The Future of Democracy

Introduction by Susan Corke

In response to the question, “What will it take for democracy not only to survive but to thrive in the future?” the winners of Democracy Defenders Fund’s Future of Democracy Prize offer answers grounded in community, racial justice, imagination, and policy reform. They write with a clear-eyed understanding that democracy is built from the bottom up and that systems failing ordinary people must be challenged and changed. From their vantage point, democracy must be practiced, defended, and renewed everywhere: in neighborhoods and schools, public offices and places of worship, through art and organizing, and in the everyday acts of solidarity that bind communities together.

When we launched this prize, we placed only two requirements on entrants—age and U.S. citizenship. We spread the word through influencers, college newspapers, local libraries, social media, and in small towns and big cities, hoping to hear from people whose experiences and perspectives might not otherwise find their way into a national conversation about democracy. What we received was deeply encouraging. The winning works—nine essays, a short film, and a cross-stitch project—describe democracy as something people experience, shape, and build where they live. That gave me hope. Because their words are hopeful. 

Before coming to Democracy Defenders Fund, I spent most of my career defending democracy in countries where people had learned not to expect institutions or their (mostly) authoritarian leaders to save them. In Ukraine, Russia, Central Asia, Turkey, Hungary, and Poland, I watched citizens fight back with whatever tools they had: independent newspapers, coalitions, protests, art and music, and community networks. They built power where they stood, with whatever space they had, and they refused to let authoritarianism go unchallenged. At times that came with great personal risk.

What makes the United States different—and what gives me genuine optimism—is our long history of building democracy and the hard won successes. We have checks and balances in America. Even now, we have institutions capable of withstanding enormous pressure. But history teaches us that those institutions do not hold on their own. They hold only when people act to defend them. When people respect the norms and values they represent. 

The young people whose work appears in this anthology, too, approach democracy from the latter vantage point. They define democracy as a sense of whether people feel it belongs to them and whether they believe their own voices can make a difference. That perspective is precisely why we created this project.

Protecting the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, for example, required people to immediately speak out, organize, and challenge the Trump administration in the court of law. The Supreme Court ultimately provided the essential check, but it could do so only because people—supported by attorneys from the ACLU, Democracy Defenders Fund, and other organizations—were willing to bring the fight to the courts. And were willing to share their stories so that people understood what was at stake.

At Democracy Defenders Fund, we approach the business of defending our democracy through the courts, legislatures, other levers of public power, and in the court of public opinion.

The young people whose work appears in this anthology, too, approach democracy from the latter vantage point. They define democracy as a sense of whether people feel it belongs to them and whether they believe their own voices can make a difference. That perspective is precisely why we created this project.

Democracy is stronger when people feel that their voices matter between elections, not only on Election Day. People being civically engaged is what makes democracy work and sustains the entire democratic enterprise.

Democracy Defenders Fund will continue to fight in courtrooms to protect voting rights and elections, to counter corruption, and to uphold the rule of law. Our work ensures that now and in the future, the public can act, organize, dissent, imagine, build, and simply be. Every success for us or the broader pro-democracy movement creates the conditions in which new leaders, new movements, and new visions can take root and ultimately thrive .

We intend to ensure that when these young people take the reins of power—with all the passion and imagination they possess—they can do so in a country where the rules still permit them to build and work toward a democracy that will make their lives better.

That is what makes this project so important to me. The work in this anthology reminds us that defending democracy is not simply about preventing what is worst. It is also about making possible what comes next, what is better. The Civil Rights Movement made us better, but it did not make us perfect. Democracy is a journey not a destination. I hope you read these essays with the same humility, urgency, and hope they inspired in us, and with a renewed commitment to the work ahead in the courts, in our communities, in the streets, and everywhere democracy is being made.

Foreword by Tianna Mays

Our work comes at a moment when the basic promises of American democracy feel less certain than they have in decades. Rights once understood as settled are being challenged by the very people entrusted with political power. Public institutions are being tested, facts are increasingly contested, and many Americans no longer trust the systems meant to represent them.

Defending those systems requires more than resisting current threats. It also requires imagining the democracy we want to build for the future. That is why we announced our first Future of Democracy Prize, inviting people between the ages of 18 and 30 to answer a question that is both urgent and expansive: What will it take for democracy not only to survive, but to thrive?

We wanted to hear from a generation coming of age during a period of extraordinary democratic uncertainty. The winning submissions take many forms: nine essays, a documentary, and a cross-stitch. But the ideas behind them are grounded in a shared conviction that democracy is not something that happens only in Washington, only during an election, or only when a case reaches the Supreme Court. Democracy is where people experience their lives together. For it to survive and thrive, people must have the power to shape the communities and institutions that shape their lives.

For Sharjah M’Bodji, democracy is found on Harlem stoops and at neighborhood block parties, places that can disappear when communities are displaced. For Jaylen Tang, it means giving young people meaningful opportunities to participate between elections, not simply asking for their votes on Election Day. For Carolina Nazario, it means protecting the local election officials who make the right to vote real, even as threats drive many of them from public service. For Thomas Hassen, it means turning to grassroots organized labor to fuel the engine of democratic change. 

These contributors remind us that democracy is a neighborhood, a constituent office, a polling place, a classroom, and a union hall. It is the chance to be heard before decisions are made, and the ability to work with others to change what is possible.

Several of the pieces ask what democracy requires before public debate can begin. Imre Huss considers how new forms of communication have reshaped civic life, while Jonathan Cavazos writes about the erosion of a shared factual foundation as local news outlets disappear. Imani Laird’s documentary, Civics Class for a Country in Crisis, looks to the democratic achievements Americans are in danger of forgetting. Gillian Gurney turns to protest music—from Billie Holiday to Marvin Gaye—to explore democracy’s enduring demand that we question what we have been promised.

Other contributors focus on the work of repair. JJ Briscoe writes, “What we fail to repair, we repeat.” Christopher Watts imagines democracy as a house being quietly dismantled by voter suppression, historical erasure, and the rollback of inclusion. Rosie Shultz offers a different kind of argument: an “I Voted” sticker stitched carefully in thread, one small act of restoration carried out one stitch at a time.

Taken together, these works reject the idea that democracy can be preserved by institutions alone. They place our institutions within a larger democratic project. Courts and laws are essential to protecting rights and establishing accountability. But democratic power also depends on people: on communities, relationships, participation, and the persistent work of showing up for one another.

These contributors remind us that democracy is a neighborhood, a constituent office, a polling place, a classroom, and a union hall. It is the chance to be heard before decisions are made, and the ability to work with others to change what is possible.

I teach a civil rights seminar at Howard University, and every semester my students remind me how unfinished the work of building a more perfect union is. They are quick to challenge assumptions that older generations have learned to accept. They understand that rights are not permanently secured simply because someone once won them. Each generation must decide whether to defend those rights, expand them, and make them real for people who have been excluded from them.

Much has been written about this moment. Scholars, journalists, and historians have drawn comparisons between what is happening in the United States and the rise (and fall) of authoritarian regimes in Europe. At Democracy Defenders Fund, we have successfully used litigation to ensure the courts hold the line on some of the most pressing issues of the day. We have also seen how legal institutions can enable, or fail to prevent, policies that undermine democratic norms. But the courts cannot carry the full weight of democracy.

One truth still holds. We the people have the power to determine the future of this nation. That power is exercised by voting. It is built through collective action, sustained relationships, shared purpose, and the decision to keep showing up.

The future of democracy is being decided now. The contributors to this anthology show us not only what is at stake, but where our power lies and how democracy can be strengthened through community, accountability, memory, imagination, and persistence.

Winning Essays

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  The Shared Record: What Democracy Can’t Survive Without

  While democracy can withstand disagreement, it cannot function without a verifiable record of events that people can examine and contest. Reestablishing that baseline requires four concrete measures: funding for local journalism, transparency in platform ranking, verification skills in education, and labeling of synthetic media.

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  The Courts Won’t Save Us. Organized Labor Just Might.

  In the last five years, the Court has erased generations of societal progress. Case after case, it has upended once-settled legal doctrine and stripped Americans of rights they assumed were permanent.

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  Making Media Work for Democracy: Lessons from the Past, a Vision for Our Future

  Our democratic system is experiencing extreme strain. The checks and balances that have long defined our government are eroding, partisan polarization is increasing, and policymakers are failing to meet voters’ needs. In a Pew Research Center survey, 69 percent of Americans expressed dissatisfaction with the way democracy is working in the United States.

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  Civics Class for a Country in Crisis

  "Civics Class for a Country in Crisis" is an exploration into American democracy and the current state of civics education. Young documentarian Imani Laird warns Americans are forgetting the many successes of our democracy—and in turn, they are failing to preserve it.

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  Cracks in the Foundation

  Imagine standing before a house that has sheltered multigenerational families. At first glance, it appears intact. The roof still stands and the windows catch the morning light. But behind the door, a system is quietly, methodically removing every brick, chiseling names off the mantle, burning the blueprint, leaving the labor unacknowledged. The house still stands, but cracks in the walls are spreading and its collapse has begun.

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  I Am Because We Are

  Democracy only thrives when we work together to continue expanding its promise. The work is not to preserve institutions as they are, but to fulfill the democratic ideals they have yet to realize.

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  The 80% Problem: How Women in Civic Life Are Overworked and Unsafe

  A heightened risk of violence extends beyond women who are on the ballot to women who make sure our elections are safe, secure, and functioning so people like you and me can show up and vote. Eighty percent of local election officials are women, and they are disproportionately targeted with harassment and political violence.

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  What We Fail to Repair, We Repeat

  The United States has spent 250 years asking the same unresolved questions: who belongs, who governs, and whose humanity deserves protection under the law?

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  Democracy Dies Without Questions

  Democracy's strength doesn't lie in consensus. It lies in a culture of continuous questioning. Critique, dissent, and creative reimagining are the embodiment of democracy. When we lose our ability to creatively express ourselves or speak out, democracy itself is at risk.

• 

  tattered

  During the semiquincentennial, we are called to recognize the violent, bloody suppression of the right to vote, both throughout history and in the present day. To craft a thriving American democracy, we must stitch together a democratic system that expands and protects voter access for all.

• 

  Democracy Will Thrive When Young People Are Actively Encouraged to Participate

  For American democracy to do more than survive—to truly thrive—it has to stop treating young people as future citizens and start treating us as partners in self-government.

Meet the Winners

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  JJ Briscoe

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  Jonathan Cavazos

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  Gillian Gurney

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  Thomas Hassen

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  Imre Huss

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  Imani Laird

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  Sharjah M’Bodji

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  Carolina Nazario

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  Rosie Shultz

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  Jaylen Tang

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  Christopher Watts

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JJ Briscoe

JJ Briscoe is a political organizer, researcher, and democratic reform advocate whose work explores how institutional design can strengthen multiracial democracy in the United States. He is a founding member of Get Free, a youth-led movement dedicated to dismantling racial hierarchy through a comprehensive agenda of reparations rooted in international human rights principles.

Drawing from both organizing and research, JJ focuses on the intersection of racial repair and democratic renewal, examining how structural reforms can create more durable, representative, and participatory democratic institutions. His work argues that political equality is an essential dimension of reparative justice and explores reforms including voting rights restoration, campaign finance reform, electoral system redesign, and fair representation as necessary foundations for a thriving multiracial democracy.

Beyond his movement work, JJ advises political campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels on communications, field strategy, and coalition building. He holds a B.A. in Politics, Rights, and Development and a Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Political Action and Advocacy from New York University. Based in Brooklyn, New York, he hopes to contribute to a new generation of democratic theory that bridges movement organizing, institutional reform, and comparative research on democratic resilience.

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Jonathan Cavazos

Jonathan Cavazos is from Edinburg, Texas. Jonathan’s interest in politics took root in college as a member of the Babson Political Association, and he’s been looking for ways to stay engaged ever since. He currently works in construction marketing and enjoys learning to the play the piano. Jonathan looks forward to deepening his involvement in politics and community life in the years ahead.

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Gillian Gurney

Gillian Gurney (she/her) is a Los Angeles native turned New York City transplant. She graduated from Emory University with a degree in political science and has worked for Stacey Abrams and Everytown for Gun Safety. She currently serves as a Senior Account Executive at Anat Gerstein, where she works  in advocacy and community development. Gillian has also consulted with a variety of organizations and mission-driven groups, including Gay Shabbat, helping clients develop thoughtful, compelling communications strategies. In her free time, she enjoys running in Central Park, hosting dinner parties with her fiancée Julia, and stopping to say hi to every dog she sees.

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Thomas Hassen

Thomas Hassen is a rising third-year law student at Stanford Law School and is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. At Stanford, he is a student in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and serves as an Articles Editor for the Stanford Law Review, Co-President of the Black Law Students Association, and Co-Director of the Workers’ Rights Pro Bono Project. Before law school, Thomas worked in policy, community and union organizing, and direct social services, supporting low-income workers, tenants, and people experiencing homelessness. He received his master’s degree in human rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science and his bachelor’s degrees in political science and criminal justice from the University of Nevada, Reno. 

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Imre Huss

Imre Huss is an incoming Jefferson Scholar and Cameron Impact Scholar at the University of Virginia. He is the founder of Govvy, a civic technology platform helping constituents engage with local government, and serves on the Democracy Architects Council, a joint initiative of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund and Civics Unplugged. He previously researched depolarization and bridge-building strategies at More Like US, and now writes and speaks on innovative approaches to societal problems, with a focus on political polarization, technology, and democracy. His work has appeared in outlets like The Fulcrum and The Liberal Patriot.

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Imani Laird

Imani Laird is a student filmmaker at Hampton University whose documentaries explore history, democracy, and social change. Her work has earned national recognition from organizations including Oscar-winning filmmaker Ken Burns’s The Better Angels Society, the Lincoln Presidential Foundation, and Constituting America. Her films combine archival research with compelling visual storytelling to bring overlooked histories and civic issues to life.

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Sharjah M’Bodji

Sharjah Selassie Strawn M’Bodji is a Harlem-born-and-raised multi-hyphenated creative and Editor-in-Chief & Founder of UbuntuHarlem Magazine, Harlem’s first digital publication and creative space for Harlem youth. This fall, Sharjah will begin studying Black Studies at Swarthmore College. Her work sits at the intersection of storytelling, civic engagement, and community building.

She previously studied global leadership, ethics, and social change at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa, through the School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL). She also participated in and interned with the Living City Project’s CityGAP program, researching New York City’s history and urban planning while collaborating with city agencies to reimagine public spaces. Most recently, she completed an apprenticeship with the Universiti Sains Malaysia Master’s in Sustainable Development Practice through Tilting Futures’ Take Action Lab on Penang Island, Malaysia, where she led visual storytelling and communications efforts to strengthen the program’s outreach. Across everything she creates, Sharjah is committed to building spaces where young people are not only heard but recognized as architects of their communities and radical agency.

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Carolina Nazario

Carolina Nazario is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in sociology, where she channeled her passion for democracy protection through her work with organizations including Public Citizen, The Hub Project, and JULIAN. Through these roles, she explored how to bridge civic engagement and grassroots outreach to policy advocacy, so that political change can better reflect the needs of communities like hers. After seeing how women, racial minorities, and other marginalized communities were excluded from the political dialogue, she sought to create opportunities for young people, especially women, to engage in political advocacy.

Carolina knew that her work to support women’s political leadership also required addressing structural policy issues that keep women out of these spaces. Amara Nnabue, Logan Payne, and Carolina launched Her Action. Her Action is a political campaign fighting to end political violence against women and elevate women into positions of power. Together, they realized how their experiences in civic spaces were shaped by political intimidation and a lack of an opportunity pipeline to engage young women in politics. Through nine state-level campaigns, they engage a vast college network to draft, advocate for, and push for policies that keep women safe and in political leadership.

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Rosie Shultz

Rosie Shultz is a political science and history student at Brown University. She studies democracy, revolutionary histories, and youth civic engagement. She is a proud poll worker, crochet enthusiast, and is originally from rural Louisiana. 

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Jaylen Tang

Jaylen Tang is majoring in politics with a minor in law and society at New York University, on a pre-law track. He also works for District 2 Council Member Harvey Epstein. Jaylen’s essay describes how American institutions can become more inclusive, participatory, and worthy of public trust. His perspective is shaped by experience in community advocacy and government service, which includes working under Jacob A Riis Neighborhood Settlement, City Council, and state government. 

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Christopher Watts

Christopher Watts is from Atlanta, Georgia. A recent graduate of Woodward Academy’s Class of 2026, he will attend Howard University in the fall as a freshman pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biology. With a strong passion for medicine, Christopher plans to attend medical school after graduation, with a particular interest in oncology. He has spent time shadowing medical professionals to gain first hand exposure to the field.

In his free time, Christopher enjoys traveling, reading, and playing soccer. This summer, he has been working as a summer camp counselor, volunteering at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and tutoring children at the Boys & Girls Club.

About the Contest

The Future of Democracy Prize is nonpartisan and was open to participants across the country and across the ideological spectrum. The goal is not partisan advocacy, but serious engagement with one of the most important questions facing the nation’s future.

Finalists received a $1,000 honorarium, and selected works are published in a professionally produced anthology with a introduction and foreword by Democracy Defenders Fund Executive Director Susan Corke and Legal Director Tianna Mays.

Participants were encouraged to offer bold, thoughtful, and creative ideas for strengthening democratic resilience in the decades to come. Submissions drew on lessons from American history, democratic struggles abroad, civic innovation, and cultural imagination.

Recognizing that democracy is shaped not only in institutions but also through culture and storytelling, the contest accepted a wide range of formats, including:

• Essays
• Visual art
• Digital design
• Video
• Multimedia and other creative formats

Meet the Judges

Submissions to The Future of Democracy Prize were evaluated by an esteemed panel of leaders from law, journalism, civic advocacy, and public service. Together, the judges bring deep experience defending democratic institutions, strengthening civic engagement, and advancing public accountability.

The panel reviews submissions based on originality, clarity of vision, relevance to the contest prompt, and overall potential impact.