“This is what democracy looks like”

A common chant at protests is the call-and-response “show me what democracy looks like” // “this is what democracy looks like!” It speaks to one of the core principles of democracy, which is the ability of individuals to have their voices heard in government. But if I were to design a democracy from scratch, I wouldn’t say that mass protests are a gleaming example of what democracy looks like. In fact, they’re often a sign that democracy has broken down — an effort either to make government respond when ignoring the people’s will (such as in protests for gun control which is overwhelmingly popular but rarely enacted), or to make government respond to the interests of a faction that doesn’t represent the people’s will (such as defunding the police, which is quite unpopular in the country overall).

This has prompted me to reflect on what democracy actually looks like. It doesn’t feel like our system — of elected representatives from two warring parties fighting for narrow majorities to unravel the other party’s agenda — has been getting it exactly right lately, even before many norms were tossed out the window in 2025.

But what exactly is democracy? Wikipedia says that “[t]he term appeared in the 5th century BC in Greek city-states, notably Classical Athens, to mean “rule of the people”, in contrast to aristocracy … meaning “rule of an elite.” But a lot of modern day definitions have collapsed the concept of democracy into representative democracy, such as this one from Merriam-Webster: “a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc. according to law.” There’s clearly a lot of gray area here, and it’s not hard to argue that we have actually been living in an elected aristocracy rather than a democracy (which would explain Congress’ terrible approval rating).

What else can “rule of the people” look like? Beyond representative democracy, there is also direct democracy (which we practice in California when we vote on many ballot propositions each election). But, direct democracy is impractical. Ordinary people (myself included) don’t have the time to gain the necessary expertise on so many topics in order to cast well-informed votes. And, voter turnout is already nowhere near 100%, meaning that outcomes are not reflective of the people’s will but rather the will of the people who voted.

The most robust evidence supports deliberative democracy, in which representative sample groups (often called “mini-publics”) are brought together with experts and facilitators to discuss important issues. Specific techniques include deliberative polling and citizens’ assemblies. These have shown remarkable results in the US and across the world, proving that citzens in deliberative mini-publics can inform themselves on nuanced topics, change their opinions, generate new ideas, reach consensus, and deliver outcomes that are satisfactory to the overall public (i.e. truly representative).

A great example of this was “America in One Room” – a 2019 deliberative poll which took a representative sample of 526 American voters and brought them together to discuss the big issues of the time. There were of course many disagreements, but overall they were able to moderate their opinions and find common ground.

This is what democracy looks like. Ordinary people, getting together, with the time and information they need to develop informed opinions. They will argue and disagree but ultimately come out stronger, with results reflecting the thinking of the country. At a time when American democracy is in unprecedented peril, we need to reflect on what kind of a democracy we actually want for ourselves, and start building it. Yes, I will take to the streets and protest the undermining of our national values and governing principles, but from now on, when we say “show me what democacy looks like,” I urge us to respond more creatively.