the area of government most primed for experimentation: cities. To create a new form of democracy, we need to explore innovations geared toward reviving democracy at the local level.

The reality is that this extraordinary moment of democratic erosion dictates that the solutions themselves are uncertain. The desired outcome for authoritarians is relatively clear: to control their populations as much as possible. A new playbook, known as stealth authoritarianism, leads emerging and established dictators alike to cloaking their authoritarian policies in democratic disguise. Rather than outwardly rigging elections, leaders restrict access to the vote, promote disinformation, and use populist rhetoric in an attempt to maintain some semblance of support for their effort.

The concept of democracy means that ideas and reforms must come from the people, but these notions do not have concrete definitions.

Alternatively, the playbook for reviving democracy has not yet been written. The concept of democracy means that ideas and reforms must come from the people, but these notions do not have concrete definitions. We do not quite know how to address historical levels of polarization that have resulted in disdain for those who do not share our political beliefs. Misinformation spurred by social media presents the definition of a wicked problem. Building back trust of institutions that have resulted in perilous levels of economic and political inequality will take time.

If the playbook needed for reforming and saving democracy was evident, it would have been put into place already. The fact that the solutions to democratic revival remain uncertain means that there is an opportunity, and a need, to promote innovation and curiosity. Cities, because of their proximity to their own citizens and comparatively small size, provide an opportunity for this democratic experimentation.

The fact that the solutions to democratic revival remain uncertain means that there is an opportunity, and a need, to promote innovation and curiosity.

In an inspiring manner, this unique city combination of ingenuity and curiosity was on display at the recent in-person GMF Cities Fortifying Democracy (CFD) convening in Berlin, which occurred in July. While the conference itself was not able to revive democracy in just two days, it provided the type of networked approach sorely needed in our perilous and uncertain moment.

City officials and local civic leaders from across the United States and Europe gathered to explore how they could all promote democracy in their own municipalities. City leaders are often forced to be head down, necessarily addressing the challenge of the day, whether it be increased shootings or a lack of affordable housing. The conference provided an opportunity to step back from the day-to-day: to exchange ideas, to listen, to learn. City leaders came to the conference with ideas and potential reforms. But more than anything else, they came with a veritable curiosity and willingness to learn from their peers.

Curiosity was particularly present from the Americans in the room. This introspection is sometimes unfortunately missing in the United States. Historically, there has been a tendency for American exceptionalism to lend itself to the United States promoting its own form of democracy outward. Of late, in recognition of our own specific and perhaps dire democratic challenges, criticism has focused on the United States needing to look inward and address its own democracy before going out into the rest of the world.

This framing, however, fails to take into account how the United States can, and should, actually learn from the rest of the world. The US city leaders at the CFD convening, from Philadelphia, Charlotte, Fort Collins, Oklahoma City, Seattle, and Minneapolis, all came to the convening to learn—both from each other and their European counterparts. This network of curious and self-aware reformers is a necessary antidote to the stringent playbook of authoritarians.

Cities, because of their proximity to their own citizens and comparatively small size, provide an opportunity for this democratic experimentation.

If we want to revive American democracy, we must seek to learn from others.  Europeans are fighting back against far-right populists, regulating social media companies to combat disinformation, and integrating new citizens into society. Not all of these reforms work perfectly all the time. But it’s worth learning from European and other global successes as well as their challenges.

At the conference, curiosity centered on several critical themes exploring frameworks rather than solutions. 

City leaders explored how to address growing youth disenchantment with democracy.  Sharing different activities they had put in place, including youth advisory committees and school visits with elected officials, participants recognized the need to understand the deep distrust and frustration that young people face in today’s economic and political climate, rather than blindly attempting to simply convince them of the merits of participation.

The conference explored the role of equity in addressing challenges in democracy, recognizing that issues of race may look and sound different in European and American contexts, but the central framework of white supremacy often does reign supreme, and is a needed organizing principle.

The bridging organization More in Common presented compelling research on polarization in European and American contexts, showing city leaders that while political beliefs may drive individuals apart, a shared distrust of institutions can actually bring them together.

And finally, conference representatives explored next-level engagement, and ways they could go beyond traditional mechanisms, like public meetings, to truly and authentically engage citizens to understand their hopes, frustrations, and demands.

All of these discussions involved city leaders listening, asking questions, and sharing rather than suggesting concrete mandates. At the conference’s conclusion, participants noted deep appreciation: not because they now know how to save democracy in their own cities, but because they did not feel alone. They recognized the ability to learn from fellow travelers along the way.

A convening itself cannot save democracy. But the CFD convening demonstrated the type of thinking that is needed for a democratic revival: a philosophy that promotes a shared belief and struggle, and lends itself to democratic curiosity over political dogmatism. We do not know for certain the playbook needed to fortify democracy. We need to learn from local innovations, scaling best ideas, in order to start to put the playbook together.